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Southern California Railway Museum, Inc.
PERRIS, CA
4.6· 2,201 Google reviews
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About Southern California Railway Museum, Inc.
Riding historic streetcars on the half‑mile dual‑gauge Loop and boarding passenger trains that travel the 1.5‑mile standard‑gauge mainline, visitors experience Southern California’s rail past amid the museum grounds in Perris, California. The museum’s collection includes the world’s largest assemblage of Pacific Electric Railway rolling stock, alongside more than 200 locomotives, streetcars, electric cars and historic structures dating from the 1870s. Admission and parking are free; tickets grant day‑long access to all operating equipment.
📍 PERRIS, CA 92024
History
The Southern California Railway Museum was founded in 1956 as the Orange Empire Railway Museum at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. In 1958 the museum relocated to the former Pinacate Station and operated under the name Orange Empire Trolley Museum. A 1975 merger with the California Southern Railroad Museum prompted a rename to Orange Empire Railway Museum. The institution adopted its present name, Southern California Railway Museum, in 2019. It is recognized as the West’s largest collection of railway locomotives, streetcars, electric cars, buildings and other artifacts dating from the 1870s.
The Trains
The museum’s operating roster includes Santa Fe 108, a 1967 EMD FP45 diesel that retains its original Warbonnet livery, Southern Pacific 3100, a 1963 GE U25B rebuilt in the red‑white‑blue Bicentennial scheme, and Union Pacific E8A 942, a 1953 streamlined passenger locomotive restored to UP’s yellow, red and gray colors; the collection also features the Pacific Electric “Red Car” interurban, two Ward Kimball‑donated narrow‑gauge steam engines (including the 2‑6‑0 “Emma Nevada” and a Hawaiian sugar‑plantation engine named “Chloe”), three narrow‑gauge coaches, a “Esmeralda” combination business car/caboose, and additional Denver & Rio Grande gondolas and flatcars. Streetcars and standard‑gauge cars run each weekend on a half‑mile (0.8 km) dual‑gauge Loop Line that accommodates both 1,435 mm (standard) and 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) tracks, while passenger trains use a 1.5‑mile (2.4 km) standard‑gauge mainline that extends from south of the museum northward toward the BNSF Railway junction near the historic Perris Depot on State Route 74.
Nearby
From Perris, the Southern California Railway Museum, Inc. is within a drive of the San Bernardino History & Railroad Museum, about 24 mi away.
Where to Stay
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Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
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