- Hours: Open daily except Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1. Hours vary by season. Train rides weekends April through October
- Reservations: Not required
- Cost: Free admission, but extra fee for tours and train rides
- Location: South of Sonora, directions below
- How Long: Allow an hour for a walk around, more to ride the train and take the tour
- Best Time to Visit: When the trains are running (see below)
Visiting Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
You don't need extreme sleuthing skills to figure out when this place got started. This state park is home to an intact and still-functioning steam locomotive repair and maintenance facility, portions of which date back to - you guessed it - 1897. It includes a railroad roundhouse with operating turntable, functional blacksmithing area, and belt-driven machine shop. Roundhouse tours are given daily (small extra fee).All of that may be a little yawn-invoking unless you're a train buff, but this part may perk your interest. Locomotive No. 3 is a movie star. Since its first appearance in the 1919 silent film serial The Red Glove, the historic locomotives and railroad cars here have appeared in more than 200 films. Their credits include The Virginian, the first sound motion picture filmed outside a studio, western classic High Noon and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. It even featured in the old television show Petticoat Junction.
Off season, the park is quiet, but on weekends from April to October, you can take a ride on the old steam powered trains.
Getting to Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
5th Avenue and Reservoir Road
Jamestown, CA
209- 984-3953
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park website
Railtown is 3 miles south of Sonora just off California Hwy 49. Take any exit into town and you'll find plenty of signs guiding you there.
