200 E Santa Fe Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832
Hours: Opened on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month only (9 AM-12 PM)
Admission: Free but donations are appreciated
Overview
Well, let me just start by saying, those expecting an actual museum may be a little disappointed. Train lovers and train enthusiasts, however, will really enjoy this place. Located in the city of Fullerton, directly adjacent to the Fullerton Train Station, the train “museum” is actually an outdoor exhibition that tells the story of Orange County railways. The museum itself is made up of three historic cabooses, alongside two 1940’s Union Pacific lounge cars and a 1951 Santa Fe streamlined sleeping car. Although the only thing to do is to walk through the cars, it is undoubtedly worth the short visit.
All things considered, it will take most visitors less than 30 minutes to tour the trains. The most difficult facet of visiting is the hours. The “museum” is only open for 3 hours, twice a month. The “museum” is free to enter and is entirely staffed by volunteers. The volunteers are incredibly gracious with their time. They are very kind and enthusiastic and are always willing to answer questions or just discuss train themed topics. All in all, this is a great place to spend an hour, if you can align your schedule with one of the few days they are open. Additionally, the train station, right next door, makes a great stop to watch the passing by trains and containers.
Scout’s Story
Christmas was now just a week away. This has been a really trying year, yet we are attempting to do everything that we can for our daughter, Scout, to bring some holiday cheer. Scout is now 1 month out from her most recent chemotherapy and her hair is almost entirely gone at this point. On the bright side, her energy levels seem to be great. Scout is now in her fourth month of battling stage 4 cancer and will undergo PET scans soon to help us understand the next steps in her treatment. The constant visits to the clinic and hospital are something that Scout has become accustomed to but still struggles with at times.
Being that Scout was scheduled for a 1 PM appointment, we figured what a better way to let her spend her morning than by taking her to the Fullerton Train Museum. At the present time, Scout’s favorite thing in life is trains. She watches trains on youtube, makes train sounds and loves seeing and watching them in person. Furthermore, Scout even has a train hat that she puts on and a whistle that she blows as she follows her toy trains as they circle the table that she puts them on. Being that the museum is only open two days a month, we were super excited to finally be able to visit with her.
Scout’s day at the Fullerton Train Museum
We arrived a little after the museum opened but first we stopped at the train station. No trains were running but Scout, at 19 months old, knew exactly where we were. She kept looking in every direction hoping to spot a train. Next, we made our way to the train cars/train museum. Scout was excited to enter the cars and we were greeted and welcomed in by several enthusiastic and kind volunteers. To our surprise, the train cars were completely decked out in Christmas decorations.
There was even a Santa Clause waiting inside to take pictures. Unfortunately, Scout is still a little scared of Santa Clause and wasn’t exactly fond of taking a picture with him. As we passed through each car, the volunteers had stamps, stickers and bowls of candy spread out for the kids.
We had an exceptional time visiting and seeing the old train cars. What made the morning even better, was the enthusiasm of the volunteers to share their stories and expertise. The kindness and graciousness that exuded from each of them was a welcomed sight. At the end of the day, we were happy that Scout got to see some trains and that we were able to brighten up her day before her visit to the hospital.
