Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles is the largest railroad terminal in the West serving more than 100,000 passengers each day. Opening in 1939, this was the last great railway station built during the Golden Age of train travel. Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne are its architectural styles making it timeless and iconic.
#315 Angels Flight
Angels Flight is an historic funicular railway in Downtown Los Angeles which has served the city since 1901. It is known as one of the shortest railroads in the world and was originally used to carry businessmen up Bunker Hill. Operating until 1969, it was then stored for 27 years until reopening in 1996 as a tourist landmark. Unfortunately, several accidents have caused the railway to close and a reopening is unknown at this point. The railway is still displayed Downtown.
#295 Cima Ghost Town
Cima is a ghost town located in the Mojave National Preserve. Founded in 1900 with the opening of a store and later post office in 1905, H.C. Gibson's made the town famous because he did not pump gas for his customers making this the original self-service station. The Union Pacific Railroad passes the lazy town each day on its historic route. Cima is also the heart of the largest and densest Joshua Tree grove on Earth.
#266 Gaviota State Park
Gaviota State Park or 'Seagull' in Spanish is an impressive park on the Santa Barbara Coast. Hiking trails wind through sculpted canyons of the Santa Ynez Mountains covered in Spring wildflowers. Sandy beaches lie next to sea stacks to create an unforgettable rocky coastline that drops from mountain to sea. An historic railroad trestle soars above Gaviota Creek at 811 feet. It opened in 1901 and became a regular service route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
#213 Casa Del Desierto
Casa Del Desierto is a Barstow Harvey House built in 1911 by the Atchison, Topeka & Sante Fe Railroad. The famous Fred Harvey Company operated the station as a restaurant & hotel and was an important stop in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Its iconic Spanish Renaissance and Classical Revival architecture stood out as a beacon in the desert. Today, it serves as a museum with the adjacent Western America Railroad Museum & Route 66 'Mother Road' Museum.
#180 San Diego Model Railroad Museum
At 27,000 square feet, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The museum recreates many California Railroad scenes from cities to mountains and deserts. Model Railroads first became popular at the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park as a way to promote railroad travel during the Great Depression. Model enthusiasts have flocked here every since to create a world class museum.
#170 Keeler Ghost Town
Keeler is a ghost town outside of Death Valley National Park in the Eastern Sierra Nevada known as the 'End of the Line'. The Carson and Colorado Railway extended their railroad all the way here during the Gold Rush in 1883. When nearby mining towns went bust, plans to extend the railway further to Mojave fell through and Keeler became the last stop of the line. The once-thriving adjacent Owens Lake was purchased by the city of Los Angeles who stole the entire water supply leaving Keeler high and dry.
#168 Orange Empire Railway Museum
The Orange Empire Railway Museum has been a railway paradise in Perris since 1956. With 90 acres of astounding locomotive history and more than 200 cars from Pullman, cable and streetcars, BNSF and the largest collection of Pacific Electric Railway stock in the world, the grounds will have you busy for hours. The museum is named 'Orange Empire' after the famous orange groves that once grew in the Inland Empire.
#161 Kelso Depot
The Kelso Depot stands brilliantly in the middle of the Mojave National Preserve. Now a visitor center for the park, the depot has been a desert landmark since opening in 1923. It was an important railroad service stop for the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad and was crucial during World War II for the war effort delivering key goods via Union Pacific. The National Park Service saved the depot from demolition when abandoned after passenger service ended in 1964 and restored it to its original glory. It continues to be a beacon of light for travelers in the desolate, yet stunning Mojave Desert.
#116 Santa Fe Depot
Santa Fe Depot in the heart of Downtown San Diego was built in 1915 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Originally constructed to bring in visitors to the Panama-California Exposition the same year, its Mission Revival Architecture was the grandest structure the railway had ever built in the West. Its wooden ceilings were constructed from California Redwood Trees. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places, Santa Fe Depot is a must see for any visit.
