Golden Gate Railroad Museum, Railroad museum in Sunol, California.
The Golden Gate Railroad Museum keeps its collection at Schellville, near Victory Station on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, having begun moving there in March 2020. Its offices are in Redwood City. The collection includes ex-SP 2472, a steam locomotive built for the Southern Pacific that volunteers restored after Mike Mangini found it in 1972.
The museum was founded in 1975 to restore and preserve a historic steam locomotive that had been stationary since the 1950s. This preservation effort became the foundation for collecting and maintaining other rail vehicles over the following decades.
The museum takes its name from the Golden Gate, though its collection is now kept at Schellville on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, with offices in Redwood City. Its reporting mark is GGMX. Volunteers carry out restoration work, replacing brake valves, fixing air leaks and swapping wheel sets on passenger cars before moves. In 2003 the MythBusters episode "Peeing on the Third Rail" was filmed at the original Hunters Point site.
The site is easily accessible in Sunol and provides ample room to walk around and explore the different vehicles outdoors. Clear weather offers the best viewing conditions for examining the entire collection, so visitors should plan flexible timing.
Several vehicles in the collection can still operate and are regularly used for special demonstrations and events. This means visitors can experience the sounds and movements of working rail equipment, not just view static displays.
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