Model trains, demonstrations, a historic maintenance railway motorcar and train-themed songs and films await history buffs and train fans alike at the upcoming Los Altos History Museum’s Train Day.
Train Day, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 14) at the Los Altos History Museum, is an ode to the city’s railroad history. Los Altos sprung up along tracks belonging to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and Paul Shoup – often revered as the “grandfather of Los Altos” – was an executive at said company.
“The railroad made the town, with Southern Pacific trains stopping in Los Altos on their way from Palo Alto to Los Gatos,” said Anna Toledano, the Museum’s executive director, in a press release. “Train Day honors that legacy and invites us to imagine a time when Los Altos might once again welcome a train.”
Model train displays created by Joan Hodnett of the Golden State Toy Train Operating Society and the BAGRS Live Steam Group will be available for viewing. Attendees will also be able to peek into a maintenance railway car, brought onto the premises by former Los Altos mayor Arthur Carmichael.
Singer-songwriter Michael McNevin – who himself has connections to railroad history in the Niles neighborhood of Fremont – will perform a number of train-themed tunes laced with impressive guitar work, storytelling and humor from 1-2 p.m. Historic train footage will also be available to view in the upper gallery of the museum, while youth will showcase their innovation and engineering skills by providing visitors interactive activities, including Lego train-building.
Local author Robin Chapman, who penned “The Valley of Heart’s Delight: True Tales from Around the Bay,” will be at the outdoor museum store to speak with visitors, who can purchase signed copies of her novel.
Food will be available for purchase and admission is $10 for everyone 13 or older. Museum members have free admission.
“There is something to do and learn at Train Day for everyone,” Toledano said in the release. “Whether you’ve just moved here, have been here for decades, or never left, this event connects the whole community. All aboard!”
Admission is $10 per person; free for museum members and children 12 and under. Pay at the gate. To learn more, visit losaltoshistory.org/TrainDay2025.
