Museum History

In 1946, a group of like-minded individuals learned that an old Oakland streetcar that they had chartered for a day’s outing was to be scrapped within a week. They immediately dug into their pockets and gathered together enough money to buy the car right there on the spot. In this spirit of philanthropy and historic preservation, the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association was created to foster interest in streetcar, interurban, and mainline electric railroad operations, and to preserve these rapidly vanishing pieces of history.

In the following years, many interurbans and streetcars were collected, as well as smaller artifacts such as photographs, corporate records, books, fare boxes, and signage. By 1960, the need for a permanent site was clear. Rio Vista Junction, an actual stop on the electrically powered Sacramento Northern main line in Solano County, was selected as the museum site, and the task of transforming 22 vacant acres into a living history museum began. In 1985, the name "Western Railway Museum" was officially adopted.

Click here for more information about joining the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association as a member, donor, or volunteer.

During 1993, the Union Pacific Railroad made a gift of 22 miles of right-of-way to our museum. Donations from museum members and friends enabled us to purchase the rails, ties, and associated hardware. This donation was significant, not only because we can now recreate an authentic interurban trip, but also because the right-of-way was originally built as an electric interurban line: the Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern (later known as the Sacramento Northern). To date, five miles have been rehabilitated to the original standards, using drawings and schematics preserved in our own archives.

In 2001, the Museum's new 12,000 sq ft Visitors and Archives Center opened. The new facility, designed in the mission revival style, radically changes the visitors’ experience at the Museum. Visitors now park in a large paved parking lot with plenty of space for buses and RV’s.

In 2004, work began on the Loring C. Jensen Memorial Car House, a fully enclosed, publicly accessible artifact storage and display facility. The $2.5 million facility is the biggest and most-expensive project in our history to-date. It was completed and officially opened to the public on May 3, 2008. Once daily public guided tours are now given every day the Museum is open.

To download the Final Project Report as a 1.5 MB .pdf file, click here.

In 2009, the Board of Directors adopted a Five Year Strategic Plan to help guide and focus the work of the organization. The plan was crafted during two day-long retreats and involved ample opportunity for in depth discussion of priorities, opportunities, and challenges. After a substantial vetting process, the Board arrived at consensus around the following 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year goals:

1-year (and annual) goals

Annual budget accountability and work program tied together for all departments, incl. Archives (ongoing annual goal)
Finish 1005
Address governance and management issues (ongoing annual goal)
Develop checks and balances (ongoing annual goal)

3-year goals

Improve interpretation
Expanding education and outreach (onsite and offsite)
Finish Destination Molena

5-year goals

Increase community partnerships
Restore a steel car (there may be no “perfect” option, we need to choose the “best” option)
Return of excursions

The museum is supported by 1200 members, 125 volunteers, admission receipts, museum store sales, and tax-deductible donations from organizations, friends, visitors, and members of the museum.