RailGiants.org

2025 National Meeting of
The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.
Hosted by the Southern California Chapter

June 11 – 14, 2025

Ontario, California

“Southern California Rails” is the theme for the 2025 Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s annual meeting to be held from June 11 to June 14. The host is R&LHS’s Southern California Chapter.

Ontario lies inland from Los Angeles and stands on the western edge of the booming Inland Empire area that continues through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. To reach Ontario, many transportation options are available, including rail passenger trains, commercial air travel, and freeway driving.

Event headquarters is:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel - Ontario Airport
222 N. Vineyard Avenue
Ontario, California 91764

DoubleTree is conveniently located near Ontario International Airport (ONT) via free hotel shuttle.

Hotel is just off of Interstate 10, four miles west of Interstate 15.

Meeting’s activities planned are:

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

  • Afternoon registration and national R&LHS board meeting.
  • An evening meet-and-greet reception with no-host bar.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

  • Breakfast is on your own.
  • A tour on air-conditioned motor coaches toward the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles is planned, focusing on the interface between the ports and the railroads in moving intermodal freight inland. A box lunch will be provided.
  • Dinner is on your own.
  • Author and photographer Joe Strapac will present an evening program titled “Rail Expansion in Southern California, 1869-1911."

Friday, June 13, 2025

  • Breakfast is on your own.
  • Board air-conditioned motor coaches to Southern California Railway Museum (SCRM) in Perris. Founded in 1956 and located in Perris since 1958, it originally was known as Orange Empire Trolley Museum. SCRM later expanded its emphasis to include steam and diesel railroading. A full day is planned at the museum. Equipment is expected to be operating, with train rides planned. In addition to an extensive fleet for the museum’s operating trackage, it also owns the rolling stock from Walt Disney animator Ward Kimball’s Grizzly Flats Railroad. The opportunity to operate a diesel locomotive will be available at an extra charge, payable directly to SCRM. A box lunch will be provided.
  • Following the return to DoubleTree, the evening will begin with a no-host bar. Dinner will include the R&LHS annual members’ meeting.
  • The dinner’s speaker will be Union Pacific Railroad Manager, Heritage Operations Ed Dickens. He oversaw operation of UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boy type locomotive No. 4014 (American Locomotive Co., or Alco, 1941) and 4-8-4 Northern type locomotive No. 844 (Alco, 1944). Southern California Chapter returned No. 4014 to Union Pacific in 2013 for an overhaul, completed in 2019. It participated in events marking the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike Ceremony. Since then, it has toured much of the UP system, from Chicago to Texas and California. Chairman Rob Shatsnider noted that, “We are supportive of rail preservation and what better way to preserve a locomotive than to have a Class 1 railroad restore it to service.”

Saturday, June 14, 2025

  • The morning begins with an included breakfast buffet, at which author John Bush is scheduled to speak on Union Pacific’s 88-member fleet of Alco-built 4-12-2 three-cylinder locomotives. Built between 1926 and 1930, the group was unique to UP. With co-author and UP expert William Kratville, Bush literally wrote the book (two volumes) on the 9000 class.
  • Attendees will board air-conditioned motor coaches to the Southern California Chapter’s RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona. Bush will give a walk-around tour of the only surviving 4-12-2 locomotive, UP No. 9000. That locomotive, together with Southern Pacific three-cylinder 4-10-2 locomotive No. 5021 (Alco, 1926) and UP 6,600-horsepower DDA40X “Centennial” double‐diesel No. 6915 (Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corp., 1969), give meaning to the “Giants” part of the RailGiants name. Another diesel in the collection, UP SD40-2C unit No. 3105, will be running. The collection includes four more steam locomotives: Santa Fe Hudson-type 4-6-4 locomotive No. 3450 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1927); narrow-gauge Consolidation-type 2-8-0 locomotive No. 3 (BLW, 1903), used by several Western mining operations; Fruit Growers Supply Climax type locomotive No. 3 (Climax Manufacturing Co., 1909); and Outer Harbor Terminal Railway 0-6-0 switcher No. 2 (Schenectady Locomotive Works, 1887). Also, the museum includes three cabooses and several freight and passenger cars, including a Santa Fe horse express car.
  • Buses will depart before lunch, returning attendees either back to the DoubleTree or, for those having afternoon flights, to Ontario International Airport.
  • Lunch is on your own.

Important:

  1. Not all equipment is ADA accessible.
  2. Registrations must be received by May 15, 2025.
  3. No refund on R&LHS meeting registrations after May 15, 2025.
  4. Attendees with dietary needs must contact the Southern California Chapter in writing at least two weeks prior to the event.
  5. The meeting’s activities are subject to change.

Hotel information:

  • Information regarding registering for our special room rate at DoubleTree Hotel will be conveyed to each registrant via email. This information is also contained in R&LHS December 2024 newsletter.
  • Attendees are responsible for their own overnight accommodation. The Annual Meeting’s Registration package price does not include hotel room lodging.
  • Overnight parking if needed at DoubleTree is about $18 per day.

To register to attend the R&LHS Annual Meeting:

  • Purchase tickets on-line with a major credit card using PayPal.
  • $450 per person for members. Spouse or significant other may also register at this rate.
  • $490 per person, if not a member. Cost includes a 1-year R&LHS membership.
  • List the names of each person attending, and any special requests during the registration process.

Registration ends on or after May 15, 2025.

Travel options to/from Ontario:

Ontario International Airport is the closest airport. The DoubleTree provides a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Other major airports are at greater distance.

Amtrak serves San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Metrolink commuter trains connect these stations with locations near Ontario. Rancho Cucamonga is the nearest Metrolink stop to the convention hotel with numerous daily arrivals and departures.

Amtrak Trains & connections:

  • Southwest Chief serves San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Metrolink commuter trains connect those stations with Rancho Cucamonga.
  • Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle operates three days a week serving Los Angeles. It also stops in downtown Ontario at less convenient times. Recommend connecting Sunset with Metrolink in Los Angeles to Rancho Cucamonga.
  • Coast Starlight serves Los Angeles. Metrolink commuter trains connect Los Angeles with Rancho Cucamonga.
  • San Joaquin bus connection serves Los Angeles and downtown Ontario. Metrolink commuter trains connect Los Angeles with Rancho Cucamonga.
  • Pacific Surfliner serves Los Angeles. Metrolink commuter trains connect Los Angeles with Rancho Cucamonga.

Metrolink train service requires a separate ticket, which can be purchased from station’s machines and smart phone app.

An updated rail guide will be posted here as the meeting approaches.

Uber and Lyft are also popular options.

Questions?

Call us on 909.833.0464, RailGiants’ voicemail and leave us a message. Tell us your name, telephone number, and that your call is regarding the R&LHS meeting.