Special Events
RailGiants Train Museum Hours
RailGiants is open on selected weekends and during The Los Angeles County Fair
RailGiants Train Museum is open on the second full weekend of each month. Our hours of operation are from 10am until 5pm. RailGiants is located in the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California. During our open house weekends at RailGiants, visitors can walk around all locomotives and railcars and buy train souvenirs in our RailGiants Store in the depot. By walking up stairways into each giant locomotive, you can see into the cabs where engineers and firemen operated these large engines down the tracks of the nation’s rail network. Visitors are welcome to join us while maintenance and rehabilitation work is in progress and ask our volunteer museum staff members any questions.
Admission to the RailGiants Train Museum is always free. During the Los Angeles County Fair event, RailGiants is part of The County Fair, and there is no additional cost to enter RailGiants after purchasing an admission ticket to The County Fair. Any donation to help maintain our equipment is optional, but always welcome. The excellent conditional of our historic railroad equipment is achieved by the generous donations of past visitors and the help of our volunteer members.
Please note: when the scheduled Sunday falls on Easter, the museum will be closed on that Sunday.
Check the Event Schedule page for our current schedule of days and hours.
If you need to make arrangements to see RailGiants Train Museum on a day when we are not normally open, or for filming for television and motion pictures, please send us a message on our Contact Us page, or call the Museum Depot on 909-623-0190.
Los Angeles County Fair
The Fair is held for 16 days, starting on Friday, May 3, 2024, and concluding on Memorial Day,
Monday, May 27, 2024. RailGiants and the County Fair are closed on some weekdays; check our schedule for specific days. During the County Fair, RailGiants Train Museum is part of the County Fair and is open on every day of the County Fair. However, entry to RailGiants requires purchasing admission to the County Fair. Once inside the County Fair, no additional fees are required to enter RailGiants and see our trains.
Check the Fair's website for complete information regarding fair dates, times, parking, and costs.
Rail Meetings
Join us for monthly for updates, interesting programs about railroads, and visiting with your fellow members. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday or second Friday of each month at 7:30pm. For the most up-to-date information about our schedule of meetings, please refer to our Event Schedule page, or our monthly newsletter, the Observation Platform (O.P.). Any questions, comments, or suggestions about our meetings? Send us a message on our Contact Us page.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 – Rail Meeting 7:30pm On Zoom
We moved our Rail Meetings to the internet. See access information below.
Four Amazing RDC Rides Presented by Harvey Lane
Between 1949 and 1962, a quantity of 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, most being retired by the 1980s. Harvey Laner presents his video program featuring four rail operations that employed RDCs late in the unique car’s history
Trinity Railway Express - On December 30th, 1996, the DART Trinity Railway Express, or TRE opened the first segment of a commuter rail line in the in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex. To prepare for the service, in 1993 DART purchased 13 RDCs from VIA Rail Canada.
Portland & Western - In early 2003, the State of Oregon secured enough funds to purchase three used 1956 Budd cars from BC Rail for the Lewis & Clark Explorer excursion train. Oregon state officials at the Oregon Department of Transportation collaborated with the Portland & Western Railroad to operate the three Budd car train between Linnton, Oregon, just west of Portland over 90 miles to Astoria, Oregon. The excursion train operated 4 days per week during the spring and summer seasons for three years until the end of the Lewis & Clark Exploration anniversary celebration on October 5, 2005.
Cuba - For two weeks in March of 2001, Trains Unlimited Tours operated a tour of Cuban
sugar plantations operating early 20th century-built American steam locomotives
powering sugar cane trains from field to mill. The group visited 14 Cuban sugar mills
spread over a large geographic portion of the island nation. Travel over these
long‐distance routes was on a charter two-car train of former VIA Canada Budd RDC cars.
This portion of the program features highlights of original Cuban purchased RDCs as well
as second-hand acquisitions, still in service at that time.
BC Rail – BC Rail’s RDCs were originally purchased by the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, which operated passenger service between North Vancouver and Prince George. On June 6, 1992, Harvey Laner rode BC Rail’s RDCs from North Vancouver to Whistler BC and captured on video an exciting mix of beautiful scenery and interesting railroad operations, viewed from the cab.
How to join our meeting:
- On your computer’s internet browser, go to: RailMeeting.org (that will take you to the Zoom meeting room).
- Password: 3450
- Doors open at 7:15 pm (Pacific Standard Time).
- Our meeting begins at 7:30 pm, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. (Using international time, that’s at 03:30 UTC on Wednesday.)
We recommend visiting RailMeeting.org before the meeting to download the most recent version of Zoom software.
Future Monthly Meeting Dates and Topics
Tuesday
December 10, 2024
Four Amazing RDC Rides
Friday
January 10, 2025
To be announced
Tuesday
February 11, 2025
Alaska Railroad