The birthplace of the Big Boy Steam Dream

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 2, 2025, and concluding on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 2025. 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.

Friday, November 14, 2025 – Rail Meeting 7:30pm On Zoom

We moved our Rail Meetings to the internet. See access information below.

Argentina Rails and the Old Patagonia Express – 2004
Presented by Harvey Laner

In October of 2004, Trains Unlimited Tours sponsored a two-week railfanning adventure that spanned the far reaches of Argentina.

Harvey Laner’s program begins in Buenos Aires at the standard gauge and broad gauge FerroClub sites. At the standard gauge location, former Pacific Electric equipment has been saved from the scrapper after use on the General Urquiza Railway. The broadgauge Ferro Club site has the last operating export Baldwin Shark Nose diesel in Argentina. The Baldwin powers a charter train made up of the ex-Chesapeake and Ohio, Budd-built “Chessie” passenger train.

The group then visits the historic streetcar line where trams operate a one and a quartermile loop in the Caballito neighborhood of Buenos Aires. We then board the broad gauge Tren Patagonico for the two day and two-night trip across the Argentinian Pampas into Patagonia. There we transfer from the 5-ft 6-in broad gauge train to the 2-ft 5 ½ inch double-headed steam powered narrow gauge Old Patagonian Express. Experience a memorable five-day adventure on the historic 250- mile-long narrow-gauge line where trains are powered by Baldwin and Henschel Mikados dating back to 1922.

After a brief stay in scenic Bariloche, the program concludes back in Buenos Aires with a visit to the three Retiro district commuter rail line terminals serving Argentina’s Capital city. The Retiro stations host an interesting mix of standard gauge, meter gauge and broad-gauge commuter trains, some powered by Alco export model RSD-16 locomotives shipped to Argentina in the late 1950s.

How to attend our meeting:

  • On your computer’s internet browser, go to: RailMeeting.org (this will take you to the Zoom meeting room).
  • Password: 3450
  • Doors open at 7:15 pm (Pacific Daylight Time).
  • Our meeting begins at 7:30 pm, on Friday, November 14, 2025. (Using international time, that’s at 03:30 UTC on Saturday.)

We recommend visiting RailMeeting.org before the meeting to download the most recent version of Zoom software.

Future Monthly Meeting Dates and Topics

Friday
November 14, 2025
Argentina Rails and the Old Patagonia Express

Tuesday
December 09, 2025
To be announced