Best Rail Museum Sunnyvale Near Me

4worldlovers: The South Bay Historical Railroad Society (SBHRS) was incorporated in 1985 to preserve the local area railroad heritage while running a working museum to benefit the community. Our members are volunteers and work on the renovation and preservation of the Santa Clara Railroad Depot, the Santa Clara Tower and the two maintenance-of-way buildings.


A large and varied collection of historic railroad artifacts are on display in the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History located in the Depot. This now includes the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation business car #184 which was loaned to us and placed on our siding on June 26, 2009.

4worldlovers:
The museum and freight house are located at: 37592 Niles Blvd, Fremont, CA 94536-2980

For opening dates and times, please check our website Online Calendar.

See what just happened in the Depot! Click here for more info!

The next Niles Depot Model Train Event will be Sunday, June 25, 2023 from 10am to 2pm on the patio behind the Niles Depot. Click here for more info!


Donate Your Model Trains, Books and Magazines! Click here for more info!


The Niles passenger and freight depots located in the Niles District of Fremont, California, are home to a railroad museum and two new model railroad layouts. Using historical documentation, the planners and builders of both railroads are recreating the features of the nearby communities with Niles as the center. Included are the depots and the nearby Niles Tower with the crossing of the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads as well as the many neighboring communities and industries.


The non-profit Niles Depot Historical Foundation runs the museum and operation of the passenger depot which contains many local artifacts and railroad displays. It is also seeking new members with an interest in local history to be docents in the museum.

Inside the Museum and Freight House, the Tri-City Society of Model Engineers built and operate two layouts are based in Niles and the surrounding communities of the Bay Area. Attention is given to accuracy and detail in both the track plans and surrounding scenery. The modeling era is the mid-1970s, but all industries and towns are being represented as they were in their prime.

The HO scale layout features the Southern Pacific mainline from Niles to San Jose with the many industries in Niles, Newark, Union City and other intermediate communities, as well as both Southern Pacific and Western Pacific lines through Niles Canyon to Pleasanton and Livermore. San Jose Cahill St. Station is featured as the model railroad’s large passenger terminal. A section will also feature the BART line through Fremont.

The N scale layout features the SP and WP mainlines from Niles to Oakland with intermediate communities such as Decoto, Alvarado and Hayward.

4worldlovers: Operated by the Society for the Preservation for Carter Railroad Resources, Inc. (SPCRR),

4worldlovers:
In October 2004, the Millbrae Historical Society opened a railroad museum at the former Millbrae Southern Pacific Train Depot. The new Museum was described in a February 4, 2005 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. The depot building has been continuously in use since it was rebuilt in 1907. The Historical Society has a three-tiered plan for the site. The first step - the repair, clean up and repainting of the structure - was completed by a group of dedicated volunteer railroaders, led by Historical Society Treasurer and Train Museum Curator Vern Bruce. Throughout the process, careful attention has been paid to restoring the depot to as close to its original as-built state as is feasible. The waiting room and ticketmaster's office have been set up as a display area, housing a varied collection of photos, artifacts, documents, and books dedicated to the railroad history of Millbrae, the Peninsula, and the western United States.


In October 2011, we were honored to take possession of a fully restored 1929 Ford Model AA heavy-duty truck outfitted as a Railway Express Agency (REA) delivery vehicle. The truck, pictured below, is now on permanent display as part of our Train Museum exhibition. The vehicle was meticulously restored by MHS Lifetime Member David Hannigan and donated to the Train Museum for the enjoyment of all our visitors. This newest historical gem is just one more reason you'll want to plan a visit real soon to the Millbrae Train Museum!