A Train for Everyone Starts Today

For the first time in its history, everyone will be able to ride.

Help make history by supporting the construction of an accessible rail car for the Sacramento Southern Railroad of the California State Railroad Museum.

For more than 40 years, California State Railroad Museum members, donors, and riders from across the Sacramento region have kept the historic fleet of the Sacramento Southern Railroad running. Whether riding excursion trains, experiencing the magic of THE POLAR EXPRESS® train ride, or joining a school field trip in Old Sacramento, more than 100,000 riders a year experience California history in motion.

But here's something you may not know: not everyone who wanted to ride could. 

The Problem

Our historic passenger cars were built more than a century ago — long before accessibility was a right rather than an afterthought. They have steep stairs. Narrow vestibules. No space for a wheelchair or a walker.

Every year, that means visitors with mobility limitations can't board safely. Seniors for whom stairs have become a real obstacle sit out. Veterans with service-connected disabilities watch from the platform. Families face an impossible choice: leave someone behind or skip the train altogether.

The Solution: The Santa Fe 991

The California State Railroad Museum Foundation has acquired a 1913 Pullman-built passenger car — one that, unlike the cars in our museum collection, has no irreplaceable historic features we're obligated to preserve. That means we can do something we've never been able to do before: rebuild it from the ground up, the right way, for every visitor.

When complete, the Santa Fe 991 will be the first accessible passenger car in our excursion fleet. It will feature:

• Two hydraulic boarding lifts so wheelchair users can board with ease and dignity
• A fully accessible restroom
• Climate control for year-round service

This isn't a ramp bolted onto an old car. It's a complete rebuild — a first-class rail experience designed from scratch to welcome every rider.

Where We Are

Restoration is already underway at a specialized facility in Signal Hill, California — the clock is running, and the goal is to have the Santa Fe 991 in service for the 2027 excursion season. The total project cost is $1 million, with a 2026 fundraising goal of $500,000 to keep the work on track. To date, $95,000 has been committed.

Big Day of Giving is our opportunity to build serious momentum — we're looking to the community to help us reach an additional $40,000 in gifts, and every donation, at any level, moves us closer to that mark. This is the campaign where the collective power of this community does something lasting: it puts a family that's never been able to ride all together on a train, finally, for the first time.

Your Gift Makes This Possible:

$50 — Helps build the accessible aisle, foot by foot

$100 — Contributes toward period-authentic interior fixtures

$250 — Supports electrical and climate system upgrades

$500 — Helps fund accessible restroom installation

$1,000+ — Named recognition in the car's donor acknowledgments

This Is the Moment

Think of the child with a disability boarding a historic train alongside her classmates. The veteran in a wheelchair experiencing railroad history on his own terms. The grandparent who finally gets to ride with the whole family.

For them, this isn't a nice-to-have. It's everything.

On Big Day of Giving, please make a gift to bring the Santa Fe 991 home to Sacramento — and bring everyone along for the ride.