I was just checking out Travel Town on Google Earth. I did not see a rail line close to the museum. Was everything trucked in or am I missing a connection somewhere?

While on the subject, it is fun to "visit" museums etc. via Google Earth. I have "been to" a bunch of museums that I have not yet visted in person. You cannot make out detail of each piece of equipment, but it is fun see museum track plans, engine house layouts etc....

Note: Not all areas of Google Earth are enhanced. Mostly areas of more population or special interest.

I believe there is a connection. Anyone remember the 1970's TV movie where a bunch of senior citizens decide to steal a center cab or plymouth diesel and head out onto the mainline for a joyride? I believe it was filmed at Travel Town.

The Ventura Freeway (134) construction in the early 60's severed any connection to a main line. It was the prospect of that fact that cause the Orange Empire Traction Company to move out their equipment from Travel Town in the late 50's and settle 70 miles away in Perris, today's OERM.

The referenced movie from the 70s must have used a little Hollywood magic to make the impression of going from T.T. onto a main line.

Thanks for the info guys. I never realized the Orange Empire stuff was once there.

The movie you are thinking of was filmed in 1979 and called "Better Late Than Never". It was filmed a wee bit north of Travel Town on the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad in Washington State. Motive power was ex-US Navy 45 tonner GE Diesel #7320. Long days but good food.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078855/

Richard Wilkens

I last time I was there was three or four years ago.

The new covered display building was standing and looked good; but there was not a letter to be seen on any of the locomotives or cars.

They intend to get a sign painter in there some time, but has it happened yet?

The place is an ignima to say the least. they say they are a children's park not a museum, but they have some really histooric equipment there.

The only surviving Los Angeles horse car, the only San Francisco or LA steam dummy (one of two in the US), One of only 5 WP locos, only SP Atlantic to name a few.

By the way, they had to truck everything into the site, no rail connection.

They could at least letter the equipment with vinal letters, if not paint!

Ted Miles

I was told by one or two of the live-steamer guys when I visited about two years ago that part of the problem with maintaining the Griffith Park rolling stock is that it's in a municipal park, and therefore, maintenance, painting, etc. supposedly ALL has to be done under city jurisdictions--as in, union labor (the city of Los Angeles has a downright incestuous relationship with the civil service unions, I can tell you from firsthand knowledge and business dealings), every environmental regulation followed to the letter, public bidding for jobs, set-asides, etc. This is only what I was told by those on the scene and supposedly sympathetic to "the cause;" if it is ugly rumor-mongering and/or completely false, I apologize.

Let me try and answer a few of the questions as best as I can.

Travel Town had never had a mainline connection. Everything in the museum has come in by truck. Having just managed the delivery of our locomotive crane, I can only imagine the difficulty Charley Atkins had getting some of the larger steam locomotives delivered.

Travel Town was originally conceived as a children's playground and that is part of the reason the locomotives are in the shape that they are. Another reason is theft by railfans, City employees and others back in a day when City management was much more lax. Those of us directly involved with Travel Town, both volunteers and City staff closely involved with TT consider it a museum now, and are doing are best to move it more that way.

There is no requirement that City employees perform or manage the painting. For those pieces of equipment that the volunteers are restoring, we are doing or managing all the painting. I'm working on acquiring the paint for the crane now.

The lack of lettering and city painting rumor probably stems from that fact that someone a few years "discovered" that all the equipment at TT had lead paint. It caused all sorts of concern among some people and caused the City to issue an emergency repainting contract. Unfortunately, that repainting contract was only intended to remediate the lead issue and did not call for proper colors, quality paint or re-lettering. The volunteers have funded the proper re-lettering of a few pieces of equipment, notably the ATSF 664. The rest will be done as funds and labor is available.

Greg

There never was a rail connection. Everything was trucked in. One of the then existing heavy hall firms in the LA area donated much of the transportation from one of the nearby SP team tracks.

As I already said, Travel Town never had a mainline connection. What the Ventura Freeway construction did was force Travel Town to be relocated closer to the hillside, and eliminated any chance of restarting train service on then old NG line that ran from TT East using the Hawaiian equipment. That line never crossed the LA River either.

Greg

If you have access to a collection of "The Western Railroader" there is an whole issue about "Travel Town." That was issue #200 from June, 1956, with the article written by G. M. "Jerry" Best. It has pictures of several of the locomotives being trucked in by Belyea; most came from the SP Burbank station team track. Many nice pictures of the locomotives, etc. in original paint.

Also a photo of the old SP Arcadia freight station up on blocks. From the caption it was once at Parker Lyon's Pony Express Museum. This is the building now used as the entrance from the parking lot.

The SCSRA has a copy of this article online at
http://www.scsra.org/best/page1.html



The Arcadia Depot has not been used as the entrance for many years now. There is a new entrance with a bridge over the train ride in the southwest corner of the museum. The Arcadia is still the depot for the train ride.

Greg

Greg,

you seem to be closer to the operation than anyone else who has contributed to this string.

Is there any news on the volunteer front? I understand that the volunteer group that used to be there at Travel town has been told to leave and has taken a caboose or two to another site.

Is there any volunteer actiivity at the park besides the model train layout??

Ted miles

Sorry for the erroneous information on the rail connection. I was going from memory which is pretty hard to do when you were born a year after the events discussed! Thanks Greg for the correction. Regarding horsecars, let me try another possible blunder. The late Lindley Bothwell famed SoCal citrus rancher, Indy race car driver and USC yell king had a fine automobile collection on one of his ranches. His collection included more than one horsecar and it is inconceivable to me that at least one of those wouldn't be from the Los Angeles area. I searched the internet for more information, but came up empty.

There is a very active group of volunteers at Travel Town. And a lot is being accomplished.

Even before the past unpleasenteness, there were at least two active volunteer groups at Travel Town. The SCSRA's permit was cancelled several years ago, and the orginization did leave, and after a protracted legal fight, a settlement was reached where they took the cabooses to Fullerton, and Travel Town was given clear title to the American Locomotive crane and a flatcar.

Though the organization left, many of the volunteers did not, and the other group (ASRA) was not affected. Both Diesel locomotives are in service and used regularly. The Winton in the motorcar runs, and the electrical is almost done.

The crane has been brought to the Museum, and it is back together except for the boom which will be installed very soon now.

Lots of track has been built and rebuilt, and we're about to start building track again as soon as the crane is back in service.

Greg