San Angelo Revives Train Days Celebration After 30-Year Hiatus

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Railway Museum of San Angelo is reviving its National Train Days celebration for the first time in nearly 30 years, hosting events May 9-10 to mark the anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad's completion. 

The main attraction, a Model Train Jamboree, will feature trains, tracks, treats, talks, tales, vendors, workshops and hourly door prizes at the Pearl on the Concho Hotel & Conference Center, 333 Rio Concho Drive in downtown San Angelo. 

Admission tickets, which provide entry to both the jamboree and the museum at 703 S. Chadbourne St., cost $10 for adults, $9 for military and first responders, $7 for children ages 5-15, and are free for those under 5. Vendors pay $40 per table. Tickets are available at the museum's website, www.sanangelorailway.org.

The museum will host an original historic play, "On the Right Track," on Friday and Saturday evenings from May 9-17, bringing railroading figures such as Arthur Stilwell and Fred Harvey to life with authentic stories. Guests can join Harvey Girls for treats and tea served with train history. 

Local organizations will offer train-related activities. For example, the Tom Green Library downtown will have a railway display and give away coloring pages. The museum will provide "passports" that kids can get stamped at participating sites and businesses. Stamped passports can be returned to the museum for prizes. 

National Train Day was started by Amtrak in 2008 to promote the advantages of railway travel and the history of trains in the United States. It is held each year on the Saturday closest to May 10, the anniversary of the Golden Spike pounding in Promontory, Utah, which completed the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. 

Activities are open to the public. For more information, contact the museum at 325-486-2140 or [email protected]. 

The museum is calling for organizations and businesses to participate in National Train Days by offering train-related activities. Interested parties can email [email protected].