Remember the 1898 State Fair at Sacramento -- July 15, 2023

San Francisco Call, 01-September-1898

An ad for the 1898 California State Fair. 125 years later, the Fair started yesterday, 14-July-2023. The Fair used to be held later in the year. I love the lettering. 

Building America -- UP 150 -- July 22, 2013

Because we had to cut short our Disneyland trip, we decided to spend two nights in Sacramento.  Traffic was good on the drive up. 

We walked through Old Sacramento and had lunch at Johnny Rockets in the K Street Mall.  Then we went to the state railroad museum.  The upstairs gallery had "Building America: Abraham Lincoln, California, and the Union Pacific Railroad," a touring exhibit  in honor of UP's 150th anniversary.  It included documents, artifacts, histories of some of UP's acquisitions, and many advertising posters.  We watched an Amtrack locomotive get pulled out the roundhouse doors. 

We checked into the Governor's Inn, which we had not visited for years.  It was nice, and was very quiet. 

The next day we had planned to go to the state fair, but it was too hot.  We drove to Folsom and visited the outlets, then back to Sacramento and went to the California State Museum.  My wife thinks it would be a great place to take a field trip.  We had not visited since the Lincoln Bicentennial.  There was a small exhibit on the missions and one on Charles and Ray Eames.  Many visitors headed straight for the Eames.  My wife didn't remember them till she saw the chairs.  The exhibit on Japanese-American relocation made me tear up. 

Then we visited the K Street Mall.

The next day we drove home, with a stop at the Nut Tree.  Traffic was clear till we got to the Berkley city limits. 

While we in Southern California, Tim Lincecum pitched a no-hitter.  The National League lost the All Star Game. 

Ghost Sign #18 -- April 23, 2013

A ghost sign for the Brannan House, a former hotel, in Old Sacramento.  I took the photo when we visited the California State Railroad Museum in July, 2012. 

Ghost Sign #15 -- January 23, 2013

Ghost signs for Morelo's Hotel and Boss of the Road Overalls, "The Watchdog of Quality," across I Street from the California State Railroad Museum. I took the photo during our visit in July, 2012.

Train Station #55 -- January 7, 2013

The 1926 Southern Pacific Depot is used by Amtrak and Caltrain. There was a great deal of work going on last summer.

 I took the photo during our July, 2012 visit.

Firehouse #63 -- January 6, 2013

Sacramento Number 3 was built in 1853. It was used as a firehouse until 1921. It is now a nice restaurant in Old Sacramento. I took the photo during our visit in July, 2012.

California State Railroad Museum #4 -- July 23, 2012

Today we drove to Sacramento.  Traffic was good going up.  Coming back, we heard about disruptions because President Obama was visiting Oakland, so we took the Black Point Cutoff and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Traffic was good again.

On the way up, we stopped at the Vacaville outlets.  We parked in Old Sacramento, and took a walk to the K Street Mall, where we had lunch at Johnny Rocket's.  We walked over the Sacramento train station and I took some pictures.

We went to the California State Railroad Museum.  There was an exhibit about comfort in traveling.  The many examples of chairs and seats were interesting.  Downstairs there was an exhibit of toy trains.  In the reefer, there was an exhibit of fruit crate labels.  There was no exhibit upstairs.  We had a nice stroll through the museum, then walked around Old Sacramento.

On the way back, we stopped at the Nut Tree and had something to eat at Fenton's Creamery.  I didn't see the train.  The heat was furnace-like.

I took the photo today, showing an interesting image on the side wall of the museum.  

Remember the 1898 State Fair at Sacramento -- July 27, 2010

An ad for the California State Fair, from the 03-September-1898 San Francisco Call. This year's fair is very early.

Pony Express -- May 20, 2010

With people celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express, I thought it worthwhile to post a photo of Thomas Holland's Pony Express statue in Old Sacramento. It was dedicated in 1976. I took the photo on 17-April-2010.

National Train Day -- May 8, 2010

National Train Day is on its third year in 2010: http://www.nationaltrainday.com/

California State Railroad Museum #2 -- April 17, 2010

Today we took a drive up to Sacramento. Traffic was bad in several places, including the Yolo Causeway.

We visited the California State Railroad Museum. Downstairs there was a nice exhibit of toy trains. There was also an exhibit called “The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers.” It was moving.

I took the photo of Granite Rock #10 taking water by the turntable today.

Train Station #14 -- September 15, 2009

This reproduction of the Central Pacific's arcade depot in Old Sacramento is near the original starting point of the line. I took the photo in July, 2009.

Larry Gelbart died. My parents took me to the Orpheum to see Jackie Gleason and Cleavon Little in "Sly Fox."

Jim Carroll died of a heart attack at 59. Another person who died.

Lincoln in Sacramento -- July 28, 2009

Today we drove to Sacramento. The California State Museum hosted the Library of Congress' exhibit "With Malice Towards None." It had many Lincoln-related items, some from the Union Pacific collection. My heart felt funny when I saw the draft of the Gettysburg Address. There were many documents I have read about, like the unsent letter to General Meade after Gettysburg. They had the contents of Lincoln's pockets when he was shot, and the family doctor's notes, spattered with Lincoln's blood. I had only two issues with the show. One was probably due to the space: it was hard to follow the exhibits in sequence. There were little arrows all over the floor. The other was that, to protect the documents, the lights were very low. An older lady told me it was killing her eyes to try to read anything. I was having a similar problem.

I enjoyed seeing the Bible used for Lincoln's first inauguration and for President Obama's.

After lunch at the mall, we went to the Railroad Museum to see "The Rail Splitter and the Railroads: Lincoln, the Union and the Golden State." The title tells all about it. It started with his interest in internal improvements, especially railroads, went on to his railroad-related legal cases, especially the bridge case, and the trains he rode on, including the funeral train.

The image shows Lincoln and his three competitors in the 1860 election, John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, John C. Breckinridge, Southern Democrat, and Stephen A Douglas, Democrat.

California State Railroad Museum -- November 9, 2008

Yesterday we took a drive up to Sacramento. Traffic was light except around Vacaville. It was cloudy all the way. We visited the California State Railroad Museum. There was not a big crowd. There was a nice exhibit of photographs taken around the Nevada Northern. The museum people appear to have finished the latest round of rearranging the exhibits. We went under the freeway and had lunch at Panda Express in the mall. Then the family went shopping. It started to rain lightly. After we went back to Old Sacramento and walked around a bit. Traffic was light on the way back except around Berkeley.

Nut Tree and CSRM -- September 29, 2007

We skipped the Fog Fest and took a nice drive up 80 today. First we visited the Nut Tree for the first time since it reopened last October. It was nice. We found a parking space and wandered past a Fenton's Creamery and a few other stores, then found the entrance to the Nut Tree Family Park between two sets of stores. Almost immediately, I saw the distinctive roof of the old ticket booth, and the train stopped at the depot behind it. It was the train I remember riding when I was a kid, and taking my daughter to ride when she was younger. When the engineer started the engine and started off, it sounded very familiar. We didn't get to ride, but I observed a nice route that wound around behind the merry-go-round and other rides. They had bumper cars, a roller coaster, the old hobby horses, and a nice garden. It was all centered around the Harbison House, which had been moved slightly from its old position. The whole area would be wonderful for kids up to 5 or 6 years old. I took photos and some videos which I will post on YouTube and put on my park trains site at the end of October. Tomorrow I roll out my writeup on the Labor Day Railfair at Ardenwood.

We continued up 80 to Sacramento. When we took the exit in West Sacramento, I was sad to learn that the Tower Bridge was closed for work. We took a long detour that led to 5.

Eventually we got to the California State Railroad Museum. The exhibits have been rearranged and augmented quite a bit since we had last gone. I liked the way the sleeping car and the diner are together. Visitors enter at one end of the sleeping car, then cross a platform at the other end to the diner. We went under the freeway to the K Street Mall for a late lunch, then went to the depot, where I was able to take photos and videos of the Sacramento Southern's Granite Rock locomotive taking water, switching, and leaving with the three o'clock train.

Traffic was very light and we were home in about 90 minutes. It was a nice, relaxing day.