Sacramento is the capital of California and was founded in 1849 mainly due to the Gold Rush at nearby Sutter's Mill. It is also the origin of the first Transcontinental Railroad. As we approached Sacramento on the train we could see the remnants of the Southern Pacific's locomotive shops. The Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific's predecessor railroad began its construction in 1864 taking five years before linking with the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah, to create the country's first transcontinental route.
I spent the morning at the California State Railroad Museum, visiting the exhibitions and viewing the original trains used on the line back then. I also saw a movie about the beginning of steam engines and how the train has shaped our lives since. The invention of the steam locomotive belonged, of course, to our own Mr Stephenson, and the film mentions his broad Northumberland accent - which sounded like a cross between Scottish and Irish accents with a little American thrown in for good measure - made me smile anyway!
The Museum takes you through the origins of Steam trains to the rapid advance in passenger travel to the final push to take the railroad through the Sierra Nevada.
The railroads were initially designed to haul freight, as they do predominantly to this day. However, no one anticipated the travelling public's interest in train travel and train carriages had to be adapted to cope with the demand - hence the sleeper and dining cars.
Sacramento is a truly lovely place and the Old Town is restored in its original form with cobbled roads and boardwalks.
The picture below shows Tower Bridge - whole mid section between the towers raises to allow river traffic through.
(oops - fingers in the frame)!!!
It was gorgeous walking alone in the sunshine and I took a river trip as well as a ride on an old Steam train - stopping for some light refreshment along the way (rude not to)!
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