Los Angeles Union Station, with presenting partners Metro, Amtrak, and Metrolink, will welcome train enthusiasts, history aficionados, industry professionals, and commuters of all ages to learn, experience, and celebrate all things rail at the much-anticipated Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2023: A Celebration of Past, Present & Future.
Train Festival 2023, set to take place on Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, will treat visitors to railroad equipment tours and displays, model train displays, architecture, arts and culture tours, information booths, music, giveaways, eateries, amenities, ShopLAUS and more.
Guests will have the opportunity to take exclusive tours and view displays of railroad equipment on tracks 13, 14, and 15. From the world-renowned Steam Locomotive Santa Fe 3751 of the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society (SBRHS), which pulled the first named passenger train into Los Angeles Union Station in 1939, to modern-day passenger and freight equipment, attendees will be able to walk through rail history and witness the technological advances spanning more than 100 years. Featured displays will include Amtrak passenger equipment, a BNSF Railway freight locomotive, and the Southern California Railway Museum’s Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) 5704 diesel, which was one of five locomotives painted in a patriotic red, white, and blue scheme to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the United States. Attendees can also admire an LARail.com vintage private car, the Tioga Pass, which was built in 1959 by the Canadian National Shops designed for railroad executives and the Pacific Railroad Society’s National Forum, a 1956 Pullman sleeping car. Metrolink’s F125 Locomotive will also be on display while the company’s Talgo-Rehabilitated Bombardier Train Car and Rotem Cars will be available for attendees to tour inside.
In Union Station’s Ticket Concourse, guests can immerse themselves in five masterfully constructed and uniquely designed model train displays created by some of the premiere model train clubs in Southern California. Join Group 160 NTRAK Club, Orange County Module Railroaders, Inc., Southern California Traction Club, Southern California Z Scale Model Railroading Group, as well as The Toy Train Operating Society’s Southern Pacific Division and The Train Collectors Association’s Western Division to celebrate this dynamic and family-friendly hobby. Group 160 NTRAK Club’s NTRAK Modular Model Train Layout showcases a 16′ by 28′ three-track mainline layout with a working tornado module, scenery reflective of the US Pacific Northwest along with industry and rural scenes, 40+ car long trains, and an opportunity for visitors to operate a train around the layout – while Orange County Module Railroaders, Inc.’s HO Scale Model Railroad features two main lines and various other trackage across scenery of building, foliage, vehicles, and pedestrians highlighting various steam and diesel-era trains and locomotives including Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner. Attendees won’t want to miss Southern California Traction Club’s incredible Downtown Streetcar Display featuring a highly detailed HO scale downtown scene with tall buildings, complete with operating streetcars and subway trains. Additional model train displays include Southern California Z Scale Model Railroading Group’s ZoCal Modular Railroad Group showcasing an assortment of train lines with various types of freight and passenger controlled by Digital Command Control (DCC) allowing control over each individual train engine separately, as well as The Toy Train Operating Society’s Southern Pacific Division and The Train Collectors Association’s Western Division, which will display The Toy Train Operating Society’s Tinplate Pacific Railroad featuring toy trains in Standard Gauge, O-Gauge and S-Gauge from Lionel, Marx, American Flyer and other manufacturers.
To learn more about Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2023: A Celebration of Past, Present & Future, visit unionstationla.com.
