User:NearEMPTiness/Travel Town

Travel Town Museum is a transport museum dedicated on December 14, 1952, and located in the northwest corner of Los Angeles, California's Griffith Park. The history of railroad transportation in the western United States from 1880 to the 1930s is the primary focus of the museum's collection, with an emphasis on railroading in Southern California and the Los Angeles area.

History
In the late 1940s, Charley Atkins, a Recreation and Parks employee, and some rail enthusiasts had the idea that a full-size steam locomotive would be an attractive addition to the miniature railroad ride at Griffith Park. The City of Los Angeles Harbor Department had two small locomotives destined for scrap that seemed to be suitable for this purposse. With the support of former Recreation and Parks Department General Manager George Hjelte and Superintendent of Recreation William Frederickson, Atkins initiated contacts with major railroads in California to ask what equipment could donate. At that time, the steam locomotive era was drawing to a close, and Atkins found a good response. Travel Town was inaugurated on 14 December 1952. In 1965, Travel Town’s exhibits were re-grouped, and the park re-dedicated. Today, Travel Town is in a state of new growth and development.

Railway collection
The railroad museum portion contains 43 full-scale railroad engines, cars and other rolling stock.

Locomotives
Their collection of 17 locomotives includes:
 * AT&SF No. 664, an 1899 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive.
 * California Western No. 56, Ex McCloud River No. 33, a 1955 Baldwin RS-12 Diesel locomotive.
 * Camino-Placerville & Lake Tahoe No. 2, a 1922 Lima three-truck Shay locomotive.
 * Conrock No. 1, a 1925 American (Cooke Works) 0-6-0 switcher steam locomotive.
 * Los Angeles Harbor Department No. 31, a 1921 Davenport 0-4-0T switcher steam locomotive.
 * Los Angeles Harbor Department No. 32, a 1914 ALCO (Rogers Works) 0-4-0T switcher steam locomotive.
 * Pacific Electric No. 1544 "Electra", a 1902 North Shore B-B electric locomotive.
 * Pickering Lumber Company No. 2, a 1918 Heisler Locomotive Works three truck narrow gauge Heisler steam locomotive.
 * Santa Maria Valley No. 1000, a 1920 American (Schenectady Works) 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive.
 * Sharp & Fellows Railroad Contractors No. 7, a 1902 American (Dixon Works) 2-6-2 Prairie steam locomotive.
 * Southern Pacific No. 20, an 1880 Baldwin 0-4-0 switcher steam locomotive, currently undergoing refurbishment to operation as Southern Pacific No. 219.
 * Southern Pacific No. 1273, a 1921 SP (Sacramento Shops) built 0-6-0 switcher steam locomotive.
 * Southern Pacific No. 3025, a 1904 American (Schenectady Works) 4-4-2 Atlantic steam locomotive.
 * Stockton Terminal and Eastern No. 1, an 1864 Norris-Lancaster 4-4-0 American steam locomotive (pictured).
 * Travel Town No. 1 "The Charley Atkins", Ex US Navy No. 56-00323, a 1941 EMD Model 40, 300 horsepower, Diesel locomotive.
 * Union Pacific No. 4439, a 1918 UP built 0-6-0 switcher steam locomotive.
 * Western Pacific No. 26, a 1909 American (Schenectady Works) 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive.

Freight cars and cabooses

 * AT&SF No. 999110, a 1926 American Car & Foundry caboose.
 * 2 Los Angeles Harbor Dept. Side-Dump ballast cars.
 * Oahu Railway & Land No. 1, a 1900 OR&L built caboose.
 * Richfield Oil No. 670, a 1911 tank car.
 * Southern Pacific No. 1, a circa 1890 wooden boxcar, in the Main Exhibit Hall.
 * Southern Pacific No. 12, a circa 1890 Carter Brothers baggage and Mail car, in the Main Exhibit Hall.
 * Southern Pacific No. 163, a circa 1890 stock car (possibly built by the Virginia & Truckee (Nevada Shops)), in the Main Exhibit Hall.
 * Southern Pacific No. 4049, a 1961 Pacific Car & Foundry bay window caboose.
 * Southern Pacific No. 30036, a circa 1930 wood sided boxcar.
 * Union Pacific No. 2117, an 1881 wooden caboose.
 * Western Pacific No. 754, a 1910 Haskell and Barker caboose.

Passenger cars

 * AT&SF No. 3355, a 1928 Pullman Company Snack Car.
 * Oahu Railway & Land No. 1, a circa 1900 OR&L built passenger coach.
 * Oahu Railway & Land No. 36, a 1900 OR&L built Passenger/Mail combination car.
 * Pennsylvania Railroad No. 4418, a circa 1925 Pennsylvania Railroad built Dining car.
 * Southern Pacific No. 2513, a 1919 Pullman Company chair car.
 * Union Pacific No. 3669, a 1921 Pullman Dining car, also known as Union Pacific No. 369.
 * Union Pacific No. LA-701 "The Little Nugget", a 1937 Pullman Dormitory/Club Car.
 * Union Pacific "Hunters Point", a 1940 Pullman sleeping Car.
 * Union Pacific "Rose Bowl", a 1937 Pullman sleeping Car, also known as "Telegraph Hill".

Trolleys, cable cars, and motorcars

 * AT&SF No. M-177, a 1929 motorized passenger Railcar, incorporating an EMD engine into a Pullman carbody.
 * Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) No. 1543, a 1911 American Car & Foundry Interurban Trolley Coach, known as a PE Big Red Car "Blimp" and bears both its final green MTA and earlier red PE paint liveries, each on one end and one side.
 * Los Angeles Railway, a circa 1880 Horse-drawn narrow gauge street-railway car.
 * California Street Cable Railroad California Street Cable Railway Co. No. 21, a 1906 John Hammond & Co. reversible, double ended "California Street" type Cable Car - needing no turntable on each end of the line, with combination open and enclosed "California" style seating sections. Borrowed by Universal Pictures for filming as a Chicago electric trolley car circa 1960's, it was painted #28.

Maintenance-Of-Way equipment

 * U.S. Navy No. CSCV1887, 1942 American Hoist and Derrick self-propelled Diesel wrecker crane, Serial No. 1887.
 * U.S. Navy No. 61-02011, (unknown year)(unknown builder) Boom Car, utility flat car for support of the wrecker crane.
 * Track inspection Speeder, motorized.
 * Kalamazoo handcar, four-man pump-action powered.
 * Velocipede, one-man pump-action powered track inspection "bicycle" with outrigger.

Motor vehicles

 * Railway Express Agency, 1945 International Harvester Co. & York Body Corp. Model K-5 Express Delivery Truck.

Additional railway museum collections and examples

 * Semaphore by Union Switch & Signal, Swissvale, Pennsylvania.
 * Wig-Wag grade crossing signal (unknown builder, perhaps Pacific Electric signal shops) from Pacific Electric Railroad.
 * Track Construction - Examples of three periods of track construction, and wheels on axle.
 * Log sleepers (ties) nailed to (unknown weight) rail. Earliest method.
 * Sleepers, uniform and square cut wood soaked in creosote preservative and surrounded by ballast, spiked to (unknown weight) 'T' rail which is joined with fishplates.
 * Concrete sleepers, spring clipped to (unknown weight) rail which is joined with welds.
 * Track switches - Various examples of switch points methods, frogs and switch stands/signals.

Train excursions
Tickets can be purchased to ride the Travel Town Railroad, a gauge miniature railway for two circles around the museum grounds. This railway originally ran a train known as the Melody Ranch Special, which was once owned by Gene Autry. Its namesake originates from the Gene Autry film Melody Ranch. The passenger coaches are now covered and the original steam engine (which was sabotaged beyond economical repair) has been replaced with Courage, a chain-driven internal combustion motor housed within a façade representing a steam locomotive. This railroad is one of three miniature railway train rides within Griffith Park. The others are the gauge Griffith Park & Southern Railroad and the  gauge miniature railway at the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum. The latter is independently operated.

The Travel Town Museum at one time also ran the narrow gauge Crystal Springs & Southwestern Railroad starting in 1955, which utilized the museum's equipment acquired from the Oahu Railway and Land Company.

Exhibit room

 * Artifacts, documents, and ephemera are on display such as menus and chinaware, recollections and timetables, regarding the history of railroading in the United States.

Main exhibit hall
Houses additional transportation examples and exhibits.
 * Cut-away boiler demonstration exhibit.
 * Hand drawn fire-hose cart.
 * Horse-drawn wagons
 * Piano Box buggy
 * Coal Box buggy
 * Milk delivery dray
 * milk delivery van
 * chariot from Ben-Hur.
 * Circus Wagon
 * Oil Delivery (tank) wagon
 * Motor Vehicles & Automobiles.
 * Packard Sedan, 9th series, circa 1932
 * 1948 Nash Ambassador Sedan
 * 1918 Mack Dump Truck
 * Fire Engine
 * "Holden's Corner" railway safety interactive Children's Discovery Center.
 * The "Little General" locomotive demonstration engine.
 * Viewing platform for the East Valley Lines model railroad club N scale layout.

East Valley Lines
Located behind a roll-up door in the main exhibit hall, the East Valley Lines Model Rail-Road N Gauge Club operates their extensive layout.

Travel Town appearances in media
Travel Town is near many television and movie studios, which has prompted those production companies to include scenes requiring railroad equipment to be shot at Travel Town since it opened.

A small sample of the thousands of Travel Town's screen appearances is represented below:
 * Adam-12 Episode 101 "Eyewitness" 1972
 * Columbo "Identity Crisis" 1975
 * CHiPs Episode 109
 * The band Foreigner's music video "Cold as Ice" 1977
 * ''Knight Rider Episode 36 "Diamonds Aren't a Girl's Best Friend" 1983
 * Quantum Leap (TV series) Episode 48 "A Hunting Will We Go" 1991
 * Royal Crown Revue's "Watts Local" music video was shot in several locations.
 * Six Feet Under Season 4 Episode 8 "Coming and Going"
 * ''Ghost Whisperer Season 5, Episode 9 "Lost in the Shadows"
 * "Kidsongs" "Play-along Songs", Down by the Station 1993 (Direct-to-Video only).