Five blocks south of Jamestown’s Main St, this 26-acre, state-operated collection of trains and railroad equipment is the photogenic sister to Sacramento's rail museum. It's served as backdrop for countless films and TV shows including Back to the Future III , Unforgiven and High Noon . On some weekends and holidays (hourly from 11am to 3pm) you can ride the narrow-gauge railroad that once transported ore, lumber and miners.
Though today it has been shortened to a quick 3-mile circuit, it's still the best train ride in Gold Country. Ask the passionate volunteers to show you the roundhouse and restored station, or just wander. There’s a lyrical romance to the place, where an explosion of orange poppies grow among the rusting shells of steel goliaths, and the air is spiced with creosote, campfire and pine.
