Western Pacific Railroad Museum

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves documents, photos and information. The museum's mission is to preserve the history of the Western Pacific Railroad and is operated by the Feather River Rail Society ,Railinc Corporation, Search MARKs , accessed September 2009 founded in 1983. It is located at a former Western Pacific locomotive facility, adjacent to the Union Pacific's former Western Pacific mainline through the Feather River Canyon.

Museum collection The museum holds in its collection twenty-nine diesel locomotives, one electric locomotive, one steam locomotive (Operational as of April 2022), fifteen passenger cars (including four from the well-known California Zephyr), numerous freight and maintenance cars and eighteen cabooses. They offer excursions and a "Run A Locomotive" program during the summer. The WPRM has one of the larger collections of early diesel era locomotives and freight cars in North America. The museum is often considered to have one of the most complete and historic collections of equipment and materials from a single railroad family. The holdings also include extensive corporate records and images, as well as personal collections from those who worked for the Western Pacific.

The WPRM is a "hands-on" museum that allows visitors to board and explore locomotives and train cars in their collection.

Among the significant pieces in the WPRM collection are Western Pacific 805-A, an FP7 model passenger locomotive that pulled the California Zephyr; Southern Pacific EMD GP9 #2873, nicknamed "the Kodachrome" by the volunteers, due to it being painted with the Kodachrome scheme from the failed Santa Fe–Southern Pacific merger; WP 2001, the first GP20 locomotive (an early turbocharged diesel); WP 501, an early switch engine and the first diesel purchased by the Western Pacific; Western Pacific 0-6-0 steam locomotive 165, an oil burning switch engine built by ALCO in 1919; WP 3051, one of only two remaining GE U30B locomotives; WP 106 business car "Charles O. Sweetwood", built in 1917 and used during the Korean War as a rolling blood bank; WP 37, a 200-ton rail-mounted crane, two track clearing snowplows (one wedge type and one rotary); and several rare, early 20th century freight cars. Also located at the site are the Portola Diesel Shop, built in 1953, and an interlocking tower from Oakland, California, currently stored unrebuilt. The Western Pacific Hospital, built in 1911 and one of the few remaining railroad hospitals in the country, was part of the museum until it was destroyed in an arson fire on September 7, 2011. The WPRM maintains several of their road diesels in mainline operating condition and has made occasional movements on Class I railroads using their own historic motive power.

Currently owned PhotographLocomotiveModelBuild dateBuilderStatusNotesRefs.Western Pacific 165S-34November 1919ALCO-SchenectadyOperational as of April 2022Western Pacific 501EMD SW18/1939Electro-Motive DivisionOut of service for maintenanceWestern Pacific 805-AEMD FP7January 1950Electro-Motive DivisionOut of serviceFeather River and Western 1857FM H-12-44January 1953Fairbanks-MorseOut of serviceSouthern Pacific 2873EMD GP9December 1956Electro-Motive DivisionOut of service, Oil system repairs complete, water pump removed for rebuild.

Formerly owned, surplus PhotographLocomotiveModelBuild dateManufacturerDeclaration date as "Surplus"StatusNotesRefs.Southern Pacific 4404SD9EApril 1955Electro-Motive DivisionFebruary 6, 2013Sold to Western Rail Inc. in 2014.Southern Pacific 4450SD9EApril 1954Electro-Motive DivisionFebruary 6, 2013Scrapped on August 20, 2013Milwaukee Road 5057U25BAugust 1965General ElectricFebruary 6, 2013Stored at the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. Owned by Cascade Rail FoundationUnion Pacific 849GP30September 1962Electro-Motive Division2017-2019Sold to Western Rail, Inc (WRIX), now operates at Central Montana Rail (CMR)

Operating a locomotive One aspect of the Western Pacific Railroad Museum is its nationally known Run A Locomotive (RAL) program. Except for winter and certain weekends when special events are in progress, the museum provides visitors a chance to be an engineer for an hour. Participants are given on-the-ground instruction, then they get to operate a real locomotive of their choice for an hour. A qualified engineer joins them in the locomotive for oversight and further instruction.

Zephyr Project The Zephyr Project is a program of the Feather River Rail Society to acquire, preserve and restore cars, locomotives, personal stories and artifacts relating to the California Zephyr. Currently, the Project's collection of equipment includes Western Pacific FP7 no. 805-A, Silver Hostle, a dome lounge car, dome-coach "Silver Lodge" and dining car "Silver Plate". In addition, the dome-coach "Silver Rifle" is on long-term loan from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum.

Western Pacific Railroad Museum

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