San Angelo was on the right track with Train Days 2026

 

 

The Railway Museum of San Angelo hosted a celebration of National Train Days May 9 and 10. There was a Model Train Jamboree with trains, tracks, treats, talks, tales, vendors, workshops and hourly door prizes.  Railway vendors had model trains and railroad items for sale at the Pearl on the Concho Hotel & Conference Center, 333 Rio Concho Drive in downtown San Angelo .

 

At the Railway Museum there was an original historical play, “On the Right Track” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 9-17. Guests joined the Harvey Girls for treats and tea served with a side of true train history.  Railroading heroes like Arthur Stilwell and Fred Harvey came back to life to share their authentic stories.

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National Train Day was started by Amtrak in 2008 to spread information about the advantages of railway travel and the history of trains in the United States. It was held each year on the Saturday closest to May 10, the anniversary of the pounding of the Golden spike in Promontory, Utah, which marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S.  Regarding the Golden Spike, the term for spiking track is “driving spikes” like in the song about John Henry, he was a “steal driving man” or the “drove the Golden Spike.”

 

This is the first time in almost 30 years the Railway Museum celebrated Train Days. Activities were open to the public.   For more information, call 325-486-2140, 703 S. Chadbourne, San Angelo, www.sanangelorailway.org.