RECURRING EVENTS & ACTIVITIES:

Free Miniature-Train Rides

Free Handcar Rides

Continuing Lecture Series

Free Railroad Films

Free Films in the Gandy Dancer Theater

"Toy Trains & Teddy Bears"
Holiday Display  

"Toy Trains and Teddy Bears! What better symbols are there of the Holidays, Past and Present. In that spirit, these cherished keepsakes are shared anew this Joyous Season - as their gift to you - by members of our Museum Family, young and old."

So reads the label that introduces the museum's annual holiday exhibition, which opens Friday, November 23, 2012 and continues through the month of December in the Waiting Room at Goleta Depot. The display features toy locomotives and cars and a menagerie of stuffed animals - some rare, all precious - borrowed from the homes of Junior Engineers Club members, museum volunteers, members, trustees, and staff, as well as from the museum's own collections.

Great Goleta Rail Race

Saturday, May 18, 2013. Unlimited free miniature-train and handcar rides will be given on this May Saturday, as the museum celebrates the 32nd anniversary of its spring fundraiser. A "Great Goleta Rail Race" theme has been used for 17 years. The event is made possible by contributions from hundreds of museum members, friends, and supporters.

Reminiscent of the tale of John Henry, the Great Goleta Rail Race offers its own version of the epic struggle between human and machine, as the people-powered museum handcar is pitted against the Goleta Short Line miniature-train in a competition to determine which can complete the greatest number of passenger-miles over a three-hour period. From 1 until 4 p.m. on race day, both the handcar and train will operate continuously, giving free rides to all visitors. Race officials will keep careful record of the total passengers carried and the distance completed by each conveyance. The Great Race winner will be determined based on these totals, adjusted using a handicap based on the previous years' results.

Museum members, as well as the general public, are invited to attend, to observe the action and cheer on the participants, as well as to actively join in as rider-participants, themselves. At the event, you, your family members, and friends may throw your support behind either the handcar or train, simply by riding that vehicle once or as often as you like; or, you may use the opportunity to enjoy the free rides on both the train and handcar. All riders will receive a certificate acknowledging their Great Race participation. The museum's normal, slow operating speeds will be maintained throughout the event. Train riders must be at least 34 inches tall; the handcar ride has a 48-inch height requirement.

Super Saturday!

"Super Saturday!" is an annual event held at the museum before the Super Bowl football game. The next event will be Saturday, February 2, 2013. Hours: 1-4 p.m. The event marks the first weekend day of unlimited free miniature-train rides during the year. It is open to the general public.

Sponsors for the 2012 Super Saturday event:

* Ron and Sue Bruns
* Dal Pozzo Tire Corp., Goleta
* Grace Baptist Church
* Michael J. Gartzke, CPA
* Joan Hanna
* Noel and Peggy Langle
* Bruce and Andrea Morden
* Dick and Wendy Shelton
* Peter Tiersma and Thea Cremers
* John Hutchinson Family
* Robert B. Locke, Esq.
* Claudia Worthen
* Ralph and Vicki Kornahrens
* Roger and Edie Wells

Candy Cane Train

Buy your Candy Cane Tickets online and receive an extra train-ride free (save $1.50 with each ticket purchased!)

The 20th annual "Candy Cane Train," the railroad museum's popular year-end family event, begins Friday, November 23, 2012, continuing through Dec 24. The event runs daily, except for Nov 26-27 and Dec 3-4 & 10-11, when the museum is closed.

Event hours are 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov 23 and weekends; 2 to 4 p.m. all other weekdays. Last train departs at 3:45 each day!

Candy Cane Train tickets are $4 (adult or child), which includes a ride on the festively-decorated miniature train, an assortment of holiday treats and favors, and a coupon good for a future museum train ride. Extra rides on the Candy Cane Train will be available for $1.50 each. Museum members receive their customary 25¢ discount on all tickets purchased. Tickets will be sold at the museum during event hours or in advance through the online store. For the safety of our guests, all train riders must meet the 34-inch minimum-height requirement.

Those attending the Candy Cane Train event also will be able to enjoy the museum's holiday display, Toy Trains and Teddy Bears!, also opening on Nov. 23.

Free Miniature-Train Rides

Download a copy of the “Free-Ride Flyer.”

Each year the museum schedules a number of days during which unlimited free rides are offered to all of our visitors on the "Goleta Short Line" miniature-train. On these free days, trains normally run two or more times an hour, starting 15 minutes after the museum opens, with the last train of the day dispatched at 3:45 p.m. These free-ride days include:

Free Fridays - Train rides are free every Friday in 2012 until Thanksgiving. Sponsored by Fairview Car Wash.

Free Rides For Moms *** Free Rides For Dads
As a token of our esteem, the museum gives free miniature-train rides for moms every Mother's Day (Sunday, May 12, 2013) , while free rides for dads are included as part of “Rotary Day” (see next paragraph) on Father's Day.

Rotary Day - Free miniature-train and handcar rides on Father's Day (Sunday, June 16, 2013) are sponsored annually by the Goleta Noontime Rotary Club.

Montecito Bank & Trust and The Towbes Group are pleased to sponsor free miniature-train rides on Saturday, July 23, 2011.

Free rides are also an integral part of the Super Saturday! and Great Goleta Rail Race events.

Free Handcar Rides

Handcar rides are free on the third Saturday of every month. Sponsored by Noel and Peggy Langle.

Download a copy of the “Free-Ride Flyer.”

Continuing Lecture Series

The museum offers frequent educational programs on railroad and local-history topics. These include lectures, slide shows, and other presentations.

“Southern Pacific’s Depots of Santa Barbara County"
Date/Time: Tues., Jan. 22, 2013; 7 p.m.
Presented by: Jean-Guy Dube.
Place: Goleta Library, 500 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta.

This lecture and multimedia presentation will include an exhibition of detailed depot
building blueprints crafted by the presenter, Jean-Guy Dube.

Aug. 1887 was a time of great celebration. The railroad had come to Santa Barbara! Steel rails now linked South Coast communities with the nation. As part of its vast system, the Southern Pacific Railroad built depots in the towns from Carpinteria to Ellwood. These included both one-of-a-kind buildings and many others based on standard company plans.

The presentation audience will travel back 125 years to explore some of these depots. Copies of the depot blueprints will be available for purchase following the program.

Jean-Guy Dube is a professional draftsman and apprentice architect. He has researched and written about Southern Pacific depots since 1983. The diazo blueprints are measured and drafted drawings. They are based on Southern Pacific standard-depot plans, on historical photographs, and, for those depots that have survived, on actual building measurements by Mr. Dube.

Each handsome and informative print is suitable for framing. Each includes noted floor plans, sections, and elevations. The prints also contain historical notes about each building. Railroadmodel hobbyists will be interested to learn that the drawings are in “HO”
scale. Dube uses traditional methods of blueprinting to create a blue-with-white line print from his original vellum. For more information about the depot prints, visit the museum's online store.

“Introduction To The Coast Starlight Trails & Rails Program”
Date/Time: Wed., Feb 13, 2013; 7-8:30 p.m.
Presented by: Museum Director Dr. Gary Coombs, and members of the museum's Coast Starlight guide team.
Place: South Coast Railroad Museum, 300 N. Los Carneros Rd., Goleta.

Learn about the South Coast Railroad Museum's volunteer guide program aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight trains, which is conducted in partnership with the National Park Service's “Trails & Rails” program, Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail, and Amtrak.

Find out what it's like to be a member of the team of dedicated museum volunteers who ride the Coast Starlight, sharing with passengers information about local history, points-of-interest along the route, things to do, and the natural history of the area.

This presentation is designed especially for persons who are interested in becoming Coast Starlight guides for the 2013 travel season (March thru Oct.). All incoming guides are required to attend a full day of classroom training on Saturday, Feb. 23 in Santa Barbara, Calif. (Please contact the museum office, 805/964-3540, for location and other information about the classroom training.)

The public is cordially invited to attend the Feb. 13 presentation. There is no admission charge.

Future Continuing Lecture Series programs will be announced here.

Easter Bunny Express

Saturday, March 30, 2013. One of the museum most eagerly-awaited family events, the Easter Bunny Express is held each year the day before Easter Sunday. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Those holding the event's egg-shaped tickets may participate in a variety of activities, including scheduled stops at Wabbit-Twacks Station (to board the museum's miniature train for a 1/3-mile ride around the grounds); Easter-Bunnyville (to meet the Easter Bunny and select an egg surprise); Jack-Rabbit Junction (to enter a drawing for some marvelous gifts); and What's Up Dock (to collect another event souvenir).

Tickets ($4 for adults and children) will be available at the museum during the event until 3:30 p.m.; or they may be purchased in advance during museum hours (Fri.-Sun., 1-4 p.m.).

BUY tickets now through the museum's online store and receive 25 cents off each ticket purchased — and avoid the admissions line on event day!

Hop aboard the Easter Bunny Express. It's sure to be another hare-raising eggs-perience for the whole family! If it rains, the event will be moved to the following Saturday.

Depot Day

Sunday, September 29, 2013. Depot Day is held annually on the last Sunday in September. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Depot Day is held each fall to commemorate and celebrate the preservation of Goleta Depot. Depot Day, which is made possible by members and friends, is also the museum's main annual community fundraiser.

MORE about Depot Day.

Steaming Summer

Steaming Summer grew to become “Goleta Railroad Days” in 2009. The 2012 event will be held over the weekend of June 23-24.

Visit the Goleta Railroad Days website

Hours will be 11 am to 4 pm each day.

Stories on past events can be found in the "In The News" pages. Or, conduct a search for "Steaming Summer" (with quotes), using the search tool on the menu above.