Rio Vista Junction offers peek into past Published May 12, 2008 By David Talley 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- With its bell clanging, the railcar pulls noisily from the station, loops through a shady eucalyptus grove and begins rolling south through the grassy Montezuma Hills. Such a scene might be a mirage from the past, but it is played out each weekend at the Western Railway Museum where visitors ride historic streetcars and interurban electric trains that once were common throughout California and other western states. I'd seen the museum while driving down Highway 12 toward Rio Vista and, curious what it offered, I stepped inside one weekend and soon found myself seated inside a jostling rail car, rolling back to a time when interurban trains were the primary method of traveling between towns in many parts of the country. The interurban isn't a train in the pure sense of the term, with belching steam locomotives and fancy passenger cars. Rather it's an electric train, much like a streetcar or trolley. In the early 1900s, interurban trains linked many rural communities. Travel was slower then. A 30 mph ride was quick enough to get you where you wanted to go. Of course, speed kills, as they say, and that was certainly true with the interurban lines which, unable to compete with automobiles and buses, soon began to disappear. The electric railways in this area would have disappeared forever if not for the efforts of those who realized what would be lost. In 1946, they formed the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association and began saving what rolling stock and mementos they could. The museum and its collection of electric rail cars and other mementos located at Rio Vista Junction is a fine testament to that early vision. The effort continues as the members promote interest in electric railroad operations and preserve these pieces of American transportation. The trains preserved at the museum today run on an old five-mile section of the electrically powered Sacramento Northern main line. Of course, rust is a constant enemy of any museum with displays exposed to the weather. The volunteers work diligently to fight it, but the rusting steel wheels and axles stacked beside the tracks imply the eventual result if they stop fighting. If passion (not to mention Rustoleum) is a weapon against rust, then the volunteers who work here are well equipped to fight it. You feel it when you walk inside the museum and later outside on the platform where you board the train. It continues on the train as it travels through the Montezuma Hills. The conductors dress the part, adding to the illusion that time has stood still. They strive for authenticity, even down to the ticket puncher in the worn leather holster on their belts, which they use as they walk along the aisle, asking for and clicking each ticket. Above the windows are display ads for products available during that time. Sitting there, you half expect to see a horse-drawn buggy or model-T Ford stopped at one of the rail crossings. But for the tall white windmills on the hills to your left and the C-17 Globemaster III winging overhead, the illusion might be complete. If you go, plan on staying at least two and a half hours, long enough to grab a ride on the streetcar and the interurban train. Your admission ticket is good all day and you can ride each train as often as you wish during your visit. The museum is located approximately five miles from Fairfield along Highway 12 toward Rio Vista. The museum's Web site (www.wrm.org) is an excellent resource for additional information.