Visiting Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, CA

The girls had a blast on our visit to the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, CA.  We learned a lot from the passionate volunteers donating their time to refurbish the old trains and teach visitors about the railway’s amazing past.  The museum has a lot of really interesting places to poke around, and the purchasable tickets to ride the trains on the weekend are well worth it

See The Full Detailed Video Below

Railway Museum Visiting Information

• Address:
  • 2201 S A St, Perris, CA 92570
• Phone:
  • 951-943-3020
• Website:
  • https://socalrailway.org/
• Hours:
  • Every Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 5 pm.
• Entry price:
  • It is free to enter the park and explore its grounds.
    • Ride ticket prices:
    • Adults (ages 12+): $12
    • Children (ages 5-11): $8
    • Children under age 5 ride free with an adult

• Parking:
  • Free
• Time spent:
  • 2 ½ hours
• Clothing:
• What we packed:
• Food:
• Stroller/Wagon friendly:
  • Yes. We broke down our umbrella stroller and put it under our seats for the train ride.
• Restrooms:
  • Yes, flushing restrooms.

• What we observed:
  • The Mainline Passenger train departs at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm. 
  • The Mainline Electric train departs (if available) at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
  • Loop Line Operations (on demand) between 9:15 am to 4 pm. 
  • Our kids enjoyed the train rides and we found the trolley ride to be informative. 
  • Be sure to walk the grounds to view antique trains in the barns.  
  • Lots of space to run around outside and explore the nonworking train tracks.
  • A majority of the workers are volunteers and are very passionate about railway trains. They will gladly answer any questions you might have. 
  • It’s a far drive from Los Angeles County and Orange County, we would recommend coming here if you happen to be in the area or if you are a train enthusiast. 
  • This museum has an extensive collection of trains but also has a collection of run-down stuff. The park is not well maintained, but we enjoyed seeing the history of railway locomotives. 
  • The area could get very hot during the summer, so please dress accordingly.

Our Southern California Railway Museum Montage

If your kid is completely addicted to trains, I can confidently say they will love it at the Southern California Railway Museum.  The biggest drawback to visiting is the drive.  Perris, CA, isn’t close to most folks in the LA/OC area.  That’s why we recommend bookmarking the Museum and visiting whenever you find yourself in the area.

While we loved our visit, we did see some reviews where people were critical of the museum’s run-down appearance.  Some even compared it to a junkyard, which seems unfair given that most of the folks there are volunteers donating their time to educate and rehabilitate all the great trains from the past they have onsite.  All the kids running around in awe during our visit didn’t seem to mind how run-down things looked.

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