Learn about the American railroad history and the California State Railroad Museum
A discussion concerning the history and the impact of the railroad, from the documentary Binding Ties: The California State Railroad Museum.
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: There's something magic about the railroad. It's a way to the past and a road to the future.
PAUL HAMMOND: Long sweeping curves where you can see the locomotive way up ahead—that big mass of steel, with all of its things spitting and steaming and smoking—and some guy up there that made it all work. It's pretty neat.
KYLE WILLIAMS WYATT: It also captivates attention because it's dynamic, it's moving.
STEPHEN DREW: How many of us got interested in railroading because of that proverbial toy train around the Christmas tree?
NARRATOR: But beyond the fun and games lies real history. The California State Railroad Museum stands on historic ground. In a nearby hardware store in old-town Sacramento, a dream was born, a dream to tie the nation with ribbons of iron.
CATHERINE TAYLOR: I think what makes this museum great is the kind of access that people have to the artifacts. We have precious few barriers between people and the objects. And in fact, you can walk through the objects. You can get in the cab of a locomotive and get the perspective of the engineer going down the track. You can get on board a sleeping car and get the clickety-clack and that wonderful rocking motion of the sleeping car. You can get the sounds and the smells on the dining car. I believe that railroad history is American history, and this subject absolutely deserves a museum.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: There's something magic about the railroad. It's a way to the past and a road to the future.
PAUL HAMMOND: Long sweeping curves where you can see the locomotive way up ahead—that big mass of steel, with all of its things spitting and steaming and smoking—and some guy up there that made it all work. It's pretty neat.
KYLE WILLIAMS WYATT: It also captivates attention because it's dynamic, it's moving.
STEPHEN DREW: How many of us got interested in railroading because of that proverbial toy train around the Christmas tree?
NARRATOR: But beyond the fun and games lies real history. The California State Railroad Museum stands on historic ground. In a nearby hardware store in old-town Sacramento, a dream was born, a dream to tie the nation with ribbons of iron.
CATHERINE TAYLOR: I think what makes this museum great is the kind of access that people have to the artifacts. We have precious few barriers between people and the objects. And in fact, you can walk through the objects. You can get in the cab of a locomotive and get the perspective of the engineer going down the track. You can get on board a sleeping car and get the clickety-clack and that wonderful rocking motion of the sleeping car. You can get the sounds and the smells on the dining car. I believe that railroad history is American history, and this subject absolutely deserves a museum.
[Music out]
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