Southern California Railway Museum Steam Shops

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Southern California Railway Museum Steam Shops Stay up to date with all things steam at Southern California Railway Museum. no. 2.

Southern California Railway Museum Steam Shops will keep you up to date on all our steam locomotives, with news and updates for:
--Ventura County Railway no. 2
--Union Pacific Railroad no. 2564
--Mojave Northern Railway no. 2
--The Emma Nevada
--The Chloe

The majority of this page will be dedicated to news about our operating steam locomotive, Ventura County Ry. You may also find other news unrelated to our locomotives that is significant enough for us to share, such as friends of ours accomplishing a major milestone on their projects.

We had a big crew today and got a lot done.Brian, Jim, Daniel, and Matt assembled an awning, anchored it to the ground, ...
10/04/2026

We had a big crew today and got a lot done.

Brian, Jim, Daniel, and Matt assembled an awning, anchored it to the ground, and moved the locomotive’s main reservoir tanks and oil tank under the awning. The awning is shown in one of the photos. The tanks will receive new coats of paint, which will require a lot of surface cleaning work. The awning will provide shade for the crew while we do the painting, and then will keep the sun from fading the new paint before the tanks go back on the locomotive.

Dan worked with new volunteers Jacob, Ember, and Sharon to drill a large new hole in the mounting plate for the reversing lever. You can see them and the mounting plate in the photos.

Jeff and Jim spent all day in the tender water tank. They searched for places in the tank where the old waterproof epoxy coating is cracking or peeling, and removed the coating in those areas.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

Jeff, Brian, and Dan were out working on the locomotive today.Jeff met with a sandblasting contractor to discuss sandbla...
08/30/2026

Jeff, Brian, and Dan were out working on the locomotive today.

Jeff met with a sandblasting contractor to discuss sandblasting the interior of the tender water tank. He also took some thickness measurements on a section of the rear tube sheet that had been covered by a bracket. The photo shows him taking measurements.

In the afternoon, Jeff and Dan did a lot of cleaning and organizing in the tool car.

The crew did a few tasks today. Jason took some measurements on the tender water tank. He is working on getting bids fo...
08/23/2026

The crew did a few tasks today. Jason took some measurements on the tender water tank. He is working on getting bids for sandblasting the inside of the tank.

Jim, Daniel, Gary, and Dan worked on replacing the latch spring for the reversing lever and on improving the bracket that holds the reversing lever.

Dan sorted and organized the wrenches in the tool car.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

The crew was at work today. The work done was:Dan, Jim, and Matt removed a piece of angle iron from the rear tube sheet ...
08/15/2026

The crew was at work today. The work done was:

Dan, Jim, and Matt removed a piece of angle iron from the rear tube sheet to inspect the boiler sheet behind it. In one of the pictures, Matt is smiling through the firebox door opening.

Daniel got fuel for the steam crew truck. Jason put new batteries in the steam crew’s diesel air compressor. Brian milled off some sharp corners on the reversing quadrant mounting bracket.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

The steam crew was back at work today. Dan and Jeff finished taking the needed measurements for the boiler strength calc...
06/21/2026

The steam crew was back at work today. Dan and Jeff finished taking the needed measurements for the boiler strength calculations.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to www.socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

We had a busy day on the crew today!Jeff and Jim worked on welding metal patches for the tender water tank and on needle...
06/21/2026

We had a busy day on the crew today!

Jeff and Jim worked on welding metal patches for the tender water tank and on needle gunning out old rust. Jim is shown in a photo grinding down a weld.

Dan, Brian, and Bill took measurements of boiler dimensions that we need for our boiler strength calculations. The tape measure is shown in the pictures.

New volunteer Gavin worked with Jason and Daniel on cleaning, painting, and filling oil cups for the Southern Pacific steam derrick. Gavin is shown working at the wire wheel.

Blim and Blim Jr. did electrical repairs to the charging cord for the steam crew’s electric cart.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to www.socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

We haven’t posted an update in a while, but the crew was at work today. We did some metal preparation on the tender tank...
06/07/2026

We haven’t posted an update in a while, but the crew was at work today. We did some metal preparation on the tender tank. We ground smooth the welds for the new steel plate in the fireman’s side of the tank (see picture), and cleaned up a rusty area inside the tank.

The crew today consisted of Jeff, Brian, Dan, and Jim. We got a good bit done.Jeff worked inside the tender water tank t...
03/22/2026

The crew today consisted of Jeff, Brian, Dan, and Jim. We got a good bit done.

Jeff worked inside the tender water tank to weld the new steel patches for the tank wall. He is 60% done with the welding now. Jim assisted Jeff on the tender.

Brian and Dan reinstalled three more bearing cellars today. There is only one cellar left to install. That cellar has a small crack that needs to be welded before the cellar can be installed.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to socalrailway.org/sco to help!

The crew today was Brian, Dan, Jeff, Daniel, and Jason.Dan and Jeff inspected the inside of the tender water tank. Dan i...
03/08/2026

The crew today was Brian, Dan, Jeff, Daniel, and Jason.

Dan and Jeff inspected the inside of the tender water tank. Dan is researching what kind of anti-rust coating we will apply to the inside of the water tank. The first photos show the inside of the tank and Jeff kneeling at the entrance hatch.

Brian and Jeff did a dye penetrant test on one of the bearing cellars. It has a small crack that we will weld up. It’s the dark purple spot in the photo.

The crew did some housekeeping around the locomotive. Daniel and Jason made some trash runs to the dumpster out back.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to www.socalrailway.org/sco to help!

The steam crew was at it again yesterday! The work done was:Brian continued preparing the bearing cellars for installati...
02/22/2026

The steam crew was at it again yesterday! The work done was:

Brian continued preparing the bearing cellars for installation under the leading and trailing axles. (The driving cellars are all installed now.)

Jeff cleaned out a new storage closet for the steam crew.

Dan finished the new plumbing for the blower steam line and put away the extra unneeded materials from the project. (Translation: he sorted a bucket of pipe fittings back into their storage bins.)

Randy made a metal plate to reinforce the door lock on our new storage closet.

Lee organized tools and talked with a number of visitors.

Dan represented the steam crew at the museum's recurring New Volunteer Orientation and talked with some prospective volunteers.

Jeff and Brian flipped through a book of steam locomotive builders photos and foamed over the pictures. Dan stood nearby and did not foam over the pictures.

In an unrelated incident, Dan foamed over the cover photo on another book, which featured a Chicago & North Western Vauclain compound 4-4-2.

Want to donate or volunteer? Go to www.socalrailway.org/sco to help out!

Address

2201 S. A Street
Perris, CA
92570

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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