Alameda County Central Railroad Society

We are open for the Goodguys Car Show today and tomorrow at the Alameda County Fairgrounds! Come check us out!

At this year’s Goodguys West Coast Nationals Car Show, our club participated in more ways than just running trains. Long-time member John Kolberg and his wife showed off their beautiful 1932 Ford in the car show as well. John explained about what he did to build the car and also talked about it’s past: The hotrod is considered a 1932 Ford Coupe. However, only the body, frame rails and radiator are of that vintage. I refer to the hotrod as a "junkyard" car, since most of th...e parts that make up the car are used parts from salvage yards, swapped with friends, or manufactured from odd pieces of steel. Following is a list of parts: 1. The 3-71 roots blower is from a road grader--undoubtedly off a two-cycle diesel engine. 2. The engine is a 283 cubic inch engine from a chevy truck of late 1950's vintage 3. The transmission is a turbo-350 of unknown ancestry. 4. Front end (axle, brakes, steering gear) is from a 1941 Ford. The purpose was to convert the 1932 mechanical brake system to hydraulic brakes. 5. The rear axle etc. is from a 1961 Mercury. The older transmission, drive shaft, and differential had worn out or broke in the late 1990's. 6. Seats are from a Pontiac Fiero. The only car parts bought new are the carburetor (Holly 4-barrel double pumper), dashboard instruments, tires, and Hildebrandt wheels. The car was used as a drag-racing car in the 1950's in the mid-west, using nitromethane as fuel. It raced in the first NHRA sanctioned national drag-racing finals in Great Bend, Kansas in 1955.

A couple of our O Scale trains in operation during the Goodguys Car Show this weekend.

We are open for the Goodguys West Coast Nationals car show today and tomorrow! So come check us out!

From the members of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society...we wish you a happy 4th of July filled with family and friends and if you were at the Alameda County Fair today, model trains! We had some patriotic trains running on our HO Scale layout today, including a Santa Fe Centennial painted SD45, Union Pacific’s Spirit of the Union Pacific military locomotive, and even some patriotic Wisconsin & Southern boxcars!

This Southern Pacific tank train is just one of many trains you’ll maybe see running at our club during the fair this year.

The 2019 Alameda County Fair starts tomorrow and runs through July 7th and the members of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society can’t wait to show off the educational additions to our club centered around the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad, including a new more visible entryway, updated display featuring the famous California Zephyr passenger train, audio stations welcoming visitors and talking about the transcontinental railroad (not pictured), a new Drive-In movie on our HO layout talking about the Transcontinental Railroad, posters at the entrance showing some of the most famous West Coast passenger trains, and more!

Photos from the 2019 Great Train Show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Thank you Andrew Horta for the photos!

Trains are staged for operation during the Great Train Show tomorrow and Sunday! Check out our O Scale Western Pacific California Zephyr, watch freight containers being switched in the port on our HO layout, and much more! Also check out our redesigned entry way featuring posters of the famous passenger trains of California...the Super Chief of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the Western Pacific’s California Zephyr, the Union Pacific Streamliners, and the Southern Pacific’s legendary Daylight!

The Great Train Show is coming to the Alameda County Fairgrounds this coming weekend! We will be open and operating both days, so come on by and check out our layouts and chat with our members!

Happy New Year from all of us at the Alameda County Central Railroad Society! This year, member Jamie West visited the Carquinez Model Railroad Society in Crockett, CA and ran trains, including Norfolk Southern’s Honoring First Responders unit, SD60E No. 911, and a pair of Union Pacific EMD GP40-2s, as a guest!

A short modern era intermodal train with a BNSF GE ES44DC and Union Pacific EMD SD70M for power.

It was a Union Pacific kind of night tonight during our weekly meet (at least on our HO layout). Member Jamie West had a pair of modern era EMD GP40-2s (including an RCL unit) in yard/local service and member Ron Chapman had a 4-6-6-4 Challenger steam locomotive, an EMD E9A/E9B set, and veterans SD70AH No. 1943 Spirit of the Union Pacific pulling a passenger train.