Pacific Railroad Society

Not worth the time, my first visit to the museum I found it closed, but the online hours that were posted showed that they would be open. Upon the second visit I entered the museum and was greeted by an ear spitting door bell, once the door was closed the unwelcoming bell ended. You will find yourself in a small room, as you walk through it you will see 2 open doors, one to the left and one to the right displaying the toilets of the men’s and women’s room. As you continue, you will find the rooms are painted a dirty grey with old display cases from a thrift store. While looking around I found the staff member eating lunch and was not too helpful in making me feel welcomed. I also noticed the poorly typed written display information that looks as if a child had typed it and placed it on display. I found the museum was poorly laid out as I moved from room to room. So if you are looking for somewhere to waste some time, this museum may be the place to do it.

I’d love to talk about how great the museum is, but the docent literally walked out of the building and yelled at me relentlessly about not seeing some sign that supposedly told me to turn in to the parking lot from a different direction. This was our family’s first time in downtown San Dimas! We didn’t hurt anyone, and there were no other cars in the parking lot except the docent’s. Still, instead of being friendly and helpful about it, he was incredibly rude and we changed our minds rather quickly about visiting the museum and decided to find another place to discover. We ended up at the Veterans Memorial just nearby since my husband is a Veteran. So we went to pay our respects. I suggest the Pacific Railroad Society find a new docent or not many others will be coming to visit this museum. I called the city to complain about the docent’s rude behavior when we got home. I have not been spoken to that rudely in ALL my life. Fair warning!

There’s lot’s of info on trains and their history in the US. Dave the Curator of the Museum and Library was very friendly, helpful and knowledgable. Great place for the train enthusiast!

i wouldn’t go out of my way to see this place but if you live within a couple miles or find yourself visiting within a couple miles and have nothing else to do then why not stop by and learn something. maybe the opinion of a train enthusiast would differ from mine so let it be known i’m not a fan of trains. although i am excited for the eastward expansion of the goldline.
one good thing i must say is that the gentleman that leads tours and gives a brief lesson on the history of trains here in the states is very kind and informative.

I wouldn’t drive out of my way to visit this spot, but it’s a cute, volunteer-​run museum that would be perfect for a 2 – 5 yr old train enthusiast. our 2 year old daughter recently learned what trains are (she calls them «choo choo’s») and since we had a spare afternoon and, more importantly, only live about 15 minutes away, we swung by. I agree with the other reviewer that there isn’t a lot to see but there is a library on the 2^nd floor dedicated to books on trains. Open only a few hours per day, a few days per week (I want to say Mondays and Wednesdays from noon-​5, Saturdays from 10 – 4, but call them to be sure). This place is located in old town San Dimas so you can stroll around but there unfortunately isn’t too much to see unless you’re into antique stores.

This is a tiny railroad station, built when San Dimas was known at Mud Springs. I wouldn’t suggest visiting this place on its own, but it’s located in a cute, western-​themed area of San Dimas which was nice to have seen.
The friendly tour is free, but there is not much to see. There are no locomotives or cars, but small displays about historical San Dimas railroad operations.