Scramble in over 80 restored cabooses and cars, and even drive vintage locomotives.

Whether you’re intrigued by history, have a life-long love of trains, or have kids or grandkids who live for the next episode of Thomas the Tank Engine, the Western Pacific Railroad Museum should be on your list of must-sees in the Shasta Cascade region. Here you’ll find nearly 40 acres filled with locomotives, rail cars, tracks, and entertaining memorabilia—enough to keep any train buff enthralled for hours. The museum has an ultra-hands-on policy, with visitors encouraged to scramble aboard and get a real sense of the great age of train travel. Go ahead—sit in the engineer’s seat, explore cabooses, and stretch out in passenger cars. It’s all good at this family-friendly museum.

One of the museum’s most unique programs lets you actually drive one of the site’s 35 vintage locomotives. Take the controls for up to two hours, following tracks on the museum grounds (with the help of a private instructor) for up to 2 hours. All aboard!