I was recently looking at the nice cosmetic restoration that the California Trolley & RR Museum in San Jose had done to SP #1215 now located in the History Park in San Jose on Senter Road. They have developed a museum plan for a parcel currently owned by UP directly across the street from the History Park on Senter Road next to the Municipal Baseball Park (SJ Giants) that is shown here:

San Jose RR Museum plan


Proposed site for San Jose RR Museum on Senter Road

Now after looking at this San Jose proposal I am struck by how similar the plans are to what the Golden Gate RR Museum is also proposing for their move to Santa Cruz. Now these two museums would be located just over 30 miles apart and each have a SP P-10 Pacific; 2472 (operational) and 2479 (under restoration) as their primary asset.

Now setting aside political considerations for a moment would it not make a lot of sense to merge these two organizations and combine forces in San Jose?

Here are a few of the pluses that I can see:

Restoration resources and shop to service and restore the P-10’s would be complementary

San Jose has the Lenzen roundhouse, water tank and turntable (all dismantled and stored) and covered car storage as part of their plan

The population to draw volunteers to do the work of a museum is at least 20X in San Jose vs. Santa Cruz

Silicon Valley has some of the deepest pockets to tap for museum construction and ongoing restorations

The San Jose proposed depot museum has exhibit space and the potential for events/ income

Perhaps I am missing something here but from a long term perspective for both organizations and the preservation of RR history in the area, if a merger hasn’t been seriously considered perhaps it is time to revisit this idea before a move of GGRM to Santa Cruz takes place.