AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Tucked beside the active tracks in the old Millbrae Southern Pacific depot, the Millbrae Train Museum is a tiny, free rail museum run by volunteers from the Millbrae Historical Society. The station building has served the Peninsula since it was rebuilt in 1907, and a loving restoration brought it back toward its original as-built state; today its waiting room and ticketmaster's office are a compact gallery of railroad history.↗↗
The real draw is what sits outside: a fully restored 1941 Pullman sleeping car from the famous City of San Francisco Streamliner that visitors can walk inside, a vintage Railway Express Agency truck, and a small yard of rolling stock, all set beside an active corridor where Caltrain and BART glide past. It is unassuming and very much a work in progress, but knowledgeable docent tours and a genuine passion for the story of West Coast railroading make it one of the Bay Area's best-kept little gems.↗↗
A century-old depot given a second life
The Millbrae Historical Society opened the museum in October 2004 inside the former Southern Pacific train depot, a building that has been in continuous use since its reconstruction in 1907. A crew of volunteer railroaders, led for years by museum curator Vern Bruce, repaired, cleaned and repainted the structure, paying careful attention to returning it as close as possible to its original design.
