First-ever Railway Days Festival set for Saturday

Linda Thorsen Bond

Special to the San Angelo Standard-Times

Railway Museum of San Angelo is at 703 S. Chadbourne St.

The Railway Museum of San Angelo is on track for a big day Saturday, May 15. The first-ever Railway Days Festival will fill the surrounding area with food, fun, entertainment, history and pop-up booths from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The museum was honored this year by the Texas Historical Commission for significant contributions to historical preservation, education and community outreach. According to Board of Directors president Suzanna Valenzuela, the Railway Days Festival continues that trend by displaying the historic train depot to the public. Saturday is also Goodfellow Appreciation Day, and all members of the military get into the museum for Living History tours for free.

The street around the restored 1910 railway depot will be closed off for food vendors including CT Dogs, the Crazy Fruit, Chela’s Kitchen, Angelo’s Best Funnel Cakes and Rusas Mexico. Pop up vendors include Color Street Nails, Tiffany Alise Designs, Curious & Coward Dog Bakery, The Sol & Sage Apothecary, Simple Gifts, Bluebonnet Soapery, Desperado Diva, Pure Barre, Grace N Grit, Kay’s Bitty Cakes, Year-Yearout Parties and Décor, South Elm Street Boutique Everything In Between and The Train Geek.

Students from Water Valley Elementary School climb aboard a train inside the Railway Museum in San Angelo.

The most unusual pop-up is Train Treasures, which will sell items from the Railway Museum that are no longer in the collection. There are model train pieces as well as things that have been donated to the museum, like 15 used printers.

The highlight of the preparation for Railway Museum volunteers was the opening of a boxcar where unused items have been stored for years. These items have been carefully curated to release items that other people can enjoy and save items that stay in the museum’s collection. Everyone’s invited to come see the curiosities that have been hidden at the museum for who knows how long.

A railroad car parked near the Railway Museum of San Angelo, seen here in this Thursday, May 6, 2021 photo, was recently explored for items to benefit the museum during an upcoming fundraiser.

Entertainment includes Wrather Rhodes 10 a.m.-noon, the Concho Cowboy Company shootout at High Noon, Manny Campos after the shootout until 2 p.m. and Billy Dan Langley from 2-4 p.m. Some of the sweetest and tamest residents of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue will be outside the museum from 10 a.m.-noon.

Inside the museum there are Living History Tours with volunteers in costume as they would have been in 1910, the year the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient depot opened. In the lobby there is a silent auction that includes a tabletop firepit donated by Westlake ACE Hardware, a collectible village and train donated by Patty Korona, an item from Texas Angelo Boutique, a rare cigar box train collection and more. On the second floor, there are five rooms of scale model trains that will be steaming around their tiny tracks all day.

The Railway Museum is a nonprofit organization that depends on admissions and donations from people who love San Angelo’s history. One hundred percent of every dollar spent at the museum goes directly to maintaining the facility and historical artifacts that are a part of San Angelo’s past—and its future. Sponsor of the first annual Railway Days Festival is Discover San Angelo.

The 2021-22 Railway Museum memberships are available, and all members are admitted free to the museum for a year. Each month there is a new treasure hunt with a chance to win a great prize. Regular tickets for the Living History Tour are $3 children, $4.50 military, and $5 adults. Visit the railway museum at 703 S. Chadbourne St., contact them at 325-468-2140, or visit www.sanangelorailway.org.