As Caltrans schedules major repaving work along State Highway 12 between Lawler Ranch Parkway and Shiloh Road, leaders of the Western Railway Museum are voicing concerns about the potential impact the construction could have on the nonprofit’s popular weekend events — and its financial future.
The museum, operated by the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association, has long been a cultural and historical staple in Solano County. Located just east of Suisun City at 5848 State Highway 12, the Western Railway Museum preserves and showcases the electric rail history of Northern California. The organization maintains a 20-acre headquarters and a 21-mile stretch of the former Sacramento Northern Railway, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
According to Caltrans, its project will include overlaying new asphalt, replacing culverts, building bridge rails, and installing median barriers. Eastbound and westbound lanes of SR-12 will be subject to one-way traffic control. Only one lane will be open at a time, with traffic alternating directions through the work zone.
In a letter to the Solano County Board of Supervisors and to Caltrans, the museum’s board expressed appreciation for the planned roadway improvements, but urged Caltrans to reconsider the construction schedule — particularly weekend work, which threatens to derail key events that are vital to the museum’s operation.
“We are open to the public on weekends year-round. Our most attended events each year are the Pumpkin Patch trains,” reads the letter, signed by the railroad association’s board chairman Allan Fisher.
The pumpkin patch is the museum’s largest event, Fisher said in a phone interview. “We see up to 1,500 people a day during that time. The events like the pumpkin patch and our Santa Trains in December make up about a third of our annual ticket revenue.”
Since both the Pumpkin Patch and Santa Trains are weekend-only events, any disruption to traffic or accessibility during these weekends could deter visitors, cut deeply into revenue, and undercut the museum’s outreach efforts, Fisher warned.
The letter formally requests that Caltrans avoid scheduling construction on weekends — especially during October and December — to minimize the impact on the museum and the surrounding community.
“Our museum exists to educate the public about the critical role electric railways played in shaping the region,” the letter notes. “We ask Caltrans to help us continue that mission without unintended consequences from this much-needed infrastructure project.”
Fisher said he only just sent the letters last week so he hasn’t yet heard from the Board of Supervisors or Caltrans.
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