The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum at Campo combines preserved trains with the history of the San Diego region’s difficult and ambitious railway connections. The museum association maintains its main collection at Campo and a separate restored depot in La Mesa. These are complementary sites rather than interchangeable entrances: Campo offers the larger equipment setting and scheduled train experiences, while La Mesa preserves a smaller station-focused attraction.
The organization’s own history includes several moves before establishing the Campo site. Earlier equipment storage at Naval Air Station Miramar became untenable when the Navy announced removal of the track. A search for a permanent home led to land beside the San Diego & Arizona Eastern route, and the museum acquired the Campo property in 1980. Creating a museum there required track, working facilities and space for equipment, not simply an exhibition building.
Preservation extended to documents as well as vehicles. The association records that volunteers rescued original operating records, photographs and maps from the former railway yard office before demolition. Known within its history as the Dumpster Collection, that rescue provides a memorable reminder of how easily railway evidence can disappear. A map or office file may be less impressive than a locomotive, yet it can explain how the railway actually functioned.
One collection highlight is the Pullman car Robert Peary. The museum records repeated use by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s, followed by a later career as a railroad business car. Subsequent owners renamed it Victoria, and it also appeared in films before entering preservation. Those changing identities make it an unusually rich object: a single car can tell stories about political travel, corporate work, private ownership and popular entertainment.
At Campo, look for the contrast between ordinary working equipment and cars designed for specialized passengers. Scheduled operation adds sound and movement, but a train ticket should not be treated as access to every stored or restoration vehicle. If visiting La Mesa instead, use that depot’s own address and opening information; the two sites require different travel plans.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in California
- California State Railroad Museum — Sacramento: Major railroad museum
- Fullerton Train Museum — Fullerton: Passenger-car and railroad collection
- Golden Gate Railroad Museum — Schellville: Locomotive and passenger-equipment preservation collection
- Laws Railroad Museum — Bishop: Railroad and local history museum
- Lomita Railroad Museum — Lomita: Railroad museum
- Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum — Nevada City: Narrow-gauge railroad museum
- Niles Canyon Railway / Pacific Locomotive Association — Sunol: Operating railroad preservation collection
- Niles Depot Museum — Fremont: Depot and railroad history museum
- All 19 railroad museums and sites in California
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Pacific — the trains you can ride in the region