What to Know
- Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival: A Celebration of Past, Present & Future
- Free; RSVP in advance via the site
- Sept. 9 and 10 at Union Station
There are just about as many flavors of travel as there are modes of transportation in this world and beyond, but among the dreamiest — outside of a shiny sci-fi saucer that whisks you to the edge of the galaxy — are those trips enjoyed along the tracks.
Trains, after all, move at a pace that gives passengers the opportunity to gaze at fresh landscapes, get some work down, read a novel, or sip a cup of coffee. New passengers board, others disembark, and a rider may begin to ponder all of the epic stories and films trains have appeared in (answer: a whole lot).
To honor trains, including their dynamic designs, enduring importance, and enticing allure, there is Los Angeles Union Station Trainfest: A Celebration of Past, Present, and Future, a free celebration at Union Station.
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If this weekend-long party, a cheerful chugga-chug of train-strong celebrating, sounds familiar to you, then your Alameda Street acumen is strong: The Union Station festivity was long a lively calendar staple for engine enthusiasts, a must-visit brimming with models, tours, talks, and more.
After a multi-year hiatus the happening, long a fixture of springtime and mid-summer, will be back on Sept. 9 and 10.
As in the past, Trainfest is very much a complimentary convention for locomotive lovers, but you'll want to RSVP ahead of time via the event site.
The Scene
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Once there, you'll behold "... rail equipment on the tracks from various decades since the opening of the Station, marvel at the rarest of model train exhibits, participate in tours about the history, restoration and art throughout the building and experience other unique activities celebrating the legacy and future of Union Station and Southern California's rail systems."
We're blowing our whistle already over so much train-centered content.
As for where the Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival: A Celebration of Past, Present & Future will be rolling when you reach the clocktower-cool landmark?
In a word, or a few words, just about everywhere, or seemingly so, throughout Union Station, with gatherings popping up in the much-photographed Ticket Concourse, the sunny North and South Patios, and at select railway platforms, too.
