The origins of this museum go back to 1946 when a group of enthusiasts purchased an Oakland streetcar that was about to be scrapped, this group became the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association (BAERA). This association is today responsible for the running of the Western Railway Museum. The site, opened in 1960, centred on Rio Vista Junction, was once part of the main line of the Sacramento Northern Railway, today the museum owns 21 miles of track, 5.5 miles of which is electrified. The museum has a large collection of city trams and interurban cars, mostly from Northern California, many of which are in running order. The museum also owns a number of main line railway items including locomotives, passenger coaches and freight wagons. The accent is on the electric vehicles however, a service of both city and interurban cars is provided when the museum is open to the public.

In this collection we see many of the vehicles in the collection as at 2002, including not only those from the local area but also as far afield as Melbourne and Blackpool!