By Railfan & Railroad Staff

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 4-8-4 3751 will headline Rail Safety: Los Angeles on September 21 and 22, the largest railroad safety event in downtown Los Angeles in more than a decade.

The locomotive owned and maintained by the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society will be on display on Los Angeles Union Station’s Track 15 along with other pieces of equipment from Amtrak and Metrolink. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. 

“We could not be more excited to bring the message of safety around railroad tracks back to downtown Los Angeles,” said SBRHS Vice President, Alex Gillman. “Southern California is one of the busiest centers of passenger and freight railroad operations in the nation, and promoting rail safety is crucial for all our local communities.” 

While the event is sure to be fun, it comes with a serious message about rail safety. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, California ranked first in 2023 for the highest number of casualties related to trespassing, with 190 deaths and 134 injuries. That same year, California ranked second for the nation’s highest highway-rail grade crossing collisions, with 172 collisions, 38 deaths and 74 injuries. 

Locomotive 3751 was the first Northern built for Santa Fe when it was released by Baldwin in 1927. It is also the oldest surviving 4-8-4 locomotive in the world. After a long career on Santa Fe, the locomotive was put on display in San Bernardino. In the 1980s, it was taken out of a city park for restoration and returned to the main line in 1991. 

For more information about the event, visit www.sbrhs.org.