January 2010 Ride Recap - Orange Empire Railroad Museum



Were you aware that the city of Perris is named after Fred T. Perris, the Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad in 1885? If you’re interested in choo-choo trivia like this, trains in general, and a great place for practicing your photography skills, then hopefully you were with Chapter 109 on January 16th. I for one was amazed by the living history of trains and railroads of yesteryear located just around the corner in Perris.

Chapter 109 begins 2010 with some changes – New President, Ron Lopez, V.P. Vince Greva, and supporting personnel who are all very excited about what’s coming up this year. One of the biggest changes for 2010 is that we are all to meet at Yamaha of Cucamonga first for every chapter meeting and ride. At 9:00 am sharp, we departed for our breakfast meeting at Don Marcos restaurant. They are offering a great value for breakfast, and a private room for conducting our Chapter meetings.

Our meeting was fairly concise considering all that had to be done before we could head-out for our first ride of the year. Once the business of reading the Star Organization Charter, 50-50 and information collection from all the riders, we headed out to the bikes. This is a fairly easy ride with some nice scenery as we rode through the Lake Mathews area. This is also where we had the opportunity to ride through some mild ‘twisties’ before getting into the Perris area. As we neared our destination, a bold and sudden reminder of one of Perris’ attraction appeared above our heads – a large, white cargo plane with the rear-door wide open, having just dropped its cargo of parachutists.

Once we arrived at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, thanks to some pre-planning, we were given access to the museum’s paved parking area. For the next hour and a half, we perused the grounds peering into the history of Perris and trains of yesteryear. Of particular interest was the steam-engine locomotive which ran throughout the day offering patrons a ride back in time. Some of us also experienced the surreal moment that the engine roared down the tracks with whistle blowing.
Any brief insight provided here about the Museum would not do it justice. A trip to this museum would be recommended to anyone who might enjoy a look back on what the railroad experience used to be – freight, long-haul, urban transportation and the people and companies behind it all. After enough time to have looked at everything, but still leaving reason to come back and look deeper, we hopped back on our bikes and headed out. Our trip back would take us by Lake Mathews once again, this time taking Santa Rosa Rd. and Lake Mathews Dr. for a picturesque view of the lake.

Once we arrived back at YOC, we talked for a few minutes about the ride and how well it went, and some new riding tactics which were used during the ride by road captains. But today could be summarized like this: yep, there was a long meeting, a great, albeit short ride, as much local history as you could take in during a brief visit to the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, and as always, an enjoyable day of making friends –don’t miss the next one!

Historian-Travis Rosser