All aboard the locomotive

“Toot Toot!” That’s a sound you wouldn’t expect to hear on a weekend trip to the park, but on the third full weekend of every month the Orange County Model Engineers provide free rides to the public on a stretch of Fairview Park bordering the Costa Mesa Public Golf Course.

Since 1989, the engineers have provided rides to the public as part of their lease agreement with Costa Mesa to use Fairview Park as a place for the club to runs its trains and meet for other club functions. During these weekend events, parents and children flock to the Goat Hill Junction Train Station to take a ride on one of the model trains, most of which are 1/8 scale. On a typical weekend, more than 3,000 passengers take the 15-minute ride, covering more than one mile on the park. Riders get an opportunity to travel through areas of the park they normally wouldn’t and enjoy a different perspective from a seat on a train. Although train travel isn’t as common as it was 100 years ago, you can still experience a short train journey through Fairview Park.

For more photos, click here.

Public Ride Weekends

When: Third full weekend of every month from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Where: Fairview Park, 2525 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa

Website: www.ocmetrains.org