The California State Railroad Museum debuts “The Rail Splitter and the Railroads: Lincoln, the Union and the Golden State.”

The exhibit—timed to also commemorate the 140th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad—has been created especially for the California State Railroad Museum by Guest Curator Peter A. Hansen with support from the California State Railroad Museum Foundation. It demonstrates how Lincoln was instrumental in determining the role of American railroads in the transportation and early movement of crops and, eventually, even California gold. Additionally, the exhibit content includes interesting elements from Lincoln’s law career as it related to key issues concerning the railroad. “The Rail Splitter and the Railroads” will be showcased in the Museum’s Theater Mezzanine Gallery through February 15, 2010.

Click here for more information: www.parks.ca.gov/lincoln

Operated by California State Parks with financial assistance from the nonprofit CSRM Foundation, the California State Railroad Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Widely regarded as North America’s finest and most-visited interpretive railroad museum, the complex of facilities includes the 100,000-sq.ft. Railroad History Museum plus the reconstructed Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station and Freight Depot, 1849 Eagle Theatre, and Big Four and Dingley Spice Mill buildings in Old Sacramento. For 24-hour information, call (916) 445-6645.