Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The ornament collection spans decades.
The Hallmark Collection at the Henry Ford Museum
Crunchy and supremely satisfying, suppli might be the ultimate street food snack.
Supplizio
Front of El Rancho.
Historic El Rancho Hotel
The space is crowded with original artworks kept by the artist.
Hassan Al-Sharq Museum
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Crunchy and supremely satisfying, suppli might be the ultimate street food snack.
Supplizio
The pedigreed pistachios here are from Bronte.
Gelateria dei Gracchi
This tiny hole-in-the-wall serves one of the world’s most magnificent sandwiches.
Er Buchetto
Seafood features prominently on the menu.
Dakar NOLA
The kabrit, or twice-cooked goat, with plantains and rice and beans is essential.
Fritai
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Berza gitana is one of the exemplary dishes of Gitano cuisine.
How Gitano Cuisine Found a Home in Andalusia
about 4 hours ago
Greenland dogs—crucial to the sledge patrol’s transport and defense—pull a patrolman’s sled.
How Greenland’s Dog-Sled Patrol Became Unsung Heroes of World War II
about 19 hours ago
1763 Monument in Georgetown, Guyana.
The Berbice Rebellion of 1763 Ended With a Letter
1 day ago
A listener in Toronto explored Casa Loma, and a nearby park that made the city disappear.
How the Pandemic Helped Our Listeners Rediscover Their Own Neighborhoods
2 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Los Angeles Travel Town Museum

Travel Town Museum

A miniature train theme park, free to the public, laying at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Los Angeles, California

Added By
Nathan Turner
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Travel Town   NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
Travel Town   NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
  NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
  NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
  NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
  NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0
Entrance   Avoiding Regret
Train ride   Avoiding Regret
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Established in 1952, Travel Town is a free open-air museum and park, tucked obscurely on the far east side of Los Angeles' Griffith Park. It primarily concerns itself with American rail transportation from the 1880s to the 1930s.

On the surface, it is a quaint dated moment in time, a relic of the 1950s that showcases relics of an even earlier age, almost begging us to look at it through the same lens that it uses to look at an even deeper past. Beyond this metatheatre, the grounds act as an inviting community space featuring wide open park landscapes, a collection of several dozen rail/cable cars and locomotives, and even a miniature railway on which you can take a ride.

On weekdays, it is a sparsely-visited shady and comfortable respite from the tense pressure of the city. On weekends, you can find it filled with families, enjoying the whimsical delights of a bygone age.

Related Tags

Transportation Railroads Miniatures Trains Museums

Community Contributors

Added By

Alfred Lord Tennisanyone

Edited By

Avoiding Regret, Michelle Cassidy

  • Avoiding Regret
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

November 7, 2022

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://traveltown.org/historyandlearning/the-trains-at-travel-town/
Travel Town Museum
5200 Zoo Dr
Los Angeles, California, 90027
United States
34.153893, -118.308519
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Grand Central Air Terminal Museum

Glendale, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Los Angeles

Los Angeles

California

Places 237
Stories 60

Nearby Places

Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Grand Central Air Terminal Museum

Glendale, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Los Angeles

Los Angeles

California

Places 237
Stories 60

Related Places

  • The museum is housed in a former rail depot last used in 1913.

    Winter Garden, Florida

    Central Florida Railroad Museum

    An unsuspecting brick building outside Orlando houses decades of train ephemera.

  • The front of two trains on dispaly

    Scranton, Pennsylvania

    Steamtown National Historic Site

    The train collection of an eccentric New England seafood mogul is now a National Historical Site.

  •  Visitors to the Oklahoma Railway Museum can explore—and ride—century-old vessels restored by local train buffs.

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma Railway Museum

    A crew of die-hard train buffs spent decades turning a defunct stretch of railway in Oklahoma City into a museum now home to over 50 antique and restored trains.

  • A ride by steam locomotive through the Robinson Canyon.

    Ely, Nevada

    Nevada Northern Railway Museum

    This former mining railroad is one of the best-preserved short lines in North America.

  • The roundhouse at Greenfield Village.

    Dearborn, Michigan

    The Roundhouse at Greenfield Village

    One of the few working locomotive roundhouses in the United States.

  • Snowplow engine.

    Edmonton, Alberta

    Alberta Railway Museum

    Ride aboard a centuries-year-old steam engine and explore dozens of trains parts, including an unusual "comboose."

  • Çamlik Railway Museum.

    Selçuk, Turkey

    Çamlik Railway Museum

    This beautiful train graveyard is one of the largest collections of steam locomotives in the Mediterranean and Europe.

  • Cyprus Railways Museum.

    Cyprus

    Cyprus Railways Museum

    This museum in a shuttered train station remembers the island's forgotten rail system.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.