Bossé Toy Train Museum, Santa Barbara

About Bossé Toy Train Museum

Bossé Toy Train Museum in Santa Barbara houses an expansive collection of toy trains and memorabilia from the golden age of train travel. Visitors explore meticulously designed displays featuring Lionel train layouts from the 1930s and 1940s, MTH reproduction standard toy trains, and original trains spanning different time periods, most in excellent condition. The museum showcases a main layout with detailed scenery including tunnels, stations, and bridges, with LGB trains circling overhead. Exhibits include an authentic observation car from the 1900s available for photographs, original Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific railroad hats, cast iron horse-drawn circus wagons, train station replicas, and an original Lionel stove that makes cookies. A scaled-down steam locomotive boiler front features authentic details like steam chests and a Baldwin builder plate. The historic museum building itself is a designated City of Santa Barbara landmark. An engineer's-perspective video allows visitors to ride along with a locomotive through the layout. A gift shop offers train-related souvenirs to take home.