From the time I was very young, I found myself drawn to cemeteries.  It is not a creepy or morbid infatuation that lures me, but the palpable sense of history they provide.

Where some see death in graveyards, I see a connection to lives past.

              I've also always been enamored by the railroad.  As a child, I spent countless hours playing with the model train sets in the attic of my grandfather’s house in Portsmouth, Ohio. 

              From my station in the attic, I could look out the window, down the hill and see the headstones of Greenlawn Cemetery.

              The Old City Cemetery offered a "History of the Railroad" tour on Saturday morning, and I was there, with bells on.

              I arrived around 9:50 a.m., and there were close to two dozen people milling about waiting for the tour to start.  I mentioned to a gentleman next to me that it seemed to be a great turnout.  Then another couple dozen folks showed up.               

              By the time the tour began, there were close to 60 people looking to get their railroad history fix.  I've been to A's games that weren't so well attended.

              The crowd certainly skewed towards the "Murder She Wrote," early-bird-special age group, but pretty much every demographic was represented (Except for the teens. Lord knows how those ne’er-do-wells spend their Saturday mornings.  Certainly not touring graveyards).

              I am happy to report, however, that the 5- to 13-year-old demographic was very well represented, highlighted by the girl scouts of Del Garden Service Unit 127, Troop 74.  The girls comported themselves very well, took pictures with the docents,  asked questions, and seemed to really enjoy themselves. I'm not sure I'd have been so keen to spend a Saturday learning about railroad history at their age. There's hope for our future yet! 

              Our tour guide, Evan, was all decked out in period train engineer garb.  Along the way, he introduced us to several other visitors from bygone days. 

              We met Edwin Crocker, of Crocker Museum fame along with his second wife, Margeret, and their daughter Aimee.

              The three of them regaled us with fascinating tales of early Sacramento, and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. 

              One of my favorites involved my people: the Irish.  Irish immigrants laid most of the westbound track for the Union Pacific.  Nipping at their heels was "Hell on Wheels,"  a collection of gambling houses, dance halls, saloons and brothels filled with "ladies of easy virtue" who catered to the workers’ every indulgence. 

              Apparently, it had a negative effect on productivity.

              The Central Pacific Railroad skirted the problem by recruiting  workers from China, who were far less inclined to get into drunken knife fights over hookers at gambling houses. 

              We met an engine room fireman named Scott, standing by the grave of boy hero William Brown.  Scott introduced us to the precocious engineer, who, at the ripe old age of 23, saved the lives of a hundred troops, as well as that of our raconteur, by pulling the pin on his runaway locomotive.  The passenger cars came to a stop, while William and his locomotive plunged headlong into San Francisco Bay.

              The Widow Congden, dressed all in black, recounted the tragic yet heroic tale of her husband’s passing.  Charles Congden died at the controls of the Oregon Express, but saved dozens of lives in doing so.  The story has a heartwrenching twist, as the young fireman who discovered Charles' body was Walter Congden, the engineer’s eldest son.

              All of the volunteers do a wonderful job of bringing these stories to life, embodying their long-dead personas with great enthusiasm and care.

              The tour takes about an hour and a half, winding through one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever seen. 

              City Cemetery is Sacramento's oldest. It was founded in 1849, covers 44 acres and is the final resting place for more than 25,000 individuals.  In recent years it has been lovingly restored by volunteers to it's present state, which is nothing short of spectacular.

              They offer a wide array of guided tours, each dedicated to different aspects of the venerable old graveyard.  Check out oldcitycemetery.com to find the schedule.

              The Cemetery is open for self-guided tours from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday through Wednesday. 

              I highly recommend the tour to history buffs, Sacramento lovers, cemeteryphiles or anyone else who's looking for a fun, interesting and educational way to spend a couple of hours.

              I'm already looking forward to the next one.