Railroad Field Trip

By: Maliki Bahar

Logistics
Cost
Bus - $1000 for 2
Students $1750 for 125 students (5 classes)
Chaperones - $15 for 5 (one per class)
Teachers are free!
Total cost: $2765 for 5 classes

Time
Load busses at 8:30am
Leave at 9am
Arrive at 9:45
Starts at 10am
Activities will run for approximately 2.5 hours

Lunch at 12:30pm
Leave at 1:15pm
Arrive back to school at 2:00pm

Logistics (continued)
Irvine Park Railroad
Irvine Park Road, Orange, CA 92869

Permission slips will be passed out three weeks prior to field trip and collected
a week before the class attends the field trip

Lesson 1: Cowboy gear

Read the following paragraph written by Hubert Collins. In his autobiography, Storm and Stampede on the
Chisholm, he tells about moving as a young boy to the Red Fork Ranch on the banks of the Cimarron River in
Indian Territory in 1883. Cowboys driving cattle along the Chisholm Trail would often camp near the ranch.
Cattlemen and cowboys, tall and short, were all thin, wiry, muscular specimens. Their complexions ranged
through every shade and texture of leather. Every time cowboys came into the store or rode by, I studied them
and found their characteristics to be about as follows. There was a certain uniformity in their dress. All of
them must have the best Stetson hats that money could buy. These were mostly gray in color, with a leather
band. A dark flannel shirt open at the collar was surmounted by a neckerchief. This was knotted hard and had
red for the predominating color. Jeans or trousers, buttoned tight about the hips, were tucked into high-heeled
boots of the finest leather, with thin soles, and spurs fastened to the heels. Chaps were worn over the trousers
and boots for protection from brush while riding. These were fastened loosely at the hips.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

From the passage above, describe 3 ways all of the cowboys were similar:
Bandanna is another word for?
Another word for jeans or trousers is?
Why would all cowboys wear the same types of clothing?
Why does a cowboy wear chaps over his pants?

Lesson 2: Trains
The Transcontinental Railroad brought change.
By 1881, it was routine to travel by train from eastern cities like Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore to San Francisco. The round trip that took Lewis and Clark
two-and-a-half years in 1803 was now a nine-day journey. The consequences of this new
technology were profound. Nothing in the West would ever be the same again.
Students will:
Analyzing archival material such as photos, documents, and posters, to appreciate the
phenomenon of the Transcontinental Railroad. They can begin to answer some
important questions: Why was the Transcontinental Railroad built? How did it affect
Native Americans? Other minorities? How was the environment affected? What were the
advantages of railroad travel? Who used the railroads, and why? Who built the railroad?

Lesson 3: Gold mines in California

Gold Rush letters Transcribed by: Kathleen Wilham
Transcribed by: Kathleen Wilham
Students will do a 2-3 minute presentation summarizing their letter.
Each group will be assigned a letter from Gold Rush letters. Groups will discuss the
letter amongst their group answering 3 questions :
1. What new information did you learn by reading these documents?
2. How were people in the letters different from what you'd imagine?
3. How much do the letters talk about gold? What else is mentioned

Train Rides

While at The Irvine Park Railroad we will take a train ride.

The train ride is a one third scale train that takes both teachers and students on
a 12 minute ride through scenic and beautiful Irvine Regional Park.
The hours that the train ride is available are from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Miners Camp

While at The Irvine Park Railroad students will be miners for a day as well
Students will experience a fun and real life demonstration given by a 49er on life
during the goldrush.
They will be able to see all of the daily tools and equipment used during life in the
1840s.
They will also rope cattle and learn games that helped the miners pass time.
We will stay in the miners camp for an hour.

Post trip assignment

Students will be given a booklet cut out in the shape of a train. They will be
instructed to decorate the outside however they please and use the inside
pages to document their experience on the field trip explaining 3 main events
that they enjoyed the most throughout the day. They will be required to write a
paragraph about each event and conclude with something that they learned or
found interesting on the trip. The finished product will be displayed on a
bulletin board for all classroom visitors to see.