By admin 
A special train journey is set to leave from the Sacramento Valley Station on June 13. In honor of Juneteenth, the Gold Runner train line will offer a special rate and make a stop at an iconic landmark in Californian and Black American history.
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The town of Allensworth, in Tulare County, was co-founded in 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth. After his escape from slavery in Kentucky, Allensworth joined the Civil War on the Union side, becoming a chaplain and rising to the rank of Colonel.
Allensworth was “the first town in California founded, built, and governed by African Americans,” notes the Gold Runner website. However, the town’s prosperity faded within decades, due to a local company refusing to supply water and the removal of the train stop to another town.
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park has preserved a number of Allensworth’s buildings. For the last eight years, Gold Runner, which is operated by Amtrak, has scheduled trains to bring Californians from across the state to Allensworth for a Juneteenth celebration.
In 2025, according to a Gold Runner press release, more than 500 people took part in the train journey to Allenworth. “Each year, more people choose to be part of this trip and to experience the history and community that make the Allensworth celebration so meaningful,” said Chris Orlando, Chief Executive Officer of the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, in the release.
Juneteenth, which became a federal holiday in 2021 and a California state holiday in 2023, commemorates the events of June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in the state of Texas received word, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that slavery was over.
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Allensworth will hold its Juneteenth festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 13, with trains taking celebrants to and from the event, which will feature free admission to the State Park, live music, and food vendors.
Train 702 will depart at 7:09 a.m. from the Sacramento Valley Station (SAC) and arrive at Colonel Allensworth State Park (CNL) at 11:41 a.m. It will make all the regularly scheduled stops, at Lodi, Stockton’s Robert J. Cabral Station, Turlock-Denair, Modesto, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Hanford, and Corcoran. After stopping in Allensworth, Train 702 will then continue on to its final stops in Wasco and Bakersfield.
Another southbound train from Oakland’s Jack London Station, Train 710, will depart at 7:08 a.m. and arrive in Allensworth at 12:41 p.m.
Gold Runner is offering a special discounted rate of $19 one-way for adults and further discounted fares for seniors, children, people with disabilities, as well as veterans and active military. Other discounts can be applied on the Gold Runner website. Tickets can also be purchased online, over the phone, or at ticket counters or kiosks inside Amtrak stations.
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