Bluegrass Train

03/11/2026

It’s your lucky day! Come play  bluegrass, country, folk, progressive music at the second Saturday Bluegrass Jam at the Santa Clara Train Station depot museum 1005 Railroad Ave.12-3 PM, March 14, 2026

02/07/2025

The second Saturday, February 8, 2025, 12-3pm, Santa Clara Historic Depot Bluegrass Train Jam is dedicated to the memory of Cousin Al, a well known bluegrass DJ and personality who promoted bluegrass music to the San Francisco Bay area and also to Santa Cruz, CA, area. Cousin Al passed away this past year.

In 2012, Cousin Al was on the board of the South Bay Historical Railroad Society that runs the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History in the old Santa Clara depot across from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. Thanks to Cousin Al, when Mary Kennedy, a former editor, treasurer, & board member of the Northern California Bluegrass Society, asked if she could start a jam and borrow chairs and space at the museum every second Saturday from 12 to 3 PM, the board willingly and generously agreed to sponsor the jam.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society a.k.a. Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society also helps sponsor the jam.

The train jam has been held consistently every second Saturday since 2012 and provides a fun musical respite to the community of the City of Santa Clara, Santa Clara University students, and the commuters getting on and off Amtrak and CalTrain at the station. Our audience often consist of people who bring their families to the museum, delighting their little children who love to dance to the music.

We are very grateful to Cousin Al for his help and support in starting the Bluegrass Train Jam at the station museum in 2012. His grandson played the mandolin at the jam back in the early days.

For more information on Cousin Al and his contribution to the bluegrass music community in Northern California, read this obit article written by Michael Hall of NCBS: https://ncbs.us/2023/09/08/cousin-al-knoth-pioneer-west-coast-radio-host-early-south-bay-bluegrass-organizer/

Photo of Cousin Al from the NCBS website.

01/09/2025

01/02/2025

2024 was another wonderful year of jamming at the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History in Santa Clara, CA. This year marks 12 years of 2nd Saturday jams at the historic Santa Clara Depot & Caltrain/ Amtrak station.The jam is sponsored by the South Bay Railroad Society and the Northern California Bluegrass Society. A big thanks to these organizations for their help & sponsorship over the years. A big thanks to David Wilson for taking over as jam leader this past year with help from his wife Colleen and founder Mary Kennedy - the jam is regularly attended by a great group of players of many various stringed instruments. The next jam will be held on the 2nd Saturday of January, 1/11.25 from 12-3pm, 1005 Railroad Ave, Santa Clara, CA. Come play & sing or listen an/or view the Museum exhibits and model trains. The jam is held inside during rainy & windy weather.

02/10/2024

Hi Today is February 10, 2024 the Love month ❤️🎶 Come play your favorite country, folk, bluegrass, and train songs about love found, lost, won, found again! The 2nd Saturday Santa Clara Train jam is from 12-3pm at the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History - string players welcome (leave your woodwinds at home - exceptions made for harmonics which can sound like trains!

See you there at 12:00pm. Free Parking outside the historic depot - paid parking in the Caltrain parking lot.

Happy New Year of the Wood Dragon, 2024! 🎵🎊🥳🐉🎶🤠🪕🎻🎶 Trains no longer smoke but they wind through the country side like Dragons!

Note: photos from Los Altos Community Center Jam a week ago or so with the usual suspects!

02/10/2024

Some of the people who jammed this Saturday at the Santa Clara Historic Train Depot (Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History). Not shown: Linda on ukulele and Amadeus on banjo 💕🎶 We all enjoyed being able to play on a cold winter day inside the Depot 🙂 ! Thank you South Bay Historical Railroad Society for sponsoring the jam!

12/11/2023

Great holiday time jams - Santa Clara Train Jam in Santa Clara, District 9 Jam in Castro Valley, and Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Jam in San Jose. Celebrating fellowship and good music with great musicians and good tasty cookies and some healthy food stuffs lol! A Great big Thank You to Colleen for making such delicious yummy Holiday cookies to share!

12/09/2023

Santa Clara Bluegrass & Country Train Jam at the Santa Clara Historic Depot (Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History) Today!🎅🎄🧑‍🎄🎶🤠💕🎶🪕🎻

2nd Saturday Jam, 12-3pm, 1005 Railroad Ave, Santa Clara, CA 95051.

Come join us - we welcome acoustic stringed-instrument musicians- all levels. Guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles, autoharp, etc. No woodwinds please. Know your chords-sharing a songsheet is great idea- to lead your song so others can back you up, and allow space for instrument breaks by the other players. If it is too cold we go inside the museum (1st big sliding door on left at top of stairs). 0therwise, we play on the patio in front of the museum. Free parking in front of museum, $5.50 Caltrain parking lot.

07/21/2023

Barbie needs a mandolin or fiddle or guitar or banjo or upright bass for her country band!

07/11/2023

July 8 2nd Saturday train jam at the Santa Clara Historic Train Depot was magical: good people, good music, beautiful day, =natural high!

07/09/2023

2nd Sat Train jam 7/8/2023 Santa Clara Depot.