EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Those commuting through Los Angeles Union Station on Monday will be in for a treat, as a night of musical performances and stories will liven up the Southern California landmark.

The Metro Art and Silkroad initiatives will present a free event, dubbed "Railroad Roots," as part of the ongoing American Railroad tour across the country. Metro Art's Heidi Zeller, who is leading the event, recently shared more details with Spectrum News.

"We learned about this really beautiful program called American Railroad, and it was just such a perfect fit for us to work with them," Zeller said. "So we teamed up to make this happen."

The forthcoming American Railroad tour — just one component of the multi-year American Railroad initiative, Silkroad’s most ambitious project to date — will stop in locations with significant connections to the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad. And the next stop is Union Station.

The evening includes musical performances by Silkroad artistic director and Grammy-winner Rhiannon Giddens, plus special musical guests and a discussion about the transcontinental railroad. Also joining Silkroad for the conversational portion is bestselling author Lisa See, whose great-great-grandfather worked on the railroad in the mid-1800s.

"It's a combination program," Zeller said. "We'll be hearing live music, and it will be interwoven with conversation between Lisa See and Rhiannon Giddens, really telling some of these stories about people who actually built the transcontinental railroad, what communities were impacted."

Since its opening in 1939, Union Station has long been considered one of LA's architectural gems, with deep connections to the historic neighborhood around it.

"It was not just dirt before that," Zeller said. "It was the site of the original Chinatown in Los Angeles. And so we're very aware of that. And we wanted to tell some of this history because it's an important history that everyone should know about, especially those who live here."

And on that note, there is an exhibition, "Where You Stand: Chinatown 1880 to 1939," currently on display in the station and centrally located in the waiting room.

"It has photography, it has a map, it has some oral histories," Zeller said. "There's a whole augmented reality component, where people can see artifact materials superimposed on locations, so you kind of know where you're literally standing in the station, what was there, and learn about some of the sights and some of the people, the businesses, organizations and just all of the ways that the Chinatown community was supported."

Zeller also emphasized how Monday's event is free to the public and can be appreciated by all LA residents, not just those with connections to the Chinatown neighborhood.

"It's for lovers of arts and culture, but also people who are using the station, everyday commuters, everybody who uses the Metro system and Amtrak, Metrolink, all of the providers there," she said. "So we hope to maybe provide something cultural for those who aren't necessarily expecting that when they're coming through the station. So that's our little surprise that we'd like to drop into the world."

The event starts at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. For more information and to RSVP, visit here.