Good Railroad Museums

[Anonymous]

I would like to ask two questions for this thread: 1) What are your favorite RR Museums?, and 2)what makes a good railroad museum?
I volunteer at a small RR/RR town society museum in Brunswick MD (small tools, photos, town artifacts, and a HUGE HO scale layout of the B&O Metropolitan sub-division from D.C. to Brunswick, but no actual rolling stock), and would like opinions on what makes the good museums good.

[mudchicken]

(1) Hands down, Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden, CO

(2) A library, photographic, paper & ephemeral collection, an archivist and a broad representative collection of hardware. (while I respect the skills of some modellers, the REAL THING is what draws & awes me, museum generally does NOT imply fantacy toys)

Mudchicken

[tree68]

1. I've been to several good railroad museums, and even a museum about a museum/theme park (Rail City, Sandy Pond, NY). My favorite so far is the B&O. Even a small museum, like the one in the Durand, MI station, can be a pleasure to visit.

2. I'll second the broad collection of equipment, particularly as it applies to the theme/locale of the museum. Just as important, though, is providing information about that equipment, ie, history, uses, etc. Despite being a railfan and model railroader for a number of years, I don't know it all, and always enjoy a pleasant surprise.

Having the equipment that is on display in reasonable condition goes a long way toward making the museum experience more enjoyable. If it's in rough shape, acknowledge the fact and indicate any plans to change or not change that.

[CShaveRR]

I would have to cast my vote for the Illinois Railway Museum, in Union. They have a wide variety of equipment, much of which can be operated on their own trackage. (There are even a couple of engines that I've worked on in their active life!).

But never underestimate the drawing power of a good, interpretive model layout. I suspect that the HO-scale BNSF in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago gets more raves than the refurbished Pioneer Zephyr or the 999!

[Anonymous]

I haven't been to many museums, but I'll have to cast my vote for-
MidContinent in North Freedom, WI.

Why? Not a large collection, by any means, but true to its mission-to represent Wisconsin railroading in the "Golden Era of Rail"1900-1925.

They have an awsome collection of rolling stock, most restored to original condition and paint/lettering.[8D]
Only down side- all 4 of their active steamers are out of service. They may have Western Coal and Coke No. 1(4-6-0) up and running by next spring. The others(C&NW 1385, Polson Lumber 2, and Dardenelle and Russelville 9) are a few years down the road.[V]

[espeefoamer]

For good comprehensive coverage of a railroads motive power history,the B&O Museum wins easily.Another excellent one is the California State Railroad museum.The Colorado Railroad Museum is also very good,and both it and the California site have extensive reference libraries.Portola has an excellent collection of Western Pacific equipment,and is constantly growing.We recently aquired the Western Pacific hospital and are busy restoring it.The Nevada State Railroad Museum has a good slection of Virginia&Trukee locomotives and a set of models depicting every engine V&T owned,and which ones have been preserved.They are also currently restoring V&T's Mc Keen railcar#10.I believe this is the only one left.

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, MN. They have
a magnificent display of RR dining car china and they manage to pack quite a
bit of material into a rather confined museum space. The model RR is fairly good sized (but I'm a bit of a model RR snob and the level of detail is minimal and the scenery/landscaping is less than minimal, but it does seem to run
smooth). They're very nice people to deal with and I've donated a few items to
their inventory because of that (they're also very professional about handling
donations which is important of course).

On the opposite, however, I wasn't at all impressed with the Jackson Street
Roundhouse in St. Paul. To me it seemed like a glorified "Thomas Tank
Engine" playland and toy shop, and in their gift store they charge $50 for a
Wisconsin Central book that anywhere else costs ~ $30. They have a few
interesting displays (MILW dispatcher's control panel, for instance) but the
access to the locomotives was extremely limited (you can only see the front
end of the GN "Hustle Muscle" SD45). The model RR displays were non-
functioning and damaged from allowing kids to handle the displays (no
offense to kids in general). They have surprisingly few photographs displayed
from the Twin Cities/Minnesota area (you'd think there'd be more than what they
show) and even less verbage on the history of Minnesota/Twin Cities-area
railroading (and what they have is quite generalized and simple). What
bothered me the most about them was the management is so unresponsive
to offers to donate equipment. They never have anyone answering phones,
voice-mail and e-mails go unanswered (all with the excuse that they're run by
volunteers who have regular jobs - then why publish contact numbers and
e-mail addresses if nobody has time/willingness to respond?), and the one
manager I did speak with at the museum didn't know what a switchstand was!
Sorry for going off a little here, but it is frustrating when you want to help a local
RR museum and can't...

[clinchfieldfan]

The Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke Virginia! Great assortment of engines and rolling stock and a beautiful o gauge layout inside.

[JoeKoh]

I have been to a few railroad museums big and small.From the B&O museum in Baltimore to the Northwest Ohio rr preservation In Findlay Ohio.The difference is the people who volunteer their time and talents to operate these places.also check out bellevue wauseon garrett and of course deshler.someday we'll get down to roanoke.
stay safe
Joe

[techguy57]

1) Illinois Railway Museum or The Museum of Transport in St Louis are both excellent altough IRM has a lot more than just locos and rolling stock. 2) I think hands on accessibility is a big plus in my book. One of the reasons I like the museums mentioned earlier is due to the fact you can climb up on or walk through a number of the exhibits. Very cool to walk around inside of an ATSF FP-45![:)]

[Anonymous]

Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA. is awesome. Trains inside and out, all era's. Great collection of PRR cars including several GG1’s. Plus right across the street is the Strasburg RR.

[Modelcar]

...Yes agree, The Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, Pa...I was in it when it was brand new in the early 80's and I hope it still is so nice as it was then. And one of those GGI's is the orginal...The one with rivets...instead of welded body panels. No. 4800.

[Anonymous]

My vote goes to the Arkansas State RR Museum in Pine Bluff, AR, home of SSW 819. This museum is located in what is left of the old Cotton Belt locomotive shops. It was here in 1949 (?) that the SSW 819 was born. It is the sole survivor of this class of home-built 4-8-4s. They have equipment you can walk through, pictures and artifacts from the Pine Bluff area back in the day, and knowledgable volunteers (some old Cotton Belt employees who worked when SSW 819 was running.) who can answer most questions. The 819 is down for an FRA inspection right now, and they could use some extra pairs of hands to help with the project.

[Anonymous]

My vote goes to the Arkansas State RR Museum in Pine Bluff, AR, home of SSW 819. This museum is located in what is left of the old Cotton Belt locomotive shops. It was here in 1949 (?) that the SSW 819 was born. It is the sole survivor of this class of home-built 4-8-4s. They have equipment you can walk through, pictures and artifacts from the Pine Bluff area back in the day, and knowledgable volunteers (some old Cotton Belt employees who worked when SSW 819 was running.) who can answer most questions. The 819 is down for an FRA inspection right now, and they could use some extra pairs of hands to help with the project.

[Anonymous]

Anybody there? the last post was a while ago.[:o]

[cbq9911a]

Yep! Folks are listening.

In view of the latest Trains article about overrated and underrated, I'm surprised that nobody has talked about railroad museums. There are a couple that are overrated. But for underrated, the honors go to the Illinois Railway Museum.

[Anonymous]

My vote goes to Exporail south of Montreal. You can spend hours visiting the grounds and take a ride on a trolley or a short passenger train ride. A brand new building houses part of the collection.

[Anonymous]

Come on! I would think most people would have an opinion on this topic. Out of over 100 visits, there are only 14 comments (other than mine)!

[bigboy4024]

my vote goes to (1)the national railroad museum in green bay. (2) Chemntiz-Hilbertdorf in east germany. real good displayes lot of steam that to me is a good railroad museum lots and lots of steam big boy

[Anonymous]

Well, I posted this topic, yet just realized I forgot to tell my favorites[B)]. First of all, the B&O in Baltimore, great collection and descriptive exhibits, plus when i went, they had the boiler of the original Stourbridge Lion! Second goes to the Railroader's Memorial Museum in Altoona PA. It has three stories of interactive exhibits, modern display methods (plus touch screen computer programs) and a fair amount of rolling stock. Of course rigt now most of it is on an old Nabisco warehouse spur because they are constructing a new yard and shelter for the cars, But I did get some photos of their GG1 [derailed] on the turnout at the Nabisco spur.

[REDDYK]

Several of the above mentioned museums are great. I have enjoyed the B&O, the Union, Ilinois and the Pa museum of railroads at Strasburg. These are the giants, and have great resourses as well as good people.
On the other hand, do not overlook the small, weekends only, completely volunteer staff, small town museums. Usually these places welcome a visitor like a long lost cousin. Show a little interest and you often get a private guided tour.

[Anonymous]

What? Do I scare people away or something[}:)]? It doen't seem anyone wants to post. Is it me[V], or do people just not have an opinion[|)]?

[Anonymous]

So far the only museum I've seen is IRM. I actually ended up getting a membership and plan to volunteer to help with restoration when I can. I do have some criticisms of the the place. While they have a lot of equipment, much of it needs a lot of work and it looks like they have spent more money on aquisitions than on restoration. Most stuff is in large barns that are not well lit.

But my main criticism is that pretty much all there is are cars and locos. I wi***hey would invest in a building where they could have displays that talk about how railroad developed, what they do now and the future of railroading. I think that a person who is not already a rail fan might not find much to be excited about. I'm thinking for comparison of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry or Smithsonian Air & Space. Both give you a sense that the technologies covered are vibrant, alive and have a compelling vision of the future.

FWIW

[dkouz]

QUOTE: Originally posted by REDDYK

On the other hand, do not overlook the small, weekends only, completely volunteer staff, small town museums. Usually these places welcome a visitor like a long lost cousin. Show a little interest and you often get a private guided tour.

My vote (although biased) the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, IL.

Reasons I like MRM in no particular order:

Instead of focusing on acquiring equipment, MRM tries to keep what is there looking and working good.
How many museums with train rides have more than one depot and operate out both?
MRM's ride includes many settings rural, woods, a decent sized trestle over a creek, and even downtown (where one of the depots is located).
MRM is where railroading all started for me; however, I have been to many other museums and I have yet to find one as diverse as Monticello.

[Anonymous]

I must scare people, this topic went two days and three pages down without any new posts. Y'all want me to just for get this topic or something?

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

I must scare people, this topic went two days and three pages down without any new posts. Y'all want me to just for get this topic or something?

I have posted the most wonderful subjects [;)] only to have about 2 replies.

It is a tough crowd. You just have to stay ahead of them with lots of topics! Some will be interested, some won't. (remember that there only just two or three of us out here!) [8D]

Mookie

[clinchfieldfan]

Another railroad museum to visit is the North Carolina Railroad museum in Spencer North Carolina. Beautiful round house and turntable. Several nice first generation diesels inside. They rotate several on the line they run on site.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the moral support Mookie! (hey, I just made my 51st!

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

Thanks for the moral support Mookie! (hey, I just made my 51st!

Congratulations! It only gets easier! [:0]

Mookie

[Anonymous]

For a small museum, my vote goes to the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway in Alna, Maine. Two foot guage, original grade, extremely well built track and restored equipment. Not a huge place, but very well done!