BEST RAILROAD MUSEUMS

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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Hey everybody, lets make a list of the best railroad museums and their respective railroads if possible, in the United States, and the reasons why.

Lake Superior Railroad Museum: Duluth,MN.

The Lake Superior Railroad Museum is located in Duluth, MN on the very scenic shores of Lake Superior.

Biggest Attractions:
McGiffert Log Loader. Tourable.

Northern Pacific Rotary Snow Plow

NP Wedge SNowplow

Oliver Mining ALCo HH-1000

SOO LINE FP-7 #2500

*Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Company EMD SD-M (former SD–18) #193

*Great Northern EMD NW-5 #192

*SOO LINE EMD GP-30 #700. Freshly repainted in 2005.

*Erie Mining EMD F-9 #4211

Former NP SD45 #3617, currently painted WC #7495, to be repainted NP some time in the future.

Hanna Iron Mining Company G.E Steeplecab #307

Milwaukee Road G.E Boxcab #10200. One of the only preserved in the U.S.

Duluth and Northern Minnesota 2-6-2 Mikado #14. Was used in the Movie Iron Will.

DM&IR Ry. 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone. You can tour the cab, and the drivers spin perodically with a narrated video trip through its last day operating.

Minnesota Steel Company 0-4-0 Saddl

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1.B&O Museum.Hallowed ground for me.

2.Monticello Rail Museum.Guy made a special effort to give me a guided tour in the middle of winter.Monticello,IL

  1. Mad River and NKP Museum.Silver Dome,the first ever dome car.Lotsa interesting stuff.Bellvue,Oh.

  2. Lakeshore Railway Museum.CSS&SB Little Joe,NYC U25B.Northeast,Pa.

5.Railroaders Memorial Museum.Was there 10 years ago,plan to go back in June.Altoona,Pa.

6.National NYC Museum.NYC steamer,GG1.Elkhart,In.

7.Every other rail museum in the world!

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THE NORTH CAROLINA TRASPORTATION MUSEUM.

This museum holds the last (I think) ACL E-6 in full purple and silver. It also has SOU #6900 along with some other asst. things like a N&W GP9 in maroon livery. Plus, it’s right next to NS’s busy mainline. A great place to visit for sure.

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I 'd have to vote for the Altoona Railroaders Museum, since it concentrates on the impact of the railroad on the community around it. The prize exhibit? K4 1361, when it returns, on her own or not.

Nearby is Horseshoe Curve, need I say more?

Lake Shore Chapter NRHS museum in Northeast PA has the equipment, atmosphere and 45-50 trains on CSX (ex NYC) and 20-25 on the NS (ex Nickel Plate)!

Strasburg has the PRR collection, from a early PRR 2-8-0 to an E44A, not to mention the Strasburg’s steam excursions. So when it’s nice out, one can shoot the Strasburg’s steamers and when it isn’t there’s a lot to see inside the Pennsylvania museum.

Western Maryland Scenic, which has 2-8-0 734 as it’s star attraction.

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I’d like to extend it to Canada, because my favorite rail museum is up here.

  1. Exporail in Delson/St. Constant (South of Montreal) - CPR, CNR and VIA are featured, but there is a VERY impressive collection of locomotives and rolling stock.

  2. Revelstoke Railway Museum - A couple of vintage passenger cars, freight cars, and a CPR P2 Mikado, situated next

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bonnanzaville in west fargo for ther ex np 4-4-0 and my model railroad club

western minnesota steam threshers reunion rollag minnesota for two operating steam locomotive that i work on ex soo line 0-6-0 353 and dresser traprock 0-4-0 3

minnesota transportation museum in st paul

again can i spred this to around the world i would like to include the chemnitz hlibersdorf museum in chemnitz germany for having 90%of there collection operational big boy

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B & O Museum.

Kentucky Railway Museum.

Henry Ford Museum

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I’ve yet to go to a bad railroad museum, within the scope of what they are trying to present, or are capable of. Not that there aren’t those that could stand some improvement, but even then, they get points for trying in the first place.

Among those I’ve visited:

B&O Museum

PA Museum (Strasburg)

VA Museum of Transportation

O. Winston Link Museum

NYS Transportation Museum (south of Rochester)

NC Museum

The Henry Ford (Dearborn, MI - C&O Allegheny inside)

Steamtown

Smithsonian (a bunch of years ago)

There’s even a little RR museum in North Beach, MD, in the old station. It was closed when I stopped by, though. Off Season.

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The Kentucky Railway Museum has to be my personal fav. They’ve got some L&N stuff,and other various things. I’ve watched them for the past 12 years,and I can tell they’ve made serious progress. Things just keep getting better and better.

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Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum (Strasburg, PA)

Railroaders Memorial Museum (Altoona, PA)

Steamtown (Scranton, PA)

B&O Museum (Baltimore, MD)

And not quite ready, but looking very nice…
Reading Railroad Museum (Hamburg, PA)
(OK…I’m biased as I’m a member of the group building the museum [8D])

Nick

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HERE"S MY LIST

Nat’l railroad museum in Green Bay Wisconsin
ILLIONIS Railroad museum Union ILL
Colorrado Railroad Museum

I Have been to all three and to me there just way to much to see in one day you just have to make a vaction out of it.

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Kentucky Railway Museum…L&N 152 steamin on special weekends, BL-2 and C-F7 chanting the rest of the time and I get to go there and play.

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Illinois Railway Museum on “Day out With Thomas” or Member’s Weekend. Lots of trains and lots of people.

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The Illinois Railway Museum is one of the best because of all the different kinds of trains they have. The one in Duluth is topps too. Not any I have not enjoyed for what they do. The one in Ogden UT is sad. The outdoor stuff seems to be over run by homeless people.

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It’s obvious that the B&O Museum would be one of my favorites.

Also the Baltimore Trolley Museum, which has an added bonus of using some of the ROW and a freight station from the old M&PA RR.

Our local Museum of Transport is also good. I have been visiting there almost from the beginning and they have done a great job. I’m not biased, though, it’s just that I get out there more than to Baltimore.

But anyplace where they care for old RR equipment is OK by me.

16

The Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska is excellent. It is the former Union Pacific station for Omaha and has all kinds of neat stuff, including a nice set of passenger train equipment.

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I am going to mention a couple in North Carolina…the big one at Spencer, previously mentioned is quite a place.

We also had a great time at Old Fort, NC. at the old Southern depot. Granted, it is not very large, but what a nice little museum, ran by a wonderful little old lady at the time.

This is a great thread, lots of places I would like to visit.

ed

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The CGW Historical Society, IIRC, has a neat little museum up in Oelwein, IA. I’d have to go with Duluth as the most impressive one I’ve seen, though.

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I like all of the railroad museums.

I’ve been at the following: B&O, Baltimore; Illinois Ry, Union; National Transport, St Louis; California, Sacramento; Kentucky, New Haven, KY; and British Railway, York, England.

I was at York England in 2002 as they were prepping the Pennydaren (spelling?) repica for its the 200th anniversary of the original. One of the museum employees kindly took me into their shop and showed me the work in progress. The original locomotive was the first steam locomotive ever made. Its inventor was Richard Trevethick. It hauled coal wagons with about 2 tons capacity if I recall correctly.

Numerous other old, old locos, wagons, and carriages (they are not “cars” over there) are on display in York. I’ll make that museum number one.

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I am with you one the steam thrashers union. That was am awesome place. I was there this last fall and I really enjoyed. That steam locomotive was very well restored. It just needs to get the SOO line on the side. I just recognized the steam locomotive in your azatar. What a great place. I will definitely be visiting next September.

James