In a little town in Northeastern Ohio is a beautiful Pennsy Station Fully restored
We rode the Pennsy from Columbus to Dennison to pick up our new car
in 1970
If you ever in Ohio stop in It’s worth the trip
http://www.dennisondepot.org/DD_PIC.html
Do you have a favorite ?
I’ve only been to the one in Duluth MN. The last time I was there was about three years ago. I wasn’t into modeling at the time. Too bad, I may have to go again. I’m sure it’s small compared to some of the museums people post pictures of on here.
Prototype: The Strasburg Railroad/Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Model: San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
George
Seashore Trolley Museum up in Kennebunk, Maine. I was there quite a while ago. It was fun, and I’d like to go again some time. Hard to convince the wife and daughter to do any train things, though.
They also run the trolleys at the Lowell National Historic Park in Lowell, MA. I rode on those a couple of years back. That whole park is great history lesson on the Industrial Revolution. Lowell was once the center of manufacturing in the United States, back when textiles were the thing that defined industrial production.
Depot Park in my home town of Bedford, MA, is working on a small exhibit based in an old Budd RDC car that’s been moved to the site:
The museum of west Louisiana in Leesville. It’s in the restored KCS railway depot.
The Strasburg is nice. The Branford Trolley museum is swell. The San Diego Model RR is great for modelers. BUT, the Sacramento RR Museum is FANTASTIC!
Most of you guys under 50 have probably have never even seen a steam engine. What a pity. Go take a look. They will amaze you.
Better yet, when able, go ride the Grand Canyon, The Silverton Road, The Cumbres & Toltec, the Valley RR at Essex, CT, The Strasburg, and all of the other live steamers still operating. Even they will all be gone someday. See them NOW!
Cool Video Mr B !
Terry,
It’s funny you should mention that. My wife and I visited the PRR depot in Dennison, OH this past March for the first time on a whim. Unbeknownst to us, they were having the grand opening to their newest wing: A 5-passenger car long walk-thru museum dedicated to the WWI and WWII troop deployment by the PRR and the citizens of Dennison. It was quite delightful.
I would have to say that my favorite part was talking to a woman (Jane Steele) who had worked for the PRR/B&O in the Interlocking tower there in Dennison. Jane started working for the RR as a telegraph operator in 1942 because of the lack of men, due to the war. They eventually trained her to run the levers, as well. Jane said that the RR treated and paid her VERY well during her tenure ('42-'81). The musuem had an section on RR signaling and had Jane situated there as a “live” exhibit. It was fun to pepper her with questions.
As a bonus, the museum has a very good restaurant associated with it, too. The food was delicious.
Tom
Tom the next time you’re over that way Dover is only 20 miles away
Check this out
I was quite impressed with th British Railway Museum in York, England. My wife and I were in England in 2003. The were rebuilding there decades-old replica of Richard Trevithick’s locomotive which was the very first lcomotive in 1804. They were going to celebrate the 200th anniversary by operating the locomotive in 2004. Flanges were fastened onto the wheels to operate on today’s rail. The streamlined steam locomotive is the Mallard which set the all-time speed record for steam locomotives. There is a huge collection of other locomotives and other equipment at the museum.
In the good old USA, I like St. Louis’ Mueseum of Transport, Illinois Ry Museum in Union, IL, and California Railroad Museum in Sacamento.
I’ve been to a lot of the major railway museums in the US: Steamtown, Strasburg, Altoona, B&O, St. Paul, Duluth, St. Louis, Illinois, Montreal, Sacramento, Hawaii. I would put Steamtown and Altoona at the top in terms of the quality of their displays and information. In terms of collections of equipment, Steamtown, St. Louis, Illinois and Montreal are very strong.
Terry,
Yea, I’ve been there, too. (I think 4 times now.) That’s quite an impressive musuem. Even if you aren’t into trains, you have to just marvel at the craftsmanship. Mooney’s wife’s button collection is pretty amazing, too.
Tom
I went to Mooney’s when i was in the second grade on a field trip
He was still alive then
He could take a small pice of wood about the size of a Bic lighter and carve a working set of pliers in about 30 seconds with out ever lifting the blade from the wood
Pretty amazing when you think about it
The Lincon Funeral Train is an amazing pice of work
Well, not primarily a train museum, per say, Union Terminal in downtown Cincinnati is just a wonderful example of Art Deco (That Art guy got around a lot) and a great place to visit:
CUT has been meticulously preserved and now houses the Children’s museum, the Natural History & Science musuem, the Cincinnati History museum and an IMAX theatre.
The two main murals in the lobby are still there:
Except for one, the remaining murals that were in the CUT concourse were relocated a number of years ago and now can be seen proudly displayed at the Cincinnati Airport.
In the History musuem, they have an S-scale replica of Cincinnati with working trains and streetcars. On Saturdays, you can go up to Tower A (on the south end of the building) and railfan to your heart’s content.
More info and pics can be found at the following link:
http://thelope.com/2006/08/cincinnati-union-terminal.html
Tom
Not really.
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1098704
You may want to check this previous thread.
My favorite train museum is the Tennessee Central Railway Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. We have operating “N” and “HO” scale models. There are 6 to 8 hour excursions 2 or 3 Saturdays every month. They also have a hobby shop. Jackie Gleason’s personal car is also located there along with 10 to 12 operating passenger cars several locos and other equipment.
And then, there’s the whole trolley system of San Francisco. It’s a living, breathing museum. The cars are all cast-offs from other systems - Philadelphia, New Orleans, even Vienna, Austria, as I recall. They’ve restored them up to current codes, and they are the public transportation surface rail system for the city. The natives commute on these trains every workday. These trolleys (like old PCC cars) are in addition to the well-known cable car systems that go up and down the hills of this fine city. (Yes, they do have Rice-a-Roni ads on the cars.)
C&O Fan, I hope you can see it some time. We have member meetings once a month. There are several hundred members. There is plenty to do in maintenance and running N scale, 1:87 and 1:1 scale. I joined for the HO, but most of my time is spent on the 1:1 scale! The biggest member benefit is buying at the hobby shop for 25% off. Membership is $30 a year (for 1 person) and $35.00 for the family.
Thanks for posting the web address!