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I'm thinking about visiting some railroad museums but I'm not quite sure which ones I'd enjoy the most or which have the best reviews. Any suggestions? I posted this in the Amtrak forum because I guess if I could get the chance to see some old Amtrak equipment, that would be most enjoyable.
Posts: 115 | From: Buffalo, NY | Registered: Aug 2002
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I've been to a few railroad museums, and I don't recall seeing much in the way of old Amtrak equipment on display. Based on my rail travel experience, I think "old Amtrak equipment" is an oxymoron. It's all getting long in the tooth.
But I have a couple of museum suggestions. For starters, I really enjoyed the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, MN. However, it is in Zip Code 5, so you might want to watch the movie Fargo before you go to get past the language barrier.
Another suggestion is the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, Calif. It's a blue collar sort of place where you can get dirty exploring a large collection of greasy and rusty old rail equipment. You just show up and wander about on your own. You don't need no stinkin' docents.
Of course, there's better-known museums. But, hey, everyone goes to those places.
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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There are several here in New York. The Arcade & Attica; The Adirondack Scenic; The Finger Lakes Scenic to name just a few.
-------------------- Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I'll take the train! Posts: 230 | From: Ithaca, New York | Registered: May 2009
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Another location in Zip Code 5 is the National Railroad Museum, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. There also is the Mid Continent Railway Museum, in North Freedom, Wisconsin. Mid Continent is located in the Driftless Area of SW Wisc., where the glaciers did not go, which is a picturesque area.
I'm mildly surprised that Zephyr did not mention The Minnesota Transportation Museum, in Saint Paul. That's in Zone 5 as well. The better museums may focus more upon the people of the railroad, and in telling their stories, and should avoid being just a collection of equipment.
Edited to add the correct museum. Bandana Park is the site of the old NP shops. I was thinking of the MN T. M.
-------------------- "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the Earth all one's life." Posts: 506 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Mar 2002
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Different museums specialize in different things but here are a few of my favorites -
Spencer, NC - NC Transportation Museum in and around the former Southern Railway shop facility.
Tennessee Valley Railway Museum - Chattanooga
Colorado Railroad Museum - Golden
California RR Museum - Sacramento
B & O RR Museum - Baltimore, MD
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by CG96: I'm mildly surprised that Zephyr did not mention Bandanna Park, in Saint Paul.
You mean this place? What's it like? Do they have old rolling stock you can climb on? You know, is it like a foamer jungle gym?
Another great museum is Ogden Union Station. Besides the Utah State Railroad Museum, the Browning-Kimball Classic Car and Browning Firearms Museums are also located in the old station. And it's Amtrak friendly. You just take a FrontRunner from Amtrak SLC right to the museums.
Yeh, Ogden Union Station. Trains, cars, guns...how can you beat that for a testosterone rush?
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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Sacramento is the big one out in my home state and very close to the Amtrak depot there and a few hotels. As for the Midwest, a little gem that is so hidden away, most have never even heard of it for that matter, is the one in Monticello, IL. They have HUGE train sheds and a full consist of a streamline "City of New Orleans" in the proper IC colors. A working tourist train also which goes a few miles and has, believe it or not, a glass-bottomed coach/ bag car that lets you watch the wheels as they run along the rails...pretty strange! Galesburg (IL) has a good museum as well; directly adjacent to the working Amtrak depot, so there is plenty of live train watching.
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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