Tag: History

Arlington Depot Square, Arlington, Tennessee

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Many states in the United States of America has a town called Arlington.  You have most famous Arlington in the U.S. state of Virginia which is a suburb of Washington D.C. and it home to Arlington National Cemetery, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world as it is the burial ground of many men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  It is also where former United States President Howard Taft is buried, and it is also where former United States President John Ferdinand Kennedy and his family is buried.  His gravesite overlooks the National Mall with a view of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the United States Capitol.  The most moving part of Arlington National Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns.  The tomb is guarded by soldiers day and night in all types of weather.  Then you have Arlington in the U.S. state of Texas, a suburb of the city of Dallas.  It is here where the Dallas Cowboys, an American football team that plays in the National Football League.

Then you have the town of Arlington in the U.S. state of Tennessee.

Some of you are saying, “Wow.  You are Arlington, Virginia, and you have Arlington, Texas, but I have never heard of Arlington, Tennessee.”

Well, most people, including those who live in Tennessee, have never heard of the town.  It is about thirty miles (fifty kilometers) east of Memphis, the city famous for the king of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, and, sadly, the city where Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated.

What is special about Arlington, Tennessee?

Some of you are saying, “I bet it is a famous railroad town.”

Well, it is not a famous railroad town.  The town was established before the railroad arrived, and it was originally called Haysville.

Some of you are saying, “Oh, the town got its name from being a place where you can get hay.”

Well, that is not true.  It is named after Samuel Jackson Hays.  He was the original landowner of the region, but he also has another claim.  What is that claim?  He was a descendant of United States President Andrew Jackson.  In the town’s beginning, it was not very prosperous.  It was not until the Memphis and Ohio Railroad came to town and a train depot was built that the town began to grow.  The town was renamed Arlington in 1883 naming it after Arlington, Virginia.  The suggestion was made by Captain Henry Pitman who visited Arlington National Cemetery and thought that the cemetery was the most beautiful place on planet earth.  The townspeople boarded the train at the station to visit Memphis and enjoy life in the big city.  Sadly, the original train depot, which became the centerpiece of the town, was demolished in 1971, but many of the original structures of the town remain.

Today, when you visit the town of Arlington, Tennessee, you can visit Arlington Depot Square.  A replica depot has been built on the site of the original depot and is now a senior center.  You can visit some of the original structures to include the post office, a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a small cabin.  Depot Square is also used for concerts in the warm months.  Most important of all, you can see a passing train as the railroad line is still active.

Arlington Depot Square is located on Chester Street.  It is just off of U.S. Route 79 and a short drive from Interstate 40.  Parking is on site.  You can get more information about Arlington Depot Square and read more into the history of the town at https://www.townofarlington.org/.

What does Arlington, Tennessee have that Arlington, Virginia and Arlington, Texas does not have?  Arlington, Virginia has Arlington National Cemetery.  Arlington, Texas has AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.  As for Arlington, Tennessee, they have Arlington Depot Square, a place where you can see a replica train depot, watch a concert, and, most important, watch the trains go by.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Who is Laura Ingalls Wilder?  She was an author who wrote many books, but she is most famous for the Little House on the Prairie which became a television series.  She was born in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and lived in a few states in the Midwest Region of the United States of America.  Her final home was in the town of Mansfield in the U.S. state of Missouri.  This is the same state that produced Samuel Clemens, commonly known by his penname of Mark Twain, who wrote the stories of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer and their adventures on the Mississippi River.  Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote Little House on the Prairie while living in Mansfield, Missouri.  When you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, you can visit the museum that tells the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the books that she wrote.  You then have the Rocky Ridge Farmhouse and see her writing desk.  You then have the Rock House.  It was here where Laura wrote the Little House on the Prairie books.  As you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, you will get the complete story of America’s greatest authors.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  She had to be one amazing woman.  She lived in so many places in the American Midwest.  Her two homes must be beautiful.  There is a very big problem.  First, this is not a railroad site.  Second, this is not a railroad museum.  Third, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote no stories about railroads.  Therefore, you will not see me making a visit to this place.”

You do have a point.  This is not a railroad site.  It is not a railroad museum.  There is no railroad on the property nor was there any railroad here.  She never wrote any story about the railroad.  This brings us to a very important question: why should you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum?

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum is a museum that features two houses where Laura Ingalls spent the last years of her life that is located just outside of the town of Mansfield, Missouri.  She is buried with her husband at a gravesite in a cemetery that is located in the town, and the public can visit the gravesite.  While she was living in Mansfield, like many people, you buy things.  When you buy things, some people have their things brought to their homes.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice, but there is no railroad at her house nor has there ever been a railroad at her house.”

That is true.  However, there is a railroad in the town of Mansfield, and there was a train station.  The train station is no longer active, but the railroad line remains active today and is owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, simply known as BNSF.  The town also had a railroad yard, and it was served by a short line railroad known as the Ava Southern Railroad that went to the town of Ava.

What does this have to do with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum?

Laura Ingalls Wilder made much use of the train station in Mansfield as she had many of her things ship to the town of Mansfield by train, and then it was brought to her house.  Laura Ingalls Wilder also attended a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Ava Southern Railroad.

Laura Ingalls Wilder never wrote a story about the railroad, but while she was living in Mansfield, Missouri, the railroad was a big part of her life.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum is located at 3060 Missouri Highway A in Mansfield, Missouri.  It is open from March 1 to November 15 from 9:00am to 5:00pm from Monday to Saturday and 12:00pm to 5:00pm on Sunday.  Parking is on site.  Please note that due to the age of the structures, the Rocky Ridge Farmhouse and the Rock House are not wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information and read more into the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder at https://lauraingallswilderhome.com/.

Come to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum.  See where the Little House on the Prairie was written.  See the place where a famous author made her home, and home that made use of the railroad.

Williamsburg, Indiana

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Welcome to Williamsburg, Indiana.

Some of you are saying, “You got it wrong.  You meant to say, ‘Welcome to Williamsburg, Virginia’.”

No.  This is the small town of Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Indiana.  It is not like its Virginia counterpart of Colonial Williamsburg but a small town in the eastern part of the state just west of the U.S. state of Ohio.  When you visit the town, you will pretty much see a ghost town… but it was not always that way.

The town was named after William Johnson, the man who settled the town in 1830.  Like many small towns, it flourished, but something happened in 1901.  What happened?  The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway came to town.  Connecting the Indiana cities of Richmond to the south with Muncie, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway brought massive growth of business and population to the town.  The town had its own train station.  Like many small towns in the United States of America, Williamsburg went into a decline and began beginning to be the ghost town it is today.

Today, the railroad line that passed through the town of Williamsburg, Indiana became a rail trail known as the Cardinal Greenway, the longest rail trail in the U.S. state of Indiana running to Richmond to the south and Marion to the north.  As you visit the rail trail, you will not notice that this was once a busy place.  Located north of the town center just a short drive of U.S. Route 35, you will experience a quiet place at a place that was once the centerpiece of the town.

Welcome to Williamsburg, Indiana.  You will not see people dress in colonial attire, but you will be in a small town where a railroad made history.

The White Oak Rail Trail, Oak Hill, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

In the heyday of America railroading, the railroad connected the small towns with the major cities.  As many railroad lines were no longer used, many of the railroad tracks and the railroad ties were taken up while some rails and ties were left to decay.  Some of the railroad beds were left to erode over time while some were covered into rail trails.  (A rail trail is a trail designed on an old railroad bed to be used for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or just plain walking.)  Many of the trails are paved while some remain dirt or have gravel.

In the U.S. state of West Virginia in the metropolitan region of Beckley, you will find the town of Oak Hill.  The town is not very famous although it is said the country music singer Hank Williams may have died at a gas station in this town while on route from Bristol, Virginia to Canton, Ohio.  (The story has not been confirmed.)  The only thing most people know about Oak Hill is that most people drive by the town on U.S. Route 19 while traveling from Beckley to the World Famous New River Gorge Bridge which is just north of the town.  One thing that is confirmed is that the town of Oak Hill was served by the railroad.

The White Oak Rail Trail is a rail trail that is slightly under eight miles that passes through the town.  Much of it is paved, but there are portions of the trail that are not paved.  The railroad line was owned by the White Oak Railway, and the rail line was later taken over by the Virginian Railway.  The main center point of the trail is the old train station.

What is special about the old train station?  It is one of the oldest structures in Oak Hill.  It is a passenger and a freight depot.  It was built by the White Oak Railway in 1903, and it was later taken over by the Virginian Railway.  Like many small towns, the railroad was a major contributor to the town’s economy.  The depot was also used by the Norfolk and Western Railway and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.  The train depot remained in service until 1983.  The rail line later became the rail trail it is today.

The train depot is now an art store selling locally made at.  An old railroad line that passes by the old train station is the only reminder of Oak Hill being a railroad town today.

The Oak Hill Train Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is located at the intersection of Virginia Street and Central Avenue.  The trail goes north from the depot to the community of Summerlee and south to the community of Carlisle.  Much of the trail is wheelchair accessible.

When you think of the New River Gorge region of West Virginia, think of the small town of Oak Hill.  It was once a railroad town, and an old train depot remains.

Casey Jones Village and Museum, Jackson, Tennessee

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Many railroad historians are very familiar with the name Casey Jones.  Who was Casey Jones?  John Luther ‘Casey’ Jones was a famous railroad engineer who had a tragic ending to his life.  He had just taken over a train headed for New Orleans, Louisiana that had arrived at the station  in Canton, Mississippi over an hour late, he tried to get the train back on its schedule.  He was known to be on time.  As he was trying to get the train back on schedule, he was unaware that there was a stopped freight train ahead.  He did get word of the stopped train and tried to slow the train down… but it was not enough.  He was the only man in the locomotive as he had told his fireman, the man who shoveled coal from the coal car to the boiler, to jump off of the train.  Casey saw the caboose of the freight train as his train slammed hard into the caboose… and he was killed instantly.  He was the only one on the train who lost his life, but his actions in the locomotive saved the lives of the passengers and the rest of the crew.  He spent much of his life in the city of Jackson in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and it is here where you will find the Casey Jones Village and Museum.

What is the Casey Jones Village and Museum?  Well, you will see a small shopping village, but before you see the village, you will see the museum.  It is here where you can see a short film about the life of Casey Jones.  The museum has artifacts from different railroads and from Casey himself.  There is a small model of the train crash site.  The carriage that carried his casket during his funeral.  The museum has model trains and a train store.

Now that you have walked through the museum, you can go outside and see a replica of Illinois Central Railroad Number 382.  Casey was on the original locomotive that was involved in the crash.

There is also an old baggage car and a caboose.

Another part of the visit to the museum is a tour of the home of Casey Jones.  It is his original home at it original site.  You can see the different rooms with the original furniture.

Once you are finished with the museum, you can visit the Country Store.  It is not only a store, but it also has a restaurant.  The rest of the village feature shops, and there is also a farm and a church.

You do not have to be a railroad fan to appreciate the life of Casey Jones.  Many songs were written about him.  When you see more into his life, you will see him as an American railroad hero.

The Casey Jones Village and Museum is located at 56 Casey Jones Lane in Jackson, Tennessee.  It is just off of Interstate 40 and U.S. Routes 45 and 412.  Parking is on site.  The museum and village hours vary throughout the years.  The museum and house is wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information at https://www.caseyjones.com/.

Casey Jones is a hero.  He was a railroad hero who saved the lives of others.  When you visit the Casey Jones Museum, he may become your hero too.

Heritage Station, Huntington, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of West Virginia is a state full of mountains.  The city of Huntington is a city in the western region of the state and located on the Ohio River and across the river from, of all places, the U.S. state of Ohio.

Some of you are saying, “Yeah!  Too bad that it happens to be a boring city with nothing to do.”

Those who see the city of Huntington, West Virginia as a boring city has obviously never visited the city.  Some of you may have heard of Marshall University which is located in this city.  The university was made famous by the movie We Are Marshall about how the university’s American football team that was tragically killed in a plane crash and, when the university wanted to end the program, the people of the university told them otherwise.

Some of you are saying, “That is nice, but this city is not a railroad city.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, you are wrong again.  One of the founders of the city of Huntington was a man named Collis Potter Huntington.  Yes, it is the same Collis Potter Huntington who had a steam locomotive named for him.  He is considered one of the “Big Four” of western railroad as he was the man who built the Central Pacific Railroad which became a part of the Transcontinental Railroad.  He founded the city to be hub for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.  Another railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, also came here, and they built a passenger train station downtown.

Welcome to the Heritage Station.  What is the Heritage Station?  It was once a passenger train station for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  When passenger service ceased, the old train station remained.  Also called the Heritage Village, not to be confused with the Heritage Village and Farm, a living history museum located south of the city, it houses the Cabell Huntington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and a few shops and restaurants.  One of the shops is called the ‘Red Caboose’, which sells arts and crafts by regional artists.  There are old freight houses and an old bank that is part of the village.  What is special about the bank?  It is said that it was robbed by Jesse James, the famous outlaw.  It was the city’s first bank robbery.

As you approach the Heritage Station, the first thing you will see is not the old train station but a steam locomotive.  The locomotive was first used by a coal mine and then used to haul lumber.  You will also find an old Pullman passenger car and two boxcars.

Need a reason, to visit Huntington, West Virginia?  You actually have many reasons to visit this city.  The Heritage Station is just one of them.

The Heritage Station is located at 210 Eleventh Street at Veterans Memorial Boulevard (U.S. Route 60).  Parking is on site.  You can get more information at https://ghprd.org/index.php/heritage-station.

As mentioned, you have many reasons to visit Huntington, West Virginia.  The Heritage Station is one of many.

Historic Railpark and Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State.  Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown.  The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas.  You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home.  It is a real house in Bardstown.  In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame.  Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own.  You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world.  Very few people think of the railroads in Kentucky as there of plenty of great railroad sites in the state.

Welcome to the Historic Railpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  As you arrive, you will notice that it looks like an old train station.  Well, that is because before it was a museum, it was a train station.  The Louisville and Nashville Railroad built the train station in 1925, and twenty trains served the station each day.  As passenger train service decline, some smaller cities like Bowling Green, Kentucky were no longer served by the passenger train.

Fortunately, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot was not demolished like many other train depots, and it eventually became the home of the Historic Railpark and Museum.

Some of you are saying, “That is nice that the train station was spared and made into a museum.  Too bad that there is not much to see here.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you only enjoy museums that do not have much to offer, then the Historic Railpark and Museum is not for you.  What is special about the Historic Railpark and Museum?

As mentioned, you will first notice that it was a train station.  This is just the beginning.  Yes.  It is just the beginning.

Behind the old train station, you will see a train.  No.  It is not a little model train.  It is a full size train.  Located at the original boarding platform, you will see Louisville and Nashville Railroad Locomotive Number 796.  Behind it is Railway Post Office Car Number 1107 also from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  It is followed by the Duncan Hines Dining Car, the Towering Pine Sleeping Car, and the Presidential Parlor Car.  Yes, you can take a guided tour of this train, but two other cars that are not open to the public is a caboose and one of the few hospital cars on display.  If you are fortunate enough, CSX may treat you with a passing freight train which runs on the same tracks that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad used as the served the station.

If you think that you have seen everything, let us say that you have not seen much yet.  It is now time to go inside.

As you enter the old train station from the old boarding platform, you enter the gift shop.

Some of you are saying, “What are they trying to do?  Are they trying to get us to buy things before we tour the museum?”

It is designed where you enter the gift shop to pay your admission.  The next thing you see the model trains.  Yes, there are a few model trains here.

The waiting rooms, the main hall, and the upstairs are filled with rotating exhibits.  As you look at the ceiling and the walls, you will think that you are in a grand train station and not a museum.

The Historic Railpark and Museum is a great Kentucky treasure.  It is a place when railroad history continues to stand still.

The Historic Railpark and Museum is located at 401 Kentucky Street (U.S. Route 68) in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The museum is open year round, but the hours and days vary throughout the year.  Parking is on site.  Although the museum is wheelchair accessible, the train is not.  You can read more into the history of the museum, the old train station, how you can help out or donate with the restoration of some of their railroad cars, get information on admission, and get directions at https://www.historicrailpark.com/.

When you think about what is great about the U.S. state of Kentucky, think about the Kentucky Derby.  Think about the Louisville Slugger.  Think about Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Think about that glass of bourbon.  When you visit the Historic Railpark and Museum in Bowling Green, you will have a great railroad site on your mind.

Chatham Railroad Museum, Chatham, Massachusetts

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the New England states that makes up the northeastern region of the United States of America.  The state began as one of the thirteen original British colonies and became a U.S. state when the United States of America won its independence from Great Britain.  It was here at a place called Plymouth Rock on the shore of Cape Cod Bay where the Pilgrims landed after a long voyage from Holland, and it was here where what was called the First Thanksgiving took place.  Even though it was not the actual First Thanksgiving as the actual one happened in the U.S. state of Virginia near the present day city of Richmond, it was the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving that the holiday is modeled after as it involved a feast where as the in Virginia, it was a long prayer of thanking God for surviving a long and dangerous voyage across the ocean.  Massachusetts played a big role in the American Revolution with the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party, the famous ride of Paul Revere, and ‘the shot heard around the world’ at the Battle at Concord Bridge.  (In case you are wondering, ‘the shot heard around the world’, was not a gunshot that was so loud that it was heard as far away as Antarctica but message that the United States of America was fighting for its independence.)  Along with the American Revolution, the city of Boston, the state capital, is a big sports town.  It is the home of the Boston Celtics, the most championed team in the National Basketball Association and the third most championed team in North American professional sports.  (The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League is number two and the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball are number one.)  Also, you will find the Basketball Hall of Fame in the city of Springfield.  The state is known for its geography with a long stretch of land known as Cape Cod and its islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and the state has a few great lighthouses.  In the town of Provincetown at the very end of the Cape Cod peninsula is where the eastern end of U.S. Route 6, a road known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway which honors American Civil War Veterans and is the longest route in the United States of America, is located.

Yes, the state of Massachusetts is known for many things.  When people think about the state, very few people will think about the railroads.  The railroad sites are commonly overshadowed by its other historic sites.  There is one particular place where the railroad once was.

If you visit the town of Chatham, Massachusetts, you will see a nice, charming town.  Located on the southeast corner of the state, you will get great views of the Atlantic Ocean, on old windmill, a lighthouse that is still active and own by the United States Coast Guard, and an old train station.

Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute.  There is no railroad on Cape Cod.”

Welcome to the Chatham Railroad Museum.

Some of you are saying, “Oh!  I see.  They found an old train station and brought it to this town to make it a museum.”

Actually, you are wrong.  The old train station, built in 1887 in what is called a Railroad Gothic style, is on its original site.  On what was originally the trackside is a wooden caboose from the New York Central System.  The town was the end of the line for the Chatham Railroad Company that ran between the town of Chatham and the town of Harwich.  There was also a railroad yard in Chatham.  As tourism in Chatham grew, so did the railroad.  As the roads on Cape Cod improved, the railroad declined.  Service to Chatham ended in 1937.

Today, very little evidence of the railroad remaining in Cape Cod with very few of the old railroad beds are now rail trails.  As for the old train station, it later became the home of the Chatham Railroad Museum.

Some of you are saying, “Oh yeah, and it has somebody’s old train collection.”

Well, if you had two New York Central System model locomotives that were on display at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, you can say that it is a great collection.  The exhibits display the history of the railroad to Chatham and the stations along the short railroad.

The Chatham Railroad Museum is located at 153 Depot Road in Chatham, Massachusetts, just off of Massachusetts Route 28.  It is open from June to October.  Admission is free, but they can use your donations to keep the museum open.  The museum is staffed by volunteers with no paid staff.  Although the train station is wheelchair accessible, the caboose is not.  You can read more into the history of the Chatham Train Station and get information on hours and directions at https://www.chathamrailroadmuseum.com/.

The U.S. state of Massachusetts is a state full of American history, a state of sports history, a state of natural beauty, historic sites, and an old railroad town called Chatham.  It is a town where you can enjoy a lobster roll with a little railroad history.

The J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum, Atlanta, Illinois

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Before the Interstate Highway System, people drove across the United States of America by way of the United States Route simply called the U.S. Route.  The first route ever established was U.S. Route 1 which has its north end at the Canadian Border in the town of Fort Kent in the U.S. state of Maine and its south end in the city of Key West in the U.S. state of Florida passing through the major cities of Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts,  New York City in the U.S. State of New York, Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland, Washington D.C., Richmond in the U.S. state of Virginia, and the cities of Jacksonville and Miami in the U.S. state of Florida plus many smaller cities in between.  Other U.S. Routes were later laid out.  One of those routes is the famous route U.S. Route 66 which had a television series named for it as well as a gasoline station.  The route went from the city of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois to the city of Santa Monica in the U.S. state of California.  Today, much of the route was replaced by Interstate Routes, but much of the roads that U.S. Route 66 ran have been preserved.  It passed through major cities and small towns.  One of those small towns is the town of Atlanta, Illinois.  No.  You will not find the Coca-Cola Company here nor did the town ever host the Olympics, and it does not have one of the busiest airports in the world.  Being a small town, it has numerous sites like the American Giants Museum housed in an old Texaco gas station, the Bunyan Giant, and it is the home of the J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum.  It is a museum that was erected in the only fully restored wooden grain elevator in the state of Illinois.  When you visit the museum, you will be seeing history.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  A fully restored grain elevator.  This is very nice.  There is a big problem.  This is a museum about a grain elevator and not a railroad museum.  Therefore, I am not elevating myself to visit this museum.”

Yes.  You are right.  This is not a railroad museum.  Why should you visit the J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum?

As you drive from U.S. Route 66, you cross a railroad line.  Atlanta, Illinois was never a railroad town, but the railroad does pass through here and it owned by the Union Pacific Railroad.

Some of you are saying, “It is nice that the railroad passes through the town, but what does the railroad have to do with the museum?”

Before it was the J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum, it was… a working grain elevator that was built in 1903.  When you arrive at the museum, the first thing that you will notice is the old grain elevator.  Then you notice something that is next to the old grain elevator.  What is next to the old grain elevator?  You will see an old railroad boxcar from the Wabash Railroad.  As farmers brought their grain to the old grain elevator, it was then put on boxcars and shipped across the nation.

It there another reason to visit the museum?  Yes, there is.

One of the exhibits here is the Atlanta Coal Mining Company Historical Mine.  The town had its own coal mine, but before the town had its own mine, coal was brought to the town by the railroad.

The J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum is on the National Register of Historical Places.  It is located 301 SW Second Street in Atlanta, Illinois.  Parking is on site.  Tours are self-guided and can but done at any time, but you can get a guided tour of the museum by going to https://www.destinationlogancountyil.com/grain-elevator-museum.

Visit Atlanta, Illinois.  You will not see the Coca-Cola Company or the Olympics, but you will see the J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agriculture Museum.

The Conway Scenic Railroad, North Conway, New Hampshire

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of New Hampshire is one of the six states that make up the region known as New England.  It is a state that has much natural beauty.  Its most famous site was a rock formation that, when seen from a particular direction, had the shape of an old man.  Sadly, the rock face eroded years ago, but you can still visit the site where the rock face once was.  Then you have the world famous Mount Washington, the highest point in the state and it known to have the world’s worst weather.  Another popular thing in the state happens to be… a train ride.

Welcome to the Conway Scenic Railroad, one of the most popular train rides in the United States of America.  Why is it called the Conway Scenic Railroad?  As you drive to the town of North Conway, you will begin to see the answer to the question.  The scenery will amaze you, and you will be amazed as you see it from the seat of a train.

You arrive in the town of North Conway, and it is an impressive small town.  Then you arrive at the Conway Scenic Railroad, and you are totally amazed.  What is amazing you?  The first thing you see when you arrive at the Conway Scenic Railroad is the train station.  Yes.  Most train excursions leave from train stations, but the North Conway Train Station was built in 1874.  As you look at the old train station, you may find yourself in a different time.  You enter the ticket office to buy your tickets, and you walk through the small museum that tells the history of the railroad in the region and the gift shop.

The train station is amazing, but you did not come to the town of North Conway, New Hampshire to just see the old train station.  You came here to ride the train.  This is not just any train.  This is the Conway Scenic Railroad, one of the most popular train rides in the nation.

The time has come.  The vintage train pulls into the station, and you board one of the vintage train cars.  From your seat, you are already seeing the beauty of New Hampshire.  The train begins to pull out of the station, and you are shortly out of the town.  You cross over rivers and streams and see fields and mountains to include the world famous Mount Washington.  You ride to the end, and you return to the station.

The Conway Scenic Railroad has numerous excursion routes.  This means that you will need to return again.  After your first train ride, you will want to come back to ride the other excursion trains.

The Conway Scenic Railroad is located in North Conway, New Hampshire at 30 Norcross Circle which is just off of U.S. Route 302 and New Hampshire Route 16.  Parking is on site.  Please note that due to the age of the facility and the trains, they are not wheelchair accessible, but they are happy to assist those with mobility issue in any way they can so that they can enjoy the ride.  Learn more about the excursions, the train schedules, buy tickets, and read more into the railroad at https://www.conwayscenic.com/.

Why is the Conway Scenic Railroad one of the most popular train rides in the United States of America?  The best way to answer this question is to make your way to the small New Hampshire town of North Conway and to ride the train.  Once you ride the train, your question will be answered.