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The town of Strasburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is a railroader’s heaven. You have the famous Strasburg Railroad, the oldest short line railroad in the United States. You have the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania right across the street with the large collections of locomotives and rolling stock. You have the Choo Choo Barn that holds a large model train display depicting Lancaster County. You can spend a night at the Red Caboose Motel where you stay in a real caboose. In the town itself, you have the Iron Horse restaurant. With all of that, you are probably wondering what else could be in Strasburg. One place that you cannot overlook is the National Toy Train Museum.
In case you are wondering, this is not one of those toy train museums where you have this small train display. This is a museum that has a very big collection of toy trains. From the very moment you enter the building that is built to resemble an old train depot, you are greeted by walls and walls of trains from Lionel to Bachmann to American Flyer from the early years to the present day. Yes, there is that many trains. Along with the shelves full of trains are, what everyone wants to see, the model train displays of every single scale. You can also see videos of the trains as they roll through the displays and visit the National Toy Train Library, which has a very extensive collection of books, catalogs, postcards and much more. As mentioned, this is not your normal train museum.
The National Toy Train Museum is located at 300 Paradise Lane in Ronks, Pennsylvania next to the Red Caboose Motel and Restaurant just north of Pennsylvania Route 741. They are open from 10:00am to 5:00pm on most days, and admission is only $7.00 for adults. You can get more information at www.nttmuseum.org.
If you ever want to meet people who play with trains, the National Toy Train Museum has people who have many trains to play with.
Here comes the mailman bringing the mail. Regardless of the weather (except during dangerous conditions), the mailman has delivered the mail to every address in the United States of America. Although technology has changed, the mailman continues to deliver the mail. The United States Postal Service which has been delivering the mail in the United States of America since the nation’s beginning employs the mailman. Today, you can see the entire process of mail delivery in the United States of America by simply visiting the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C.
Some of you are saying, “Wow! I tip my hat to the mailman and the work that he, or she, does. As for the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C., well there is a problem. The museum is about the United States Postal Service in the United States of America. In this museum, you see things about the post office. This is not a museum about the railroad. Therefore, I will not be delivering myself to this museum.”
Yes, this is that National Postal Museum. Yes, this museum is about the United States Postal Service. No, this is not a railroad museum. So you are wondering why a railroad fan would want to visit this museum.
The National Postal Museum is, of course, about the United States Postal Service. The museum has exhibits on every factor on the United States Postal Service from the beginning to the present day. From the very beginning of the United States of America, the mail was delivered by a person called the mailman or the mailwoman.
Some of you are saying, “That is nice, but how could they deliver the mail if they did not have a mail truck? The automobile was not invented until the late nineteenth century.”
When mail delivery began, the mailman rode a horse, or if they were in a town, they walked to each address similar to what they do today. So, not much has changed. The mailman went from a horse to a horse and buggy between the different towns. As many of you know, it took many days to ride from town to town. In 1927, something began in the United States of America. It had been running in Great Britain, but it made its way to the city of Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland. What was it? The railroad had come to the Western Hemisphere. The railroad started with horsepower. How much horse power? One horse power. Well, it was one horse pulling a car on a set of railroad tracks. When the steam locomotive arrived, cars were no longer pulled by an actual horse but by an invention that had the power of many horses. Instead of taking days to get from one town to another, it just took a few hours. After the American Civil War where the railroad was used to transport soldiers and supplies, the United States Postal Service took advantage of the railroad, and the Railway Post Office was born. What was the Railway Post Office? It was simply a Post Office in a railroad car. You can see an old Railway Post Office car at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and at other railroad museums in the United States of America.
One of the exhibits at the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C. features the ways the United States Mail was transported. You see the common mail truck. You see an old carriage. Then you see a replica of a Railway Post Office Car without the wheels below, and you walk in on floor level. (Great for those in wheelchairs at the old post office cars were not wheelchair accessible.) On the inside, you see exactly what you would have seen in a real post office car. You will see the old mail slots and replica mail bags.
Is that all? Nope.
The Railway Post Office had a mascot. Who was their mascot? Meet Owney, the mascot of the Railway Mail Service. He lived from 1888 to 1897, but during his life, he was a very famous dog as he rode along in the postal car across the nation with different mail carriers. When you visit the museum, you can see Owney, the actual dog, inside a glass enclosure.
Now you have a reason to visit the National Postal Museum. It is owned and operated by the Smithsonian. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue across the street from Union Station. It is open every day from 10:00am to 5:30pm, and admission is free. However, you will have to pass through a security checkpoint. Please note that that museum does not have its own parking, and the street parking is very restricted with meters with limited hours and permit only parking, but the Union Station Parking Garage is within walking distance. There is plenty of transit buses that pass by the museum and the Greyhound Station is nearby, and you can also arrive by the Metrorail subway, Amtrak, the Marc Commuter Train, and the Virginia Railway Express. (Yes, you can take the train to the museum.) You can learn more about the museum and the current exhibits at https://postalmuseum.si.edu/.
So, visit the National Postal Museum. See the history of mail delivery in the United States of America. See how the railroad played a role in the delivery of the United States Mail.
When it comes to the President of the United States of America and the railroad, many of them have used the railroad. If you were asked which president is most associated with the railroad, most people would probably think about Abraham Lincoln. He would have been the first President to have a Presidential Railroad Car, kind of like the Air Force One of the railroad, but that car became his funeral car after he was assassinated carrying his remains from Washington D.C. to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. Even though he was born in the U.S. state of Kentucky, Springfield, the state capital of the U.S. state of Illinois was where he was launched into the political spotlight. It is here where the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located. A visit to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is a place that you must see if you wish to see the entire story of Abraham Lincoln.
Some of you are saying, “This is nice. Abraham Lincoln was a great man. In matter of fact, he is known to be one of the greatest Americans of all time and one of the greatest men in history. I always enjoyed the fact that he is associated with the railroad more than any other American president, but as for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, this is not a railroad museum, a railroad site, or has anything to do with the railroad, I will not be booking a visit to this place.”
As mentioned, Abraham Lincoln was associated with the railroad more than any other U.S. President. You are right when you say that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is not a railroad museum, and you are right when you say that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is not a railroad site, but you are wrong when you say that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has nothing to do with the railroad.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum consists of the library. It is called the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It also consists of the museum. The museum has different exhibits, but two of the main exhibits are about his life before his presidency and the other is about his time in the White House, not the white house that is in your neighborhood but the one in Washington D.C. that is the home of the sitting President of the United States of America.
As you walk through the White House exhibit, you see displays of his time during the American Civil War, the life in the White House, the cabinet meetings, and the assassination at Ford’s Theater. The exhibit ends with a display of the route of his Funeral Train. The route started in Washington D.C. It continued to Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland and to Harrisburg, the capital of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The train then went east to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then went up to New York City in the U.S. state of New York. It went north to Albany, the state capital of New York and then went west to Buffalo, New York. It continued to Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio and then went to the Ohio state capital of Columbus. It went west to Indianapolis, the state capital of Indiana, and then it went north to the city of Chicago, Illinois before going to the last stop in Springfield. The Funeral Train went in the reverse route of the way he went to Washington D.C. to serve as the sixteenth President of the United States of America.
Yes, Abraham Lincoln had great ties with the railroad, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum commemorates that tie. Along with his ties to the railroad, there are many more reasons to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located at 212 North Sixth Street at the intersection of Jefferson Street (Illinois Route 97). Please note that the museum does not have its own parking. It is either street parking or parking at a parking facility. The great news is that the museum is wheelchair accessible. You can get information on the hours and admission at https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/.
In the U.S. state of Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, in the state capital of Springfield, you will find a museum that tells the story of the sixteenth President of the United States of America. You will be disappointed if you do not visit.
There are so many things about the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is a state that has so much natural beauty. You have the New River Gorge. You have Dolly Sods, the largest unspoiled natural area east of the Mississippi River. You have the many mountains and valleys. Are you thinking about the coal mining industry? You can visit the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, a once active coal mine in Beckley that is now open for public tours. What about railroads? You have the Cass Scenic Railroad in the town of Cass that takes you to the top of the second highest point in the state. Also in Cass, you can take a ride on the Durbin Rocket. You have the city of Elkins that was once a major railroad city with only excursion trains today. Elkins is also the home of the West Virginia Railroad Museum that tells the history of the railroad in the state. There is so much to the state of West Virginia from small towns to natural beauty to railroads to its cities with the largest city being Charleston, the state capital. A city that is very often overlooked is the city of Wheeling. How is it overlooked as Interstate 70 and the National Road (U.S. Route 40) passes through this city which happens to be on the Ohio River and borders Ohio? Once known as the ‘Gateway to the West’, it was once a big railroad town with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad having a presence here, but it has a great little treasure known as the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum.
What is the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum?
Some of you are saying, “Well, duh, it is a museum of toy and trains that happens to be on Kruger Street.”
You are exactly right. It is on Kruger Street. It is about toys and trains. Well, it is about model trains of which there are plenty here. Yes, there are plenty of museums about toys and about trains, but what makes this place different?
It all began with a father and son who collected toy trains. The collection grew, and they decided to display their collection in a museum, but where?
As you arrive at the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum, you notice that it looks like a school. That is because it was a school. It was bought through an auction, and the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum was opened in September of 1998.
Before you enter the old school, you notice a yellow caboose. Yes, there are cabooses everywhere, but this particular caboose is from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a memorial to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s influence to the city of Wheeling.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning.
You enter the museum, the very first thing you see… is a model train, but there is much more.
The museum features rooms dedicated to different toys, and there are rooms dedicated to different model trains. You have the O Gauge Room. (O Gauge is a size of the model train.)
Then there is the Ohio Valley History Room which has a model train display of the Ohio River Valley of which Wheeling is a part of, and there is a display in honor of Chuck Yeager, a famous jet pilot from the state who is famous for breaking the sound barrier.
What is a train museum without the Historic Train Room? The room has a collection of historic model trains from Lionel.
You have the HO Gauge Room. Yes, it features a HO Gauge model train display, but it also displays locomotives in brass and model trains from all gauges.
Yes this is a museum about toys and trains. For those who are a fan of Peanuts (the cartoon and not the food item), the museum features a collection of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and other Peanuts characters that was donated by a local doctor named William Mercer so that many would enjoy the collection for years to come. Yes, it is about Peanuts, but there is also a model train display here as well.
The Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum is a very special museum in a not-so-famous part of West Virginia. A visit here is a visit you will cherish. For those of the older generation, it will bring back memories of your childhood. For the younger ones, they will see the toys that the children played with before them.
The Kruger Toy and Train Museum is located at 144 Kruger Street in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is less that a miles from Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40, and West Virginia Route 88. The museum is open year round, but hours do vary due to the time of the year. Parking is on site. Due to the age of the structure, the museum is not wheelchair accessible. You can learn more about the museum and its exhibits, the history of the museum and the building, and get information on hours and admission at https://www.toyandtrain.com/.
They call it wild and wonderful West Virginia, but the state has much to offer. The city of Wheeling has the Kruger Toy and Train Museum. When you visit, you will have a wonderful time.
The U.S. state of Illinois is a state known for many things. It is commonly called ‘The Land of Lincoln’ as it is the state that made Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States of America, famous. Although he was born in the U.S. state of Kentucky and spent part of his childhood in the U.S. state of Indiana, it was in Illinois, particularly in the capital city of Springfield, where his rise to fame began, and it is where he is buried. U.S. President Ronald Reagan was also born in this state. It is famous for its largest city, Chicago, the Hub City of the continent of North America that is famous for its professional sports teams and it food like pizza and hot dogs. One of the nation’s famous routes, U.S. Route 66 began in Chicago, and you can drive this route today across the state and see some of its iconic sites. The John Deere Tractor Company is based in this state, and tractors are also designed here. Beyond the Chicago Metropolitan Area, much of this state is rural with farms, but there are also other cities like Peoria, and it is in Peoria where you will find the Wheels O’ Time Museum.
What is the Wheels O’ Time Museum? Well, the name pretty much says what the museum is about.
Some of you are saying, “Wow! The Wheels O’ Time Museum is about wheels through time. The problem is that this is not a railroad museum. Therefore, I will not be bringing my wheels to this museum.”
You are right. It is not a railroad museum, but the very first thing you will see as you arrive at this museum is Rock Island Railroad Locomotive Number 886. What is the locomotive doing? It is pulling a train that consists of a combine car number 2617 from the Milwaukee Road, a caboose from the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad, and two Pullman Cars.
In case you are wondering, there is more to see as far as the railroad fan is concerned.
The Wheels O’ Time Museum is a museum about wheels mainly from the twentieth century. It is housed in five structures. The first building is a building with a very specific name. What is the building’s name? It is called the Main Building. The first thing you see in the Main Building is the gift shop. It is a small gift shop, but it is here where you pay your admission. Then you enter the main hall. It is here on the first floor where you will see many classic cars. Hence the name ‘Wheels O’ Time Museum’. With all of these classic cars on display, this is just a small part of the museum. Yes, it is just a small part of the museum.
As you see the classic cars, the first floor also have different display rooms. One of them is called ‘Rivers and Rails of Peoria’. In this room, you will see the history of the railroad and the riverboats of the region. A model of Locomotive Number 80 from the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad is on display.
Is that all as far as the Main Building? No. There are more rooms on the upper level. One of the rooms has two model train displays. There is also a mural featuring a steam train and a race car.
The next building is ‘The Firehouse’. It is built to look like an old firehouse. What is the main feature of the Firehouse? It has two fire trucks and more classic cars. It has classic bikes, a replica of the ‘Spirit of St. Louis’, the first plane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and a replica of a local Peoria radio station. It also has model trains, railroad dishes, and other railroad memorabilia encased in glass.
Then you have the ‘Generations Building’. It is the newest building on the property, and the name comes from the World War II generation which is commonly called ‘The Greatest Generation’. It features tractors, jeeps, and a U.S. Air Force plane from that era, but it also features two model train displays. The display on the lower level shows a train at a construction site. The upper level has a LEGO train display.
Then you have the Farm Building. Yes, it features farm equipment, but it also features railroad maintenance equipment to include a hand car.
The other structures at the museum is the Ford Building which displays cars from the Ford Motor Company and the LeTourneau Steel House, a small single family home.
The Wheels O’ Time Museum is located at 1710 W. Woodside Drive in Dunlap, Illinois just off of Illinois Route 40 north of Peoria. It is open from May to October from Wednesday to Sunday from 12:00pm to 5:00pm Central Standard Time. Parking is on site, and most of the museum is wheelchair accessible. You can learn more about the museum to include admission and to lean about the displays at https://wheelsotime.org/.
The state of Illinois is much more that Chicago and Abraham Lincoln and John Deere. It is the home of the Wheels O’ Time Museum. When you arrive, it may take you back in time.
The U.S. state of Ohio has many cities as well as small towns. Among these towns is the town of Bellevue. Located in the north central region of the state, it is not a popular town with only U.S. Route 20 being the only major route through the town and the Ohio Turnpike (Interstates 80 and 90) running north of the town, but it is a town centered on the railroad.
Welcome to the Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum. (For those who are wondering, NKP stands for the Nickel Plate Road, a railroad that ran on many routes in the northern region of the United States of America.) The mission of the museum is to preserve the heritage of the railroad in the region.
Some of you are saying, “Oh yeah! I have been to these small town museums. They have a caboose and a small model train display. It is a waste of time to visit an out of the way town to see this.”
Ladies and gentlemen, be advised that the Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum is not a museum that has just a caboose and small model train. Be warned that as soon as you arrive here, you will be totally amazed at what you will see.
Let us begin with the main building. Well, it may be hard to go to the main building after seeing after what you see, but it is here where you will need to pay your admission before seeing the rest of the museum. You enter the gift shop to pay your admission, and then you enter the exhibits. The very first thing you will see is a replica of a steam locomotive called the ‘Sandusky’, the first locomotive run by the Mad River Railroad between Bellevue and the port town of Sandusky located on Lake Erie. In the same room is a bell that was used on the Lincoln Funeral Train, the train that carried the remains of President Abraham Lincoln from Washington D.C. to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. Other items include China (dishes) used on passenger cars.
From here, you enter into the next room which has two cabooses. The one caboose is from the Nickel Plate Road, and the other caboose is from the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, another railroad that ran through the town. There is also a Mack truck from the Railway Express and a luggage cart.
Then you have a third room. What is in this room? It is here where you really go back in time to the days before Amtrak. You enter into old passenger cars. You see the passenger seats and the private rooms and the dining area.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is only a small part of the museum.
From here, you go outside and across the street to the very thing that kept you here at the museum. You see the rolling stock. You have the switcher locomotive. You have a hopper. You have a tank car and many box cars. You have numerous diesel locomotives, cabooses, and more passenger cars and baggage cars. Then you have the old Bellevue Train Station.
Some of you are saying, “Alright! That is everything.”
Ladies and gentlemen, there is more. Yes, there is more.
Across the main rail line from the museum is the Kemper Rail Park. Yes, there is more things to see. What is here? You have Locomotive Number 2 from the Pennsylvania Railroad. You have more locomotives, a crane, the freight house from the New York Central System, and you have the star attraction. What is the star attraction? Nickel Plate Road Locomotive Number 757 sits here in the park.
So you think that this it. There is more. The town of Bellevue was served by many railroads back in the day. Today, the Norfolk Southern Railway is the only railroad in town, and, if you are fortunate enough, a freight train may pass by.
The Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum was established by people who wanted to keep the heritage of the railroad in Bellevue alive. It is an all-volunteer operation including restoration of old rolling stock, and the museum receives no public funding. When you come here, be advised that it is not a waste of your time.
The Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum is located at 253 Southwest Street in Bellevue, Ohio. It is just a few blocks from U.S. Route 20 and Ohio State Routes 18 and 269, and it is easily accessible from the Ohio Turnpike (Interstates 80 and 90). It is open from May through October from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. (Open weekends only in May, September, and October. Open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Rail Park is open year round from sunrise to sunset.) Please note that due to the age of the structures, not all areas are wheelchair accessible, but the rail park is completely accessible. You can get information in admission, directions, and to read more into the history of the museum and the railroad at https://madrivermuseum.org/.
The Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum is an amazing place. There is much here. It is definitely worth making the journey.
When people think about the U.S. state of South Carolina, they mainly think about the beaches. You have Charleston and Fort Sumpter where the first shot of the American Civil War was fired. You have the beach towns of Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head. As many treasure the beaches, this state has a history with the railroad as well.
Welcome to the South Carolina Railroad Museum in Winnsboro, South Carolina. Yes. It has railroad cars on display. As you arrive, the first thing you will notice is the train with steam locomotive number 44 on the front, freight cars, a baggage car, rail post office, and the ‘Norfolk’ parlor car. There is also a caboose. Yes, many railroad museums have that, but there is also a gallery with railroad artifacts and model trains.
I know. Many railroad museums have all of this. Oh, they have train rides.
You have all of this at a museum that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Yes, it is a National Historic Site. Therefore, if you think that this is just another railroad museum, you will discover that it is not.
The South Carolina Railroad Museum is located at 110 Industrial Park Road in Winnsboro, South Carolina just off of U.S. Route 321 and South Carolina Route 34. It is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Trains rides take places from June to September plus on Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. The museum is free, but there is a cost to ride the train. Parking is on site.
Next time you think of South Carolina, do not just see the beach. May your way to the South Carolina Railroad Museum, another state treasure.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 