Train Museums in the U.S.: History, Locomotives & More

The California State Railroad Museum is a state-managed museum that tells the story of the railroad’s role in connecting California to the rest of the country.

The museum houses more than 20 restored locomotive engines and railroad cars, some of which date all the way back to 1862. There is a miniature railroad scene called the “Sierra Scene,” which shows a construction scene in the Sierra Nevada range including the Donner Pass and a locomotive named Gov. Stanford.

There are other exhibits related to the impact that the railroad had on American life, including travel, business, and daily life. Next to the main building is a reconstructed passenger station from the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1870s.

Visitors can also take part in a 6-mile train ride, available part of the year.

125 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, Phone: 916-323-9280

The Colorado Railway Museum Inc. is a non-profit museum located in between the North and South Table Mountains in beautiful Golden, Colorado.

The museum has operated since 1959 and was created to preserve and protect the history of Colorado’s railroad era.

The museum has a special concentration on the development of steep, narrow gauge railroads in the Colorado mountains. The main museum building is modeled after 1880s railroad depots.

There are original photographs by railroad photographers, model railways, displays on railroad history, and a roundhouse where visitors can observe restoration work.

A number of locomotives, rail cars, and pieces of railroad equipment are on display outside the museum.

17155 W 44th Avenue, Golden, CO 80403, Phone: 303-279-4591

The Danbury Railway Museum Inc is a railroad museum and adjacent rail yard located in the former Union Station in downtown Danbury, Connecticut.

The museum was created in the 1990s after the station was closed. The exhibits held in the Danbury Railway Museum mostly focus on the history of the railroad in the region, including New York and the southern part of New England.

The building features interesting architecture and appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train.

Visitors can embark on a train ride called the Rail Yard Local, which lasts about 30 minutes and passes the museum’s turntable, the only one like it in the state. The train ride is only available during the summer months.

120 White Street, Danbury, CT 06810, Phone: 203-778-8337

Kid-Friendly Train Museums:

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in North Judson, Indiana. North Judson was a significant railroading town and, at one point, a large percentage of the local population was employed by the area’s railroads. The town was known to have up to 125 trains in a single day coming from one of four major rail lines in the area. The museum is located in a building that was formerly owned by the Erie Railroad. The museum has a variety of rolling stock, including a historical steam locomotive from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. During the warmer months, the museum also offers train rides.

507 Mulberry Street, North Judson, IN 46366, Phone: 574-896-3950

The Illinois Railway Museum is located in Union, Illinois, near Chicago and is the country’s largest railroad museum. The museum has been in operation since the 1950s and tells the story of the role trains and the railroad have played in the growth of the city of Chicago and surrounding area as well as the entire United States. The museum campus is quite large and it can take a while to explore it all. There are eleven storage barns that contain approximately 3 miles of covered tracks, a steam engine restoration shop, a train depot dating back to 1853, four streetcar stations, a collection of neon and concrete signs, a large number of trains, and more. Two train rides are offered in the summer, including on both electric and diesel trains.

7000 Olson Road, Union, IL 60180, Phone: 815-923-4000

The Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky, is a non-profit railway museum dedicated to the history and heritage of the state’s railroads and the people who played a part in the railroad’s history in Kentucky. The museum was opened in 1954 and originally resided in Louisville, but has since moved to southern Kentucky’s Nelson County. It occupies one of the country’s oldest rail stations, which was built in the 1850s by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The museum has a number of steam locomotives, rail cars, and indoor exhibits, which include a 3,000-square-foot model train display.

136 S. Main Street, New Haven, KY 40051, Phone: 800-272-0152

Romantic Train Museums:

The Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site preserves, protects, and interprets the former site of the Laws Railroad station and rail yard. The museum includes several historical buildings, which each house artifacts and interesting items related not just to the history of the railroad, but also to history in general. These buildings have been moved to the site and set up around the historical train depot like a small village. The depot itself contains railroad-related artifacts and memorabilia as well as train displays. In the yard stands Southern Pacific Company’s Steam Locomotive no. 9, which was donated to the museum when it was decommissioned in 1960. There are also an 1883 turntable and several historic rail cars on display.

Silver Cyn Road, Bishop, CA 93514, Phone: 760-873-5950

The Medina Railroad Museum is located in Medina, New York, near the cities of Buffalo and Rochester. The museum is located inside of one of the largest historic wooden freight depots still in existence. The building was constructed in 1905. The exhibits housed here include a number of interactive and experiential displays, artifacts from the railroad, train-related memorabilia, historical photographs, trains, a model railroad display, and more. The museum has a special emphasis on the railroads of western New York. There is also an exhibit of historic equipment used in fighting fires. There are seasonal train rides as well as an annual Thomas the Tank Engine event for kids.

530 West Avenue, Medina, NY 14103, Phone: 585-798-6106

The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin, dedicated to the history and heritage of the railroad. The museum has a number of permanent displays and also hosts train rides aboard preserved historical trains. The exhibits primarily focus on the history of the railroad from the upper Midwest around the turn of the 20th century. There are three steam locomotives that are being restored as well as a number of other steam and diesel locomotives and more than 100 other pieces of rolling stock on display. The museum also has a large collection of wooden passenger cars, which is the largest of its type in the country. The train depot is original and was built in 1894 and later moved to the museum’s current location.

E8948 Museum Road, North Freedom, WI 53951, Phone: 608-522-4261