Railroads and Trains have always been an integral part of America’s history, connecting east to west, connecting farm to big cities and shipping supply to demand. Railroads are a part of rich history tied to significant events, and it is a history worth remembering and looking back to, seeing and feeling up close. The following are some of the best train museums in the U.S. that lets visitors hear the steam-whistle blow, step back in time and smell the grease on the axels.
- Nevada Northern Railway Museum, Ely, Nevada– The Nevada Northern Railway is one of America’s great preserved historic railroads. It is operated by a historic foundation committed to preserving the Nevada Northern Railway. With extraordinary opportunities from stargazing train rides to train robbery re-enactments to several weeklong summer camps for adults, this remote western location is well worth the trip.
- California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, California– Twenty-one carefully restored cars and locomotives, along with a number of exhibits explore how the railroads shaped the west and had an impact on people’s lives and the economy. The highlights include a Pullman-style sleeping car, a dining car filled with railroad china and a railway post office.
- Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden, Colorado – Another historical, Western-style Railroad Museum, the Colorado Railroad Museum has about 15 acres to explore with nearly 100 narrow and standard gauge steam engines and cars. Essential highlights of the museum include a roundhouse with working turntable.
- B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland– The B&O Railroad Museum, also referred to as the “Birthplace of American Railroading”, has the oldest and the most comprehensive American railroad collection in the entire world. It museum sits on the site of the B&O Railroad, built in 1829. It is famous for laying the first commercial long-distance track and the first passenger station.
- Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum, Elbe, Washington– A glance through the importance of railroads in timber and logging, the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum provides several two-hour train rides and the most extensive collection of steam logging locomotives in the world.
- Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Illinois – The country’s biggest railroad museum, the Illinois Railway Museum was originally formed to preserve a critical piece of rolling stock. Unique rolling stock includes the Nebraska Zephyr, the Electroliner, the only remaining Chicago streamlined PCC streetcars and the first GP7 diesel engine.
- Smoky Mountain Trains Museum, Bryson City, North Carolina– Set on a historic depot, offers dining on first-class dining cars, a dinosaur train, and an open-air gondola, based on the popular PBS Dinosaur Train kid’s show by Jim Henson. This makes it perfect for children.
- Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum, Lenox, Massachusetts– The historic station was built in 1903. It features an early 20th-century passenger car and a vintage diesel-electric locomotive.