What's your favorite railway museum and why?

[Hey Joe]

What's your favorite railway museum, and why?

I was at the China Railway Museum here in Beijing a few weeks ago for the third time and it got me to thinking about all the wonderful train museums I've seen in my travels. I thought it might make for an interesting discussion here in the train forum.

Mine would have to be the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.

It's been awhile since I've been there, but some pieces that stick out in my mind are the Big Boy (above, photo from their website) and UP 6944 (below, photo from UP150.com):

This GM Aerotrain (designed to pull modified highway bus coaches for commuters) always fascinated me (photo from Wikipedia):

They also have the original EMD FT Demo engine # 103 which is a model I always admired (photo from American-Rails.com):

Anyway, they have a lot of stuff there! If you're anywhere near it, don't hesitate to take a look. Their web site is here. Besides the large array of historical pieces, the fact that it was within walking distance of my home factors in a lot to it's ranking as my favorite.

A couple other American museums that I remember as being exceptional are:

California State Railway Museum in Sacramento, CA

B & O Railway Museum in Baltimore, MD

...but I'll leave those for others to discuss as I'm not so familiar with them.

Oh, the China Railway Museum in Beijing? It's pretty good! It's completely enclosed in one huge shed and they have an interesting array of motive power there. It would be better if they had more English placards and maybe a bus that goes there as it can be tricky to find and hard to get a taxi out of. If you happen to be in Beijing and have an afternoon to kill, go take a look. Their web site (in Chinese) is here, the Wikipedia entry (in English) is here. They also have an annex in the center of the city in the old Qianmen Railway Station, but I've never been there. I don't think that there's any rolling stock there.

Ok, so which museum(s) is/are your favorite?

Joe

Edited September 10, 2013 by Hey Joe

[Pief]

Well I have 2 dutch railway museums for you first one The most imported for me the MuseumBuurtSpoorweg (http://www.museumbuurtspoorweg.nl) there I saw a steam locomotive for the very first time and there my love for them started.

there they have quite a collection of small steam locomotives.

The second one is the one near me. It's The STAR (StichtingStadskanaalrail)(http://www.stadskanaalrail.nl/).It's the longest museumrailway in the Netherlands. They have a beautiful steam locomotive the

TЭ-5933 is a Ex german Br52 but was left behind in Russia after WWII

Edited September 10, 2013 by Pief

[JopieK]

I really like the Bochum Dahlhausen museum in Germany.

In Holland Beekbergen is very nice too, but that is not a real museum (but STAR and Museum Buurtspoor aren't really musea either, they are depots that provide one with some exhibition trains and a rail trip opportunity (very nice though).

One of my other favorites is the Deutsches Technik Museum in Berlin with a lot of nice steam engines etc.

[Hey Joe]

They have a beautiful steam locomotive the TЭ-5933 is a Ex german Br52 but was left behind in Russia after WWII

That's a cool train, it reminds me of the engine in the China Railway Museum with Chairman Mao on the front of it.

I really like the Bochum Dahlhausen museum in Germany.

In Holland Beekbergen is very nice too, but that is not a real museum (but STAR and Museum Buurtspoor aren't really musea either, they are depots that provide one with some exhibition trains and a rail trip opportunity (very nice though).

One of my other favorites is the Deutsches Technik Museum in Berlin with a lot of nice steam engines etc.

Is 'musea' even a word? Are you going back to Latin on us?

The Deutches Technik Museum (English link this time ) is one of my favorites. The cattle car used to transport people to concentration camps is one of the most poignant exhibits I've ever seen in any museum.

Great replies so far, keep it up!

Joe

[Bamos]

Mine is the Illinois Railway Museum. Mostly because it is twenty minuits from my house in Union IL.

Bill

[English Electric]

The UK national railway museums in York and Shildon are great attractions with exhibits of hugely significant historical importance, plus the museums are both free to enter... And after all, it all stated here in the UK..... :) co-incidentally I have been to the York one today whilst 'at work' !!!

http://www.nrm.org.uk

Edited September 11, 2013 by English Electric

[Hey Joe]

Mine is the Illinois Railway Museum. Mostly because it is twenty minuits from my house in Union IL.

Bill

That's one I'd really like to go to, but unfortunately it's a little far off the St. Louis to Chicago highway corridor.

The UK national railway museums in York and Shildon are great attractions with exhibits of hugely significant historical importance, plus the museums are both free to enter... And after all, it all stated here in the UK..... :) co-incidentally I have been to the York one today whilst 'at work' !!!

http://www.nrm.org.uk

The railway museum in York (and York itself) are definitely on my must-see list. London and riding the train in the UK is so expensive though.

Joe

[Anticyclone]

The UK national railway museums in York and Shildon are great attractions with exhibits of hugely significant historical importance, plus the museums are both free to enter... And after all, it all stated here in the UK..... :) co-incidentally I have been to the York one today whilst 'at work' !!!

http://www.nrm.org.uk

Next time I go to London I'm definitely going to take a day trip to York and see the NRM. They have an impressive and unique collection.

[Kivi]

The UK national railway museums in York and Shildon are great attractions with exhibits of hugely significant historical importance

I agree completely. I visited NRM in York a few years ago and was more than impressed with all the stuff that's on display there.

My most recent visit was last weekend in the railway museum in Trieste, Italy. Though relatively small, it has some very interesting displays and dioramas, with the emphasis on local railway lines, both those in use and those that no longer exist.

[LukefromNJ]

My top 3 are:

-Railexpo, Quebec, Canada (maybe an hour outside of Montreal)

-The DB Museum in Nuremberg, Germany (I also liked the Berlin Technikmuseum, but it has a lot of non-railway content so I'm not sure if it counts)

-Illinois Railway Museum: off the beaten path but worth it (in Chicago itself there's the excellent Museum of Science and Industry, which has NYC engine number 999, plus an enormous HO scale layout depicting Chicago to Seattle)

[robuko]

I took my son to the Hong Kong Railway Museum last weekend and he loved it. It has 2 locomotives, so it's not very big, but it's a very beautiful place with a nice old station and lovely trees.

[Hey Joe]

-The DB Museum in Nuremberg, Germany

That's a really great museum, although I kinda liked Berlin's more as it has the roundhouse.

I took my son to the Hong Kong Railway Museum last weekend and he loved it. It has 2 locomotives, so it's not very big, but it's a very beautiful place with a nice old station and lovely trees.

Taking my three-and-a-half year old was the main reason I went back to the China Railway Museum for the third time. I thought he would look around a bit and get bored pretty quickly, but no, he loved running around and going up into the engines and playing with all the buttons and stuff in the cabs. He also liked sticking his hands into the steam drivers and wheels (luckily the grease had long since gone). We were there a couple hours, and he probably would've stayed longer given the opportunity.

Joe

[rebelego]

Krøderbanen - Norway's longest museum.

Norwegian Railway Museum - Nice collection of steam engines.

[CamelBoy68]

I definitely agree with York, especially as you can see an area they do the restoration work.

Another one is the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, although not quite a train museum, it has a nice collection of underground (tube) trains as well as vintage buses.

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/

Also, a little closer to home is the Rushden Transport Museum http://www.rhts.co.uk/ . its a small remnant of how extensive the old railway system used to be and while not as grand as the major ones, it has a great deal of charm.

[Hey Joe]

I definitely agree with York, especially as you can see an area they do the restoration work.

Another one is the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, although not quite a train museum, it has a nice collection of underground (tube) trains as well as vintage buses.

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/

Also, a little closer to home is the Rushden Transport Museum http://www.rhts.co.uk/ . its a small remnant of how extensive the old railway system used to be and while not as grand as the major ones, it has a great deal of charm.

That London Transport Museum looks interesting. It reminds me of a Union Pacific bus I saw once, great stuff!

Joe

[jimmynick]

I definitely agree with York, especially as you can see an area they do the restoration work.

Last time I was there, the Flying Scotsman was in all sorts of bits and pieces - but it's very interesting that they let you see the restoration in process.

[Cale]

I feel lucky in that I live close to quite a few good railroad museums.

My favorite would probably be The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. This is an awesome museum dedicated to preserving the history of railroading in the state of Pennsylvania. Their collection is amazing and the museum has done a world class job restoring much of the equipment in their care. The museum completed a full renovation of their front entrance a few years ago and will soon be building a new round house to house several of their steam engines still stored out side.

And right across the street from the RR museum of PA is the equally awesome Strasburg RR.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is another favorite of mine. Their collection includes some of the finest examples of nineteenth century American railroad equipment you will find.

Then there is Steamtown in Scranton Pennsylvania.

And for the trolley fan there is the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill Furnace PA. Home of my favorite preserved trolley, York Railways no. 163. The museum volunteers have done an awesome job restoring and maintaining the pieces in their collection.

Cale

Edited September 17, 2013 by Cale

[Hey Joe]

That Railroad Museum of PA sounds really great. A new roundhouse? I'm there.

The C & O Hudson at the B & O Museum was the big attraction for me.

The Alleganies there are pretty awesome too.

Joe

[Bamos]

For everyone interested in the "Golden age of Railroading" from 1880 to 1916 there is the Mid Continet Railway Museum. http://www.midcontinent.org/

and the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin. http://www.nationalrrmuseum.org/en-Us/default.aspx

Bill

[Asper]

Hello, maybe it's a bit off-topic (i.e. not train related). I was in Berlin at the weekend and since I have read about the "Deutsches Technik Museum" in this thread, I wanted to see it by myself. Of course I visited the roundhouse - but also the building with ships and planes. And look what I have found:

It's the HMS Victory of "BigBoy" (Dirk Delorme) - more pictures can bee seen in his picture folder http://www.1000steine.de/de/modelle/myimages/?dir=546.

[John Hill]

This is my favourite museum...

www.plainsrailway.co.nz

....because it is in our town!

[LukefromNJ]

That's a really great museum, although I kinda liked Berlin's more as it has the roundhouse.

Joe

Well, Berlin has a much bigger collection of full-size rolling stock, but I thought Nuremberg did a better job presenting the context of the railway system as a whole, with the employee uniforms, dioramas, and information on the railroad's role in Germany's history (good and bad).

Hello, maybe it's a bit off-topic (i.e. not train related). I was in Berlin at the weekend and since I have read about the "Deutsches Technik Museum" in this thread, I wanted to see it by myself. Of course I visited the roundhouse - but also the building with ships and planes. And look what I have found:

It's the HMS Victory of "BigBoy" (Dirk Delorme) - more pictures can bee seen in his picture folder http://www.1000stein...images/?dir=546.

When was that display put in? I don't remember seeing it when I was there (summer 2011). One Lego thing I did see when I was there, however, was a group of life-size brick-built statues of Chewbacca, Yoda and a Stormtrooper (plus a ~1 meter diameter Death Star) in a display window in Alexanderplatz. Also, in the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station, I saw this life-size product from a rival company:

Edited September 24, 2013 by Ecclesiastes
Please don't quote pictures.

[Pief]

In Holland Beekbergen is very nice too, but that is not a real museum (but STAR and Museum Buurtspoor aren't really musea either, they are depots that provide one with some exhibition trains and a rail trip opportunity (very nice though).

Well The Mbs and the STAR are my favorite museum railways there is one train museum (with a lot of dutch steam locomotives but they don't any of them opperational sadly ) The STAR has a building with big words MUSEUM were the history is of the line and the MBS has some locomotives on display. Museumrailways try to give you the impression of how it was back in those days I think some of them do that very well.

and also I would like someone to take on the TE 5933 I would like it to do it my self but i feel to build up some experience with smaller steam locomotives and building techniques.

Greetings,

Pief