Lesser known Railroad Museums in small towns

[Seaboard92]

One that really surprised me that I thought of nothing going to was the Wilmington Railroad Museum in Wilmington, NC. I think what set it apart for me was I could tell how much heart and soul the operators put into the museum. And that made up for the lack of a lot of equipment. Heart and soul means more to me. If you are passing thru it is worth a good hour or so.

 

[joelkfla]

Western Railway museum Historic Train Exhibits Vintage Streetcar - Western Railway Museum
Focused mostly on interurbans from around California

Haven't visited for over 20 years, so maybe things have changed, but I volunteered there back in the 70's & 80's, and the focus was pretty much evenly split between interurbans and streetcars, maybe a bit heavier on the streetcars. There were dozens of cars in various states of decay or restoration in the barns, with public operations 2 or 3 days a week.

 

[Seaboard92]

One thing I would like to ask everyone to do here is support your local museum. We all complain about the decay of the place but so few people open their wallets to help preserve these relics. And railcars are expensive believe me I know I own one. But we owe it to our future generations to see these relics. So we need to do what we can to preserve them. And there are other ways to support your museums that aren't money you can contribute sweat equity and gain an appreciation for where the wheel meets the rail. And then you would find a lot of really good local museums all over the USA, Canada, and the world.