The National Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, US. Founded in 1956 by community volunteers, the National Railroad Museum is one of the oldest and largest U.S. institutions dedicated to preserving and interpreting the nation's railroad history.
Two years later, a joint resolution of Congress recognized the Museum as the National Railroad Museum. The museum has been a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization since 1958.
A museum building houses a wide variety of railroad artifacts, an archive, and photography gallery. A standard gauge track rings the grounds. An 80-foot (24 m) wooden observation tower has views of the Fox River and Green Bay.
As of 2019, the museum was working to raise money to build a roundhouse to surround its current buildings (except the train station) to shelter from the weather the locomotives and cars displayed in the open pavilion.
List of Exhibits[]
- Steam Locomotives:
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5017 | 
|
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | 2-10-4 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | |
| 24 | 
|
Lake Superior & Ishpeming | 2-8-0 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 4496 "Dwight D Eisenhower" | 
|
London & North Eastern Railway | 4-6-2 | Doncaster Works | |
| 102 | 
|
Sumter & Choctaw Railroad | 2-8-2 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | |
| 101 | 
|
United States Army | 2-8-0 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | |
| 4017 | 
|
Union Pacific Railroad | 4-8-8-4 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 506 | 
|
Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range | 2-10-2 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 2736 | 
|
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | 2-8-4 | ||
| 5 | 
|
Ely Thomas Lumber Company | Shay | Lima Locomotive Works | |
| 29 | 
|
Pullman Company | 0-4-0ST | ||
| 2718 | 
|
St. Paul & St. Louis Railroad (Soo Line) | 4-6-2 | American Locomotive Company |
- Diesel Locomotives:
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 | 
|
Southern Pacific | ALCO S6 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 315 | 
|
Green Bay and Western Railroad | ALCO Century 430 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 73 | 
|
Georgia Pacific Railway | ALCO S-2 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 2402 | 
|
Fox River Valley Railroad | EMD SD24 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
| 2 | 
|
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | Aerotrain | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
| 1 | 
|
Ann Arbor Railroad | ALCO S-3 | American Locomotive Company | |
| D538 | 
|
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway | EMD NW1 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
| 715 | 
|
Wisconsin Central Ltd. | EMD GP30 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
| 106 | 
|
United States Army | GE 44-ton switcher | General Electric | |
| 8651 | 
|
United States Army | ALCO RSD-1 | American Locomotive Company | |
| 1563 | 
|
Wisconsin Central Ltd. | EMD SW1500 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
| 737 | 
|
Milwaukee Road | FM H-10-44 | Fairbanks-Morse | |
|
- Electric Locomotives:
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4890 | 
|
Pennsylvania Railroad | GG1 | Altoona Works |
- Former Locomotives:
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Road No. 261 | 
|
Milwaukee Road | 4-8-4 | American Locomotive Company |
Trivia[]
- The museum hosts an annual Day Out with Thomas event, where Thomas the Tank Engine pulls young friends past the exhibited rolling stock; and in October, "Terror on the Fox": Green Bay Preble Optimist Club's haunted attraction that includes "haunted" train rides after dark.
- In 1996 the Green Bay National Railroad Museum unveiled the first ever American built Thomas replica in December. The small Thomas replica looked very offputting and innaccurate, but was used for DOWT events until 2002, when Strasburg's dummy Thomas counterparts took over the role. The engine was put away in storage until sometime later (presice date is unknown, but sometime before 2010) Hit Entertainment found out about this Thomas and ordered for it to be destroyed. The face was removed as well as the smokebox and the engine currently sits in the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. When it is at the museum, it is stored in the Victor McCormick Train Pavilion. The engine itself is disassembled but the remains of the shell can be found on "display". It is worth noting that bits and pieces of this "Dead Thomas" are slowly being removed.
- The Frederick J. Lenfesty Center, an enclosed and climate-controlled structure was recently added that houses several of the unique and rarer locomotives and cars.
- The museum's archives hold corporate records and documents, annual reports, maps, mechanical and engineering drawings, oral histories, and ephemera. The holdings represent various railroad companies, labor unions, and fraternal organizations.
- Its library holds works on the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of U.S. railroading history.
- The National Railroad Museum holds over 5,000 artifacts, including textiles, uniforms, tools and personal items.
- Its photograph collection includes 15,000 photographic prints, slides, and film negatives of U.S. railroading since 1890.