Galveston Railroad Museum - 4/10/14

What a delightful time we had visiting the Galveston Island Railroad Museum today! We enjoyed a self-guided tour through the Santa Fe Union Station, various exhibits of historic artifacts, several operational, scale model train displays, and the rail yard of approximately thirty 19th and 20th century rail cars.

We started our tour at the Santa Fe Union Station. It has been restored and is just beautiful.

The "Ghosts of Travelers' Past" is 39 white, plaster, life-like statues created by Elliot and Ivan Schwartz in 1981.  Heavily damaged by the toxic salt water of Hurricane Ike in 2008, restoration of all of them was completed by 2010.

Information area and conference room.

Phone booths (historic stories can be heard in each booth when you pick up the receiver).

The Larry George Train Room. George was an engineer by trade and a model train enthusiast as well. Many model train cars are displayed in the several hallways as well.

This model train display was so impressive! You could push a button to start all of the trains...and at the end a "night time" view was displayed. Very cool.

This museum has the largest collection of railroad dining ware, silver, and china in the U.S. Deluxe dining experiences were common during the golden age of rail travel.

Really liked these displays of three set tables.

Check out prices on the 1943 menu. Examples: Omelette w/jelly $.70; Ham/eggs county style $.90; pot of coffee $.25; orange juice $.25...

John, the train engineer, and a cool display of railroad artifacts.

The train yard has an impressive 30 rail cars; many of them are open. Here are just a few of the ones we found particularly interesting.  Below is a display of the flood levels of the severe storms and hurricanes that have caused major damage in Galveston (and John is 6'4"!)

ANACAPA was a luxurious private business car built in 1929 and owned by John Palmer Gait, the editor of the Washington Evening Post. It had 3 bedrooms, a dining room, parlor (shown below), observation deck, bathroom/shower facilities and staff quarters.

This Illinois CentralPost Office car, built in 1914 by Pullman, was part of an identical 10-car oder. Six clerks worked in the car sorting mail into 744 pigeonholes and 50 sorting cages. A moving train would pick up a pouch via the use of a mail hook.

There were various innovative designs for sleeping accommodations in rail cars built in the 1920s. The seats could be folded down to create a lower berth and the top portion opened for a second berth above the seats.

Other cars had different configurations for sleeping accommodations, some with private bathrooms.

"Robert E. Lee" Sleeping and Lounge Car, built in 1924, by Pullman was one of 90 such rail cars with this design. It was used for trips between Chicago and San Francisco. It was painted with the Robert E. Lee design for a movie.

Missouri Pacific Caboose #13895 is a "Short Bay Window Caboose" used in mainline service and was built in 1980.

1892 4-6-0 engine built by Cooke Locomotive Works.

Waco Beaumont Trinity & Sabine Engine #1 built in 1920 and Engine 555 built in 1992 used to haul copper ore and mine supplies in AZ.

The Santa Fe is equipment with F-7 Warbonnet locomotives #315 and #316. It provides rides approximately every 20 minutes between 11 am and 2 pm on Saturdays. There is an engine in the front and the rear of the train.

What a pleasant surprise this museum was. We enjoyed it so much more than I expected. I always think about my grandfather born in 1900 who worked for Reading Railroad in Pennsylvania for 40+ years. He took us on tours of the rail yards when I was a small child in the 1950s. He would have loved this place!

Admission is $8/adults and $6/seniors. The Saturday train rides are an additional $4/per. Check out their website for additional information.

Website: www.galvestonrrmuseum.com