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10. Durand Union Station in Durand, Michigan

9. Southern Michigan Railroad Society in Clinton, Michigan

8. Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Dennison, Ohio

7. Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, Minnesota

6. Chatham Railroad Museum in Chatham, Illinois

5. Transport Museum of Saint Louis in Saint Louis, Missouri

4. Minnesota Transportation Museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota

3. Florence Depot in Omaha, Nebraska

2. National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin

...and the most popular railroading museum in the Midwestern USA is...

1. Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois

Durand # 10 LOL

These should be in everybodies top ten:

B&O Musuem in Baltimore, MD

Feather River in Portola, CA

Steamtown in PA

#1 of the places that I've been is National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart IN... that's about all I've been to except if you count SRI in Owosso, as that place is pretty interesting as well.

North Carolina Transportation Museum. While not exclusively a railroad museum, they have quite the collection. The Southern FP7 that was at TF09 as well as a sister E8 as well as a Southern GP30, ACL E3, N&W GP9 and other smaller diesels. Plus 2-8-0, 2-10-0 and 4-6-0 steamers from SAL, ACL and others.

I don't know how Hurricane Ike affected it, but Galvasten, TX has an interesting rail museum.
They have (or had?) an interesting interactive display where you could operate various signals.
Press one button, and a full size crossing signal flashes and rings, press another and a full size wig-wag operates.


Jeff

Wow, surprised Durand even made the top ten! I do have to say though, IRM is the best railroad muesum I have ever been to. Although, I have not been to a lot of them.

Yea, wonder where Henry Ford would have made it on the list. They do have a semi-good collection of RR articfacts

The 2nd floor libraries at Durand are a great place to spend an afteroon reading (cause there weren't any trains to watch

I think they should have had the list differentiated between "equipment" museums and "archive/document" museums - myself I'd rather be able to read the documentation that calls out why a railroad did or did not make certain decisions, or has freight car diagram books etc. available for purchase. The equipment side is a good segment to the history of railroading - but it is not the entire story.

Ummm... guys...

The guy who posted that list originally is pretty clear when he says that the list is is a compilation of the railroad museums mentioned the most often online and that happen to fall within a limited geographic area.

It doesn't address or rate any of the qualities of the museums that are mentioned. It's entirely a "here's what people have been talking about" list. Further, I'll say that the conclusion that he seems to draw, which is that a railway museum is popular because people are talking about it, is on shaky ground, at best. Just because people are talking about a museum doesn't necessarily mean that it's popular. A popular topic for online discussion, yes.

How many of the museums on that list have you never heard of? There were two on there that I didn't know existed, and I try to keep up on these things. And you'll notice that he didn't even mention the Steam Railroading Institute among the ones he left out, despite it having been one of the most talked-about places in 2009.

Top Ten most mentioned online-- maybe, depending on which sources he was considering. Top Ten Most Popular, in real terms, such as number of heads through the door or tickets sold, not at all. Top Ten in terms of exhibit variety or quality, absolutely not.

I have no dog in this fight-- I just think that it isn't worth placing a whole lot of value on that list. There are just too many problems with the definitions and the way it was put together.

Not mentioned in the list is the Mid-Continent Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin. There is lots of good Michigan equipment there including Copper Range 2-8-0 #29 and a totally restored combine #25 and coach #60. Also a Soo Line 4-6-0 and a LS&I 2-8-0 as well as cars from the DSS&A. Their web site is mcrwy.com.

Spooner, WI has a very nice museum and a fair amount of equipment parked on sidings. Was a very active railroading center at one time. Part of the Omaha "X" If you get to northwestern Wisconsin, it is worth a stop!

http://www.spoonerwi.com/railroadmuseum/index.htm

Railroad Memories Museum
Housed in the former Chicago & Northwestern Depot, the museum contains an outstanding collection of vintage railroading memorabilia from around the nation. It is staffed by volunteers, including the retired railroaders who lead guided tours through the old depot's 12 history-packed rooms. Open daily Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend 10 am to 5 pm.
Call 715-635-2752 or 715-635-3325.
424 N Front St, Spooner, Washburn County.

Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad:

http://www.spoonertrainride.com/Downloads/The_Story.pdf