Train Museums (All Types)

I will start off this thread with the world's largest HO train layout. It is in German but if they say, "A picture is worth 1000 words." then a video is worth 10,000 words, meaning that you don't need to know German to be amazed.

The Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg houses the largest model railway facility in the world. For many years, the historic warehouse on Kehrwieder 2 in the historic Speicherstadt has been home to one of Hamburg's biggest tourist attractions, which has already captivated millions of visitors.The 1499-square-meter plant area covers 15 kilometers of (*) miniature tracks on which around 1040 digitally controlled model trains run into the Swiss Alps. In 1:87 scale (nominal size HO - corresponds in reality about 1340 kilometers of track).

Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg in English

Looks fascinating Adelyn😁

The only train museum I have been to is the National Railway Museum in York in Yorkshire UK . It's really cool there and it was free to get in at one time. You could spend the whole day there if you looked at everything!They even have a Japanese Bullet train!

The only other one I can think of is The British Transport Museum in London, you have to pay to get in there. I only ever went once, but it's mainly buses and some nice underground trains😁

Thanks Adilyn , Hamburg is the words largest model railway , but the worlds largest layout (on one board) is in the Chicago museum of science and industry

Mr bobby , the York museum is still a free-be , also within 25 mile from me is Shildon museum (sister museum to York - part of the science museum group) , Shildon also free entry are doing big for the Stockton and Darlington 200 year anniversary

Darlington museum at North Road station now called Hopetown museum has lots of Stockton Darlington railway exhibits but it is pay entry .

Oh that's cool that it's still free to visit in York. I did see a documentary at the York museum about how they bought the Bullet train from Japan to the UK, it was quite interesting.

I often wonder if they will ever finish HS2 in the UK and what the trains may look like. I personally think it was a waste of money, as you could probably fly cheaper to what the ticket prices would be for businessmen if they ever use it. They could of just given the Northern Cities money to spend on the infrastructure of their Railways.

Anyway sorry, changing the Thread a little😁

Not to worry. You didn't change this thread at all. This thread is about ALL train museums whether model trains or the big stuff.

Bobby the HS2 might get finished one day 😁

But some years ago when they was doing the channel tunnel , Metropolitan Cammel built some new coaching stock to special order , but the powers that be said they where not suitable, so they was to be scrapped , so in steps Canadian Pacific railway and buys the lot - they are still in use to date running between Halifax (Nova Scocia) , Quebec and Montreal .

Carly xxx

Hamburg - absolutely fantastic but the gift shop was disappointing!

All we need now is Ringo to do the voices ;)

O’ dear , I would have thought it would have been a well stocked model railway shop

Carly xxx

Here on Vancouver Island we have many small railroad museums and one large one. The large one is The BC Forest Discovery centre.
It started with a personal collection of old logging Locomotives and a small network of track. Eventually with government funding, it grew into a rather large indoor and outdoor Museum.
Joe Bin visited it in the early 70s when it was still privately owned, but is still planning to go again to see how much it has grown since then.
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g154929-d185728-Reviews-B_C_Forest_Discovery_Centre-Duncan_Cowichan_Valley_Regional_District_Vancouver_Isl.html

No, just coffee mugs and kids' stuff!

We have quite a good Model railway shop down our way in Ford, near Arundel in Sussex, theres an open prison there too. The Engine Shed ( gaugemaster ) right near the station. I went in there once while I was waiting for a train.

Probably too far for you railway enthusiasts to come though

Thanks Bobby , Guagemaster do the controllers they are top range as they come with lifetime warranty and they have a good reputation for keeping their word , if it’s no repairable they will send you a new equipment of the newer model . As well as a train shop they also do a lot of importing off continental , American and Far Eastern model railway products . Most UK model railway magazines carry their add’s .

A Day at IRM
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in Union, Illinois, is the largest railway museum in the United States, spanning over 100 acres with nearly 5 miles (8 km) of operable track. Its vast collection includes over 450 pieces of equipment, such as over 100 locomotives, more than 100 passenger cars, 150+ freight cars, and extensive maintenance-of-way (MOW) equipment. IRM offers regular train rides and showcases everything from steam and diesel locomotives to electric streetcars, preserving the full scope of American railroading history.

Today we took Maisie to IRM and posed in front of BN-1...

• Built in February 1954 by EMD as Northern Pacific #6700A, an F‑9A passenger/freight road locomotive.
• Following the 1970 merger that formed Burlington Northern (BN), it was renumbered BN #9800, and after Amtrak took over passenger service, shifted to freight use and renumbered #766.

• In 1981, it was retired and repurposed as a rotary snow plow power unit, designated #972567, providing power for snow-clearing operations.

• In September 1990, BN’s West Burlington Shops rebuilt it into a modernized F9‑2 specification, upgrading its engine to a 2,000-hp 16‑645CE prime mover.
• The unit was then redesignated BN‑1 and painted in BN’s “Executive” scheme—cream, green, and red—matching its sister units BN‑2 and BN‑3 and aligning with BN’s corporate business car service in the early 1990s.

• Paired with BN‑2 (a similarly rebuilt F9B booster) and BN‑3 (an E9A), BN‑1 pulled executive passenger trains for BN in the 1990s, making it part of a small, symbolic “executive fleet”.
• The paint scheme was noteworthy—a distinctive departure from BN’s standard Cascade Green livery—and reflected BN President Gerald Grinstein’s personal initiative. Rather than applying to mainstream freight power, this livery was reserved for special business service, and even new SD70MACs adopted the scheme later on.

• After the 1996 merger with Santa Fe to form BNSF, BN‑1 was retired and in 1997 donated to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. It remains unrestored but operational, part of the museum’s internal combustion roster.
  
  NoFa / NoAI
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Talking about trains, I'd love to try a trip on the Orient ExpressOr the Rockies Mountineer train through Canada, but I do have a fear of heights

Gaugemaster - they know how to charge!

I travelled on the Simplon Orient Express between St.Donna and Trieste (about 70 miles) in 1976. The train had lost its glamour but it was the Simplon Orient!

The nice thing about trains is that they're always at ground level.

That sounds like an awesome train museum

Joe has always wanted to travel by train across Canada but it is way too expensive for his income level.

Until they go over very high bridges or start to climb the Rockies😁

Yeah I imagine its luxury travel at luxury prices too. Well I have a nice 5 hour train journey coming up soon. That should be fun!😊

I used to like the old slam door trains, before the automatic doors, you used to get crazy folk running and trying to open the doors when the train was starting to move😯