Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati

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The Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati is a railroad museum in Covington, Kentucky.

Contents

Collection

The museum owns and maintains a collection of 80 historic railroad equipment located on a 4-acre (16,000 m2) site. [1]

The museum was founded in 1975 when a club of local railroad enthusiasts decided to run passenger cars on Amtrak trains. Several local members purchased cars for this goal. In the late 1980s, Amtrak tightened its restrictions on passenger cars, making it too expensive for most private citizens to keep them up.

Though the Amtrak excursions ended, the cars remained as the core of the present collection. [2] At that point the goal of the museum changed and now focuses on the preservation of the equipment. Tom Holley, former chairman of the board, stated "Now the primary purpose of the museum is the collection of the equipment that belonged to the seven railroads then entered Cincinnati."

Pennsylvania Railroad E8 locomotive #5888 has been undergoing restoration for the past few years. A "theatrical" baggage car (the Juliet , one of 47 built by the Pennsy between 1917 and 1922) sits on the track beside the locomotive and will serve as a mobile staging area for the renovation. The museum also has a large collection of Pullman-Standard cars including the Metropolitan View built in 1938 for the PRR's Broadway Limited , and a BM70nb railway post office (PRR #6518) modernized for the same train. [3]

Some of the other equipment includes former PRR #9408, an EMD SW1 switcher, [4] a preserved Dinky, Brookville BMD 15-ton switcher, [5] former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad modern lightweight coach the La Paz , a preserved troop sleeper, an early Southern Railway business car, and former RI #428 ( El Comedor ) dining car. [6]

The museum is located at 315 Southern Avenue in the Latonia area of Covington. [7]

Rolling stock

Diesel locomotives
ImageOperatorRoad NumberClassModelDateNotes
EMD E8.jpg Pennsylvania Railroad 5888EP-22 EMD E8 1951Undergoing restoration
EMD SW1.jpg Pennsylvania Railroad 9408ES-6 EMD SW1 1950
Passenger cars
ImageOperatorRoad NumberClassTypeManufacturerDateNotes
Pennsylvania Railroad 6518BM70nb Railway Post Office PRR1912Fully equipped with sorting racks
cancellation tables, parcel bins
Pennsylvania Railroad 6062 Juliet B70A Baggage car PRR1928Used for the transportation of Theatrical scenery
Pullman Company
Pennsylvania Railroad
Waltersburg Plan 3410A12-1 sleeping car Pullman1924
Pullman Company
Pennsylvania Railroad
Cascade GardensPlan 4072B10-5 sleeping car Pullman-Standard1939
Pullman Company
Pennsylvania Railroad
Cascade HeightsPlan 4072C10-5 sleeping car Pullman-Standard1940
Pullman Company
Pennsylvania Railroad
Metropolitan View Plan 4080A1-2 sleeper buffet-lounge-observation carPullman-Standard1938
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 5503 La Paz Coach Pullman-Standard 1949Built for B&O streamliner The Columbian
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 3315 ChicagoTavern-Lounge-Observation car Pullman-Standard 1949Built for B&O streamliner The Columbian

References

  1. Felix Winternitz & Sacha DeVroomen Bellman (2007). Insiders' Guide to Cincinnati. Globe Pequot. p. 146. ISBN   9780762741809 . Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  2. Eigelbach, Kevin (March 19, 2002). "All aboard". The Cincinnati Post . E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004.
  3. "A PRR Home Page: Railfanning: Passenger Cars". Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2006.
  4. "Preserved Diesels". www.ole.net. Archived from the original on February 25, 2006.
  5. "Preserved Critters Dinkys & Centercabs".
  6. Day, Teresa (January 30, 2005). Fun With the Family Kentucky: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids. Globe Pequot. p. 61. ISBN   9780762734900 . Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  7. "Cincinnati Railway Museum" . Retrieved March 22, 2014.

39°02′53″N84°30′29″W / 39.048069°N 84.508166°W / 39.048069; -84.508166