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![]() The Victor McCormick Train Pavilion (left) and Frederick J Lenfestey Center (right) at the National Railroad Museum. | |
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Established | 1956 |
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Location | Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin |
Coordinates | 44°28′59.9″N 88°02′52.8″W / 44.483306°N 88.048000°W |
Type | Railway museum |
CEO | Jacqueline Frank[1] |
Website | nationalrrmuseum |
The National Railroad Museum (reporting mark NRMX)[2] 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[3] 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.[4][5]
Its collection of locomotives and rolling stock spans more than a century of railroading. Notable items include an Aerotrain; Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4017, one of the world's largest steam locomotives; and British Railways Class A4 No. 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower (ex-London & North Eastern Railway No. 4496 Golden Shuttle) and train used by the Supreme Allied Commander and his staff in the United Kingdom and continental Europe during World War II.[6]
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.
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. 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.[7]