Tag Archives: railroad industry

The Galesburg Railroad Museum

Galesburg Railroad Days

If you are planning to visit Galesburg, make sure to spend some time at the famous Galesburg Railroad Museum. It is located at 211 South Seminary Street. It is on the north side of Galesburg station.

The lot where the museum is standing is a donated lot. The men of the Galesburg railroad worked in adding ballast and rail on the said lot. Koppers Corporation provided timber while the B&B railroad employees built the ramp and entrance. When an employee or the company a has valuable railroad artifact, they bring it to the museum to be displayed.

How Did Galesburg Museum Start?

 

Galesburg museum started in the early part of 1970. It became a part of the Galesburg Railroad Days that started in 1974. It started by employees and railroad workers who taught of donating their railroad memorabilia and treasures and putting it on display. It was first shown to the public in 1974 by Burlington Northern to thank the community for their continued support of railroad transportation.

What Can You Find at the Galesburg Museum?

 

At the museum, you can find different railroad items that will surely impress you. They have rare collections that you can only find in this museum.

One amazing item that you can find is a historical Pullman car called Meath. It was donated by Burlington Northern in 1981 to the museum.

CB&Q also donated a steam locomotive engine #3006. It was one of the oldest steam locomotive engines surviving today.

In 1984, Burlington Northern again donated another awesome item – the CB&Q Waycar 13501.
In 1988, the RPO and Baggage-Express car was purchased by the Railway Post Office employees from national Railroad Museum in Green Bay (WI).

Galesburg Railroad Museum Tour

 

Since its establishment, the Galesburg Railroad Museum has been offering tours to locals and visitors of Galesburg. The tour always began at the Burlington Northern station where people are often in a line, waiting for their turn.

According to data provided by the museum, at least 15000 people are visiting the museum annually. These are from the 45 states of the US and at least from 10 different countries.
In 2004, from donations and earnings from the tours, the museum was able to build a new building and opened its doors on December 7 of the said year. It was also the 150th anniversary of CB&Q’s first train run in Galesburg.

 

The People Behind Galesburg Railroad Museum

 

Galesburg Railroad Museum is currently run by its 16 directors. This consists of volunteers, railroad workers, and non-railroad employees. They also accept donations to further fund the operation of the museum, including maintenance and repairs as needed.

The museum is currently operational on a building that is handicapped-friendly, with clean restrooms, a quiet and peaceful living room, different railroad images, artifacts and related displays, and a souvenir shop.

The museum is a nonprofit organization and the directors aim to preserve this part of Galesburg’s history for the future generation to enjoy. The directors and workers are pure of volunteer work and are not receiving any compensation in helping to maintain the museum.

Future of Railroads in America

Railroads in America

Railroads in America: In today’s world, everyone moves fast. People fly to get to their destination in an hour. People travel miles without spending days and nights on a bus making overnight train rides seem obsolete. Still, the railroad industry is trying to survive by introducing two ideas – bullet trains and passenger trains tours.

Bullet Trains

Bullet trains can go as fast as 267 miles per hour. In the US though, bullet trains are still in conception. To date, the fastest US train is Amtrak’s Acela that can get you to Boston from New York in 75 minutes. This is a 190-mile ride.

Despite the potential advantage of bullet trains, an environmentalist is looking at the potentially harmful effect of running it. A study in the US, led by Noel Perry of Transport Futures explains that one reason why the US is in the dilemma of building bullet trains is because of gas emission. Using highly powered locomotive like bullet trains can produce extensive gas emission.
In addition, the study says that US cities are not too dense. Having bullet trains that can run hundreds of miles is not a practical idea unlike in European countries.

Passenger Train Travels and Tours

Another future of railroads in the US that is of possibility is the continuation of train operations that offers tours. These are trains that run on scenic railroads and of shorter distance – like 4-8 hours on a round trip.

With the increasing congestion in the air, people are now opting to use the train instead of flying. When there is a shorter route such as Miami to Palm Beach, people seem to prefer using the train than booking a flight. The increase in the number of people using a train for their shorter rides have inspired other training companies to start running in new routes.

Virgin Trains announced that it might start running trains from California to Las Vegas while Amtrak is planning to start running passengers from Washington DC to Boston. Although the train industry is still suffering from a deficit from the previous years, the recent number of passengers using their services is enough to encourage those in the railroad industry to continue improving their service.

 

What Can Help Trains to Survive?

One of the things that can help the train industry to survive is the use of technology in reducing its negative impact on the environment. The industry must start searching for a locomotive technology that will allow trains to run safely and environmentally friendly while maintaining reliability.

If the train industry wants to survive today and, in the future, they must continue to develop important and practical technologies. Riding a train is something that everyone dreams of.

Who wouldn’t want to ride a train right? This fact alone means that the train industry wouldn’t disappear anytime soon. The train industry just needs to take advantage of automation and promote wider use of trains aside from transporting people. It can be used to transport goods and other things as well that needs to be moved!