Oklahoma Railway Museum

About Oklahoma Railway Museum

The Oklahoma Railway Museum is a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit organization. It is self-funded through memberships, train fares, special events, donations, and grants for restoration projects. The growing membership, of approximately 210 members, has around 50 active members. Railroad operations are conducted under Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules, and the Museum is a member of the Heritage Rail Alliance, Frontier Country Tourism, and an associate member of the Adventure District of Oklahoma City.

Contents

• Freight car move at the oklahoma railway museum
• Train moved to oklahoma railway museum
• About Oklahoma Railway Museum
• Location
• History
• Operations
• Rolling stock
• Events
• References

The stated mission of the Oklahoma Railway Museum is to provide the opportunity for people to experience the excitement of rail transportation. The goals are as follows: build an Oklahoma rail transportation museum; provide an exciting, educational experience about rail transportation: our past, present, and future; provide an experience of preservation and restoration; operate a working railway system; link towns, people, and groups; promote tourism.

There has always been a certain fascination with railways in North America and the significant impact of those railways on our lives. There are many people who remember their first ride on a train or their first sighting of a railroad car. Others remember the steam engines billowing smoke and the sounds and smells of the station.

It is important to secure and preserve for posterity the disappearing artifacts, equipment, and structures of our railway heritage. The Oklahoma Railway Museum will preserve this history while teaching us how the railroads affected our lives. In addition to the physical preservation of the rail lines, equipment, and artifacts, the museum will tell the stories of the people whose lives were changed by the railroads. From those who rode the railroad to a new life in a raw new territory, to those who worked the rails, there are many memories to be preserved. Those stories must be captured while the people who lived them, can tell them.

Oklahoma’s location as a crossroads of the nation affected our history as a territory and later a state. By 1888 Oklahoma was crisscrossed with rail lines. The railroad was used during the land run of 1889 by pioneers who jumped off the train to stake their claim to land. Railroads brought settlers into the center of the country, and brought their agricultural goods back east. Transportation has always paralleled economic progress and the railroad has been called “the fundamental innovation of our time”.

At ORM’s incorporation and still today our goals are: to operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes. To preserve the memories and images of railroading through education by; holding educational programs emphasizing all aspects of railroading; establishing and maintaining a library to preserve and make available to the membership and the public any and all kinds of written, visual, and aural materials related to all aspects of railroading; establishing and maintaining a museum for the purpose of preserving and operating any and all types of railroad equipment and memorabilia for the enjoyment and education of the membership and the public; and establishing and maintaining any other activity in furtherance of this educational purpose. To foster stimulating group discussion and the exchange of knowledge concerning railroading by sponsoring tours, trips, and excursions, and by publishing a newsletter and other publications.

Location

The museum is located at 3400 Northeast Grand Boulevard in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is situated next to the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas mainline that went from Oklahoma City to Patrons, KS.

History

TheCentral Oklahoma Railman Club was founded in 1972 as the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). Chapter members discussed building a museum as a means of sharing with the public their interests in historic preservation and other railway related areas. The museum would also serve as a showcase for the railroad artifacts and equipment the group was collecting, as well as serve as a central archives space. A start was made when some rail equipment was displayed behind the Kirkpatrick Center until the Center needed the space for an expansion. This required the equipment to be moved from the site and stored on a leased siding at the Oklahoma City Schools Maintenance grounds. In 1987 the Chapter moved a portion of the equipment to Watonga, Oklahoma, and began running the Watonga Chief Dinner and passenger trains on the AT&L Railroad. At the time, this was the only operating passenger train in the state. Operations lasted until 1991, when costs began to exceed revenues. The Chapter's equipment was then stored at Watonga on the AT&L siding, as there was no way to access the Oklahoma City school siding again due to the connecting track had been removed.

Members of the Chapter helped staff the Home Coming Trains that the state operated from Tulsa to Altus in 1990. The Chapter also crewed the Union Pacific trains that operated in eastern Oklahoma from Coffeyville, Kansas, through Muskogee, McAlester, and Durant to Fort Worth in 1992.

After the 1992 trips, the Chapter looked for a way to raise money to help provide a permanent home. Again, an opportunity was offered by the Union Pacific in the fall of 1995 via excursions utilizing their E-9 Diesel locomotives and passenger car fleet with seating for over 1600. The Chapter set about organizing a very professionally crewed passenger train with corresponding marketing efforts. This time, over a snowy November 11 and 12, the Chapter sold out both the trip from Oklahoma City to Shawnee and the trip from Oklahoma City to Enid, as well as selling a good number of seats on the Oklahoma City to El Reno trips. As a result, the Chapter raised the seed money needed to purchase a museum site.

In the spring of 1997, the Chapter began working with the Center for Non-Profit Organizations to develop a business plan for the establishment of a railway museum. A five-year plan was developed and approved by the members in November, 1997. Also at this time, the Chapter began a partnership with the Central Oklahoma Parking and Transportation Authority (COPTA) for use of the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas line from NE 16th Street to NE 36st Street. In exchange for keeping the tracks clean and mowed, as well as uncovering the rails, the group could use the line as a demonstrations railroad. During the first year, volunteers donated over 890 hours to clean and restore the right of way which included the Oklahoma City school yard siding where the Chapter's equipment was stored. While this work underway, a piece of property was located along the line. The Chapter had approached the owners in 1997, but they did not want to sell at that time. They were again contacted in early 1999, and the owners told the Chapter they were now ready to sell. By July 1999, the Chapter at last had a permanent home for the museum. The seed money from the Union Pacific trips in 1995 financed the purchase along with help from about eight members who made small loans to the Chapter which were paid back in three years. This allowed the Museum to get started virtually debt free.

The property was secured with a fence, a parking lot was created, restrooms were built, and the master plan for the Museum began to develop. Members raised $50,000 to improve the site, purchase track materials, a 1905 depot, and to make plans to move the engines, freight, and passenger cars to the site. The Chapter at this time changed its name to the Oklahoma Railway Museum, Ltd., the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the NRHS (ORM).

Because the Museum had done so well with the COPTA lease, the Museum approached COPTA in early 2002 to renew the lease, adding an additional ½ mile right of way south to the Union Pacific live track and extending it to the north one mile from NE 36st Street to NE 50th Street, which was the end of the track. Once again, based on the professionalism of the members, COPTA agreed to the new lease with the additional right of way. This allowed the Museum to then clear and re-lay over 1600 feet of rail to tie the Museum track to live rail, resulting in a 3 mile long demonstration railroad. Over the Christmas-New Year’s holiday season in 2002, with the rail tied in, the AT&L Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad moved the stored equipment from Watonga to Oklahoma City and onto the Museum’s tracks.

Between 2000 and the present, the Museum has grown from one operating locomotive to three, with a fourth in the near future. The passenger car fleet and cabooses can handle over 350 passengers per train. A 7000 sq ft shop with two track bays was built, and a 1905 Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway Company Depot was restored in 2005. ORM is handling a growing number of passengers annually, from approximately 150 in 2003 to over 24,000 in 2014.

Operations

The museum operates 4 diesel locomotives and has a full assortment of railcars. They operate train rides every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, April through August including special events.

Rolling stock

The museum has 10 diesel and steam locomotive engines, 10 Passenger cars, numerous maintenance of way and freight equipment from many different roads.

Events

The Oklahoma Railway Museum host several events throughout the year. In addition to DAY OUT WITH THOMAS^™, they have a Halloween Train and Christmas Train. They have several venues to host birthday parties. Charter trains are also offered.