Colfax Railroad Museum facts for kids
The Colfax Railroad Museum is a fun place in Colfax, Wisconsin. It's a museum all about trains! You can explore old train cars, learn about how trains worked, and see many cool items from railroad history.
What You Can See
The museum has a great collection of equipment from railroads that used to operate in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Imagine seeing a real Soo Line caboose (that's the car at the very end of a freight train) or a passenger coach! They even have a big diesel locomotive called Soo Line number 703.
Inside the old train station building, you'll find even more treasures. There's a huge collection of old railroad lanterns, which train workers used to signal. You can also see beautiful railroad china that was used in dining cars. Plus, the museum has the biggest collection of railroad paperweights in the whole country! The exhibits show how people used to interact with trains every day and how train technology changed over time.
Train Engines
The museum has different types of train engines, called locomotives.
- Steam Locomotives: They have a steam engine named Coronet Phosphate #5. It's a 2-6-2ST 'Prairie' type, built way back in 1911. It's now on display for everyone to see.
- Diesel Locomotives: You can also see a powerful diesel engine, Soo Line #703. This EMD GP30 was built in 1963 and is also on static display.
Train Cars
Besides the engines, the museum has many different train cars:
- Passenger Cars: These are the cars where people used to ride. You can see a coach from the Northern Pacific and another from the Soo Line. There's even an old Railroad Post Office car from the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha line, where mail was sorted on the go!
- Freight Cars: These cars carried goods. The museum has a Soo Line boxcar, number 36400.
- Cabooses: These are the small cars at the end of freight trains, where the crew used to ride. The museum has several, including one from the Milwaukee Road and two from the Soo Line.
Other Equipment
The museum also has special equipment used to maintain the tracks, like a Canadian National Speeder, which is a small vehicle used by railroad workers.
Museum History
The museum is located in a very old train station building. This building was the third train depot built in Colfax! It was constructed between 1914 and 1915 using sandstone from a nearby quarry. It was built right on the foundation of the second depot, which had been moved away earlier.
In 1958, a big storm with tornadoes hit western Wisconsin. One of these tornadoes damaged the freighthouse, which was attached to the depot. The wall of the women's waiting room had to be rebuilt, but the freighthouse was never fully restored.
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