Danbury Railway Museum

The Danbury Railway Museum is a non-profit organization staffed solely by volunteers. The Museum, which is located in the historic station and rail yard in downtown Danbury, Connecticut, offers railroad history, tours, train rides, a collection of original and restored rolling stock, and opportunities for hands-on railroad work at "12 inches to the foot" scale.

Exhibits

The “Railyard Local”
The "Railyard Local" is a short train ride (in a restored New Haven Railroad Rail Diesel Car built by the Budd Company in 1953 or in a 1920's Reading Company commuter coach pulled by a vintage diesel locomotive) that will take visitors through the historic rail yard and past over 70 vintage railroad cars and locomotives, including a Boston & Maine steam locomotive built in 1907 and a restored 1910 Pennsylvania RR Railway Post Office car.

The train will stop at the old New Haven RR turntable, built circa 1914 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, where visitors will detrain and hear a discussion about the use and history of the only power-operated turntable in Connecticut, currently undergoing a major restoration. Visitors will also visit the steam-era water tank pump house and hear how it was used.

Tonawanda Valley - Travel in Luxury
While at the turntable area, guests will have an opportunity to visit the crown jewel of the museum's collection: the Pullman passenger coach Tonawanda Valley. This car, built in 1928, was the rear-end observation car on the famous New York Central train, the 20th Century Limited. See how the rich and famous traveled by rail from New York to Chicago in this meticulously-restored piece of American railroading history.

The fascinating exhibits inside the restored 1903 Danbury station will be open, along with a fully-stocked gift shop. Current exhibits include Railroads in Film, an introduction to Morse Code and Morse Code Challenge, Dining in Style, and many other artifacts of railroading. The model train layouts inside will also be operating, along with a display of vintage model railroad trains.

The little ones will enjoy a "Hunt for Owney" scavenger hunt.

Participation in Museum Day is open to any tax-exempt or governmental museum or cultural venue on a voluntary basis. Smithsonian magazine encourages museum visitation, but is not responsible for and does not endorse the content of the participating museums and cultural venues, and does not subsidize museums that participate.