The National New York Central Railroad Museum

For the first big road trip of 2015, I knew I was planning to go to Cedar Point for Opening Day as I do every year. I would be in town for both Media Day as well as Opening Day but would still have some time before those events to get in some railfanning. I decided that I hadn't been to the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, IN in almost 10 years and Elkhart, IN was only 189 miles by car from Sandusky (by railroad, it's only about 180 miles of course that includes a 68 mile stretch west of Toledo all the way to Indiana with NO CURVES)!
On May 6th, 2015, I made the drive from home in suburban Buffalo to Sandusky, OH and would stay at the Fairfield Inn By Marriott in Sandusky (my normal hotel for these trips). The following morning, I would hop back in the Honda and make the drive to Elkhart. I was able to use my EZ-Pass from the New York State Thruway both on the Ohio Turnpike as well as the Indiana Toll Road so I didn't have to worry about carrying around a bunch of change for the toll booths! This trip would set a personal record for me being the longest distance traveled from home in my own car, a record I set last year driving to Waterloo, IN! Maybe one day, I'll drive to Chicago, who knows!!! Included here is a collection of photos taken from this one-of-a-kind museum celebrating my favorite fallen flag, the New York Central! Enjoy...

The signature piece of equipment at this wonderful museum would have to be New York Central Class L-3a 4-8-2 "Mohawk" Steam Locomotive #3001.
A product of the American Locomotive Works, this is one of the only surviving New York Central steamers in existence and one of only two in this wheel
arrangement (the other is in St. Louis, MO). The headlight is always lit up and this engine is sporting a fresh coat of paint. Like a lot of New York Central
steam locomotives, #3001 has smoke deflectors on the head-end.

New York Central EMD E-8A #4085 is on display at the museum. This engine has the distinction of being the lead engine on the very last
20th Century Limited to leave Chicago for New York in December 1967.

Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 #4882 is also on display here. This was the last operating GG-1 having been retired in 1983 but did not
operate on Amtrak as several GG-1's did, this one finished its career on New Jersey Transit.

An engineer's view out the cab from inside E-8A #4085 looking at the #3001, the GG-1 and other pieces of equipment on display.

Looking at the front of E-8A #4085 from the opposite angle of the above photo which was taken from its cab!

Conrail Class N-21 Bay Window Caboose #21230 was built new for Conrail in 1978. It's lettered "Selkirk Wrecker" having worked its final days
as part of a Wreck Train in Selkirk Yard in upstate New York. Conrail donated the caboose to the museum in 1997.

New York Central Bay Window Caboose #21084. Built in 1963, this caboose survived into Conrail, having kept its NYC number
and designated as a Class N7B caboose by Conrail.

A myriad of cabooses! NYC #21084 is seen in the left, with former Indiana Harbor Belt #75 in the center and Conrail Transfer Caboose #18136.

Conrail Class N6A Transfer Caboose #18136. A former New York Central product sports a fresh coat of paint.

New York Central 250 Ton Crane #X-13. Built in 1946 by the Industrial Brownhoist Company, it was based in Selkirk, NY and donated by Conrail in 1997.

New York Central Standard Wooden Caboose #19211, built circa 1910.

This mile marker is near and dear to me as the "B" means Buffalo, my hometown! 437 miles from Buffalo would put this marker somewhere
just east of South Bend, IN which is not far west of here.

These two coaches feature lots of displays inside and are of Illinois Central heritage but painted for New York Central.

This Observation Car is lettered "City Of Elkhart" and is of Rock Island heritage. The interior of this car is set up for dining service.
This photo is also proof I drove the Honda this far from Buffalo!

Located conveniently across the tracks from the museum is the 1900-built former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
passenger station which today is Amtrak's station in Elkhart and is owned and maintained by the museum.

A view of the station looking west. You can board Amtrak's Chicago-Washington, DC's "Capitol Limited" and/or the Chicago-New York/Boston
"Lake Shore Limited" from this station. Tickets are not sold here but the station does have an enclosed waiting room.

Now looking east, the signal bridge to the far right of the photo is the signal for the NS Kalamazoo Branch off the Chicago Line.

And one final view of this beautiful station from Tyler Street in Elkhart. Now I'm off to Cedar Point!!!

Believe me when I tell you, what you've seen here BARELY scratches the surface in terms of what this museum has to offer! I highly recommend a trip to this place, whether you get here by rail and stay at one of the many hotels available near the station or drive here. This museum has everything the New York Central fan could want and lots more!!! Special thanks goes to the museum for some of the historical information used to identify the photos you saw here. Included below is a link to the official web site for this museum which is run by the City of Elkhart. After that, let's head back to Sandusky, as there's a newly redone roller coaster at Cedar Point I just have to ride!!!