Fall Amtrak Vacation Trip 2005: |
A Visit To The National New York Central Museum |
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 |
I woke up and waited for my friend to pick me up, I grabbed some breakfast at the nearby McDonald’s, and afterwards, we headed to the National New York Central Museum in Elkhart. This place is a must-see if you're a New York Central Fan, below are photos taken of the various exhibits they have on display, enjoy... |
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New York Central Class L3-A 4-8-2 Mohawk #3001 is the museum's flagship piece of equipment and it's front headlight is always lit. |
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New York Central Class DPA-5E EMD E8 #4085 also on display. The cab on this unit is open and available for inspection by all who visit the museum. |
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Pennsylvania RR GG-1 #4882 also makes it's home at the museum. According to the museum, this was built in 1939 and the last operating GG-1 having been retired in 1983. |
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Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Car #15, on loan to the museum. |
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New York Central Baggage/RPO Car originally built for the Michigan Central Railway. |
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New York Central Bay Window Caboose #21084, currently being restored by museum volunteers, now in full New York Central Paint! |
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Another New York Central Bay Window Caboose, #21230 currently being restored. |
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Indiana Harbor Belt Caboose #75. This caboose was originally built by the Santa Fe Railway. |
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This New York Central Coach houses several museum exhibits. It was originally built for the Illinois Central. |
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Another former Illinois Central coach that houses more museum exhibits. |
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This Observation Car was vacant on the inside at the time of my visit however it was available for lease to be used possibly as a restaurant. The car was built originally for the Rock Island and now bears the name "City Of Elkhart". |
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An interior view of "City Of Elkhart", very nice!!! |
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New York Central 150 Ton Crane, originally worked in Harmon, NY, north of New York City. |
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A wooden New York Central caboose built in 1915 that sits in front of the museum. |
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This tool shed was originally located in the town of Osceola, about 5 miles from the museum. |
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Me standing next to the big Mohawk, for scale, those drivers are enormous! |
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Probably the one and only time I'll ever get a chance to "operate" an E8! |
This museum has a lot more to see inside its main buildings including tons of New York Central memorabilia, everything from rule books to china used on the 20th Century Limited! The museum also features a nice gift shop as well. You'll also find a very nice O Gauge Train Layout to check out as well. After leaving the museum, my friend and I grabbed lunch at a local Chicken Wing place called Wings Etc, the wings were decent, very hot but not the hottest I’ve ever eaten. After leaving there, I went to Best Buy to get a Satellite Radio Receiver for my car and we then did some railfanning in nearby Nappanee, IN though it was primarily after sunset so I don’t have any photos. After spending a couple hours in Nappanee, we drove back to Elkhart, I grabbed some dinner at a nearby Taco Bell (yuck!, I miss Mighty Taco back home!) and retreated to my hotel room for the night and played some Tetris on my laptop before falling asleep. And so ends today. |
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