Coming from Golden Spike Park, it took me a few minutes to find the museum but I did and parked a block away then fed the parking meter.
The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is located in downtown Council Bluffs, in this beautiful and unique Beaux Arts-style building that formerly housed the Council Bluffs Carnegie Free Public Library. At the turn of the 20th century, a group of Council Bluffs men and women dedicated to establishing the City's first free public library, were able to do so with a bequest from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The library opened to the public on August 15, 1905.
As the 21st century approached, the library moved into a new facility, and the challenge went out to raise funds to restore the Carnegie building and establish a home for Union Pacific's Historical Collection. In an unusual partnership of local government, private business and concerned citizens, the City, the Friends of the Carnegie Cultural Museum and Union Pacific joined forces to create the Union Pacific Railroad Museum. A unique arrangement was established where the City leases the building to Union Pacific and Union Pacific pays the museum's general operating (building-related) expenses. The Friends of the Museum raised the original construction and renovation funds, and currently supplies museum volunteers, and finances the maintenance of, and upgrades to, the museum's extensive exhibits.
The Union Pacific Railroad Museum was formally opened on May 10, 2003, the one hundred thirty-fourth anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The restoration of the historic Carnegie Library and the development of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum created a tourist destination in the heart of the Council Bluffs historic district and preserves an important part of the city's rich heritage. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum complements other local rail attractions, including the Historic General Dodge House, the RailsWest Museum, the Golden Spike monument, the Durham Museum, and it expands on the story of pioneer migration depicted at the Western Historic Trails Center. Together, these attractions make Council Bluffs and Omaha a destination attraction for railroad fans and history lovers from across the country and throughout the world.
The sign in front. One walks downstairs into the Union Pacific Museum which is free but donations are accepted, which I did. One signs your name and where you are from then one takes the elevator or stairs to reach the two floors of exhibits.
This tail-end car mockup greets visitors at the second floor of exhibits.
Bison and the Native Americans.
Railroad Surveyor Camp.
The Transcontinental Railroad is born.
Linking east and west.
The Transcontinental Railroad.
Union Pacific 119.
Central Pacific "Jupiter".
The great moment in Railroad History May 10, 1869.
Standard Time.
Wanted: Farmers.
Neat artwork.
Fire hose.
Law and Order.
Growth and development.
A typical station office.
Scales.
The Big Boy.
The Power to Pull.
Freight car wheels.
Comprehensive displays are throughout this fantastic museum.
Models of Union Pacific locomotives.
Couplers and Brakes.
Cabooses and Engine Terminals.
A set of couplers.
Rails, Ties and Bridges - Keeping It In The Groove.
Model of Union Pacific McKeen Motor Car 13.
McKeen's Motorized Dream.
The Power to Pull.
Union Pacific Transfer Hotels.
Union Pacific timetables and information folders.
Union Pacific Time of Trains.
Take a Trip through Time
How Museums Tell Our Story.
Union Pacific - Road of the Streamliners and the Challengers
Sun Valley.
National Parks served by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Sun Valley.
The Traveling Public Amtrak.
Hurrah for Hollywood.
Golden Spike to Silver Screen.
The Nation's Bedroom.
Opportunity but not Equality.
The Original Iron Chefs.
Rolling Restaurants.
Union Pacific Dining Car.
Dining car china.
Dining car menus.
Union Pacific City of Los Angeles materials.
Union Pacific issued uniforms.
Union Pacific dining car cutlery and crockery.
Union Pacific dining china.
Coach Class.
A Union Pacific lounge car.
A Union Pacific coach.
UP M10000 and A Little Zip.
Changing of the Guard.
The Streamliners.
Union Pacific The Streamliner.
Take a seat and decide for yourself.
Travel UP.
See the West Travel UP.
All the train's employees.
Take A Trip Through Time.
The Road To The Future Isn't A Road At All.
Working on the Railroad.
Build the Track.
Test the Track.
Make The Trip Plan.
Power The Train.
How Does It Work?
The Yard.
Build the Train.
Train Symbols.
Dispatching The Train.
A set of locomotive horns.
Take a Ride in a locomotive simulator, which gave me the quickest trip I had ever had through the Moffat Tunnel, all in three seconds and I was at Winter Park. I thanked the hosts for an excellent visit to the Union Pacific Museum then went to dinner and returned to my hotel.
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