Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati
The Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati owns and maintains a large collection of historic railroad equipment located on a four-acre site in Covington, Kentucky.
The collection of over 80 pieces of historic equipment began in 1975 when a club of local railroad enthusiasts decided to run passenger cars on Amtrak trains. Several local members purchased cars for this goal. In the late 1980s, Amtrak tightened its restrictions on passenger cars, making it too expensive for most private citizens to keep them up. Though the Amtrak excursions ended, the cars remained as the core of the present collection. [1] As that point the goal of the Museum changed and now focuses on the preservation of the equipment. Tom Holley, former Chairman of the Board, stated "Now the primary purpose of the Museum is the collection of the equipment that belonged to the seven railroads then entered Cincinnati".
Pennsylvania Railroad E-8 locomotive #5858 has been undergoing restoration for the past few years. A "theatrical" baggage car (the Juliet, one of 47 built by the Pennsy between 1917 and 1922) sits on the track beside the locomotive and will serve as a mobile staging area for the renovation. The Museum also has a large collection of Pullman-Standard cars including the Metropolitan View built in 1938 for the PRR's Broadway Limited, and a BM70nb railway post office (PRR #6518) modernized for the same train. [2]
Some of the other equipment includes former PRR #9408, an EMD SW1 switcher [3], a preserved Dinky, Brookville BMD 15-ton switcher [4], former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad modern lightweight coach the La Paz, a preserved troop sleeper, an early Southern Railway business car, and former RI #428 (El Comedor) dining car.
The collection is open every Wednesday and Saturday. The Museum is located at 315 Southern Avenue in the Latonia area of Covington.
