RailsWest Railroad Museum is a railroad museum operated by the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County at 16th Avenue and South Main Street and illustrates the history of railroads in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

History

The museum is housed inside a

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

passenger depot that was also used by the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

. The depot is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Passenger Depot and also has been known as just Rock Island Depot. with The depot opened in 1899 and would become a daily stop for the ''

Rocky Mountain Rocket The ''Rocky Mountain Rocket'' was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Denver's Union Station and Colorado Springs ...

'', ''

Midwest Hiawatha The ''Midwest Hiawatha'' was a passenger train on the Milwaukee Road, one of many Milwaukee Road trains with a ''Hiawatha'' name. The service began December 11, 1940 between Chicago's Union Station and Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux Falls, South Dakota ...

'', the '' Arrow'', and ''Corn Belt Rocket'' before the end of passenger service in 1971.CTR Trains "Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak" http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf Similar Rock Island passenger depots were also constructed in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

and

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Ri ...

Museum

RailsWest includes historical exhibits on the eight railroads that served the community along with displays on the

Railway Mail Service The Railway Mail Service of the United States Post Office Department was a significant mail transportation service in the US from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century. The RMS, or its successor the Postal Transportation Service (PTS), ...

and an extensive

HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. NMRA"Mo ...

model railroad. Adjacent to the historic depot are

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

locomotive 814 and

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

locomotive 915,

and

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in railway switch, switching and Shunting (rail), shunting, keeping a l ...

s, a 1953 switch engine built by the

Plymouth Locomotive Works Plymouth Locomotive Works was a US builder of small railroad locomotives. All Plymouth locomotives were built in a plant in Plymouth, Ohio until 1997 when the company was purchased by Ohio Locomotive Crane and production moved to Bucyrus, Ohio ...

, the

Omaha lounge car, a

boxcar A boxcar is the North American ( AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most ...

, and

Railway Post Office In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...

car 5908. RailsWest is adjacent to tracks of the

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

, and

Iowa Interstate Railroad The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History The railroad was formed on November 2, 1984, u ...

with a fenced-in area for railfanning. File:UP 814 front.JPG , Union Pacific 814 File:UP 814 side.JPG, Union Pacific 814 side view File:Burlington 915.JPG, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 915

References

External links

The RailsWest website

The RailsWest Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Railswest Railroad Museum Railroad museums in Iowa Museums in Council Bluffs, Iowa Railway stations in the United States opened in 1899

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is loc ...

Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Pottawattamie County, Iowa Former railway stations in Iowa Transportation buildings and structures in Pottawattamie County, Iowa Railway stations closed in 1971