National Railroad Museum

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is one of the largest and most significant railroad museums in the United States, housing a premier collection of over 40 historic locomotives and cars spanning the full arc of American railroad history from the 1850s through the modern era. Designated as a national museum by an act of Congress in 1964, the museum’s remarkable collection includes the world’s largest steam locomotive — the Union Pacific Big Boy 4017, a 1.25 million-pound behemoth that hauled freight over the Wasatch Mountains during World War II — and General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal command train from the Second World War. Visitors can walk through restored passenger cars and climb aboard historic locomotives, experiencing the scale and power of steam-era railroading up close. A 1.5-mile narrated train ride through the museum grounds runs daily during the operating season aboard a vintage diesel locomotive. The museum’s exhibits trace the social, economic, and technological history of railroading in America with interpretive galleries covering the transcontinental railroad, immigrant experience, the role of women and minorities in rail history, and the transition from steam to diesel power. An outdoor display area allows visitors to inspect dozens of restored pieces of historic rolling stock at close range. The museum also hosts a popular annual Pumpkin Patch Train event.