- RailsWest Railroad Museum
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Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot
Location: 1512 S. Main St., Council Bluffs, Iowa Coordinates: 41°14′49″N 95°51′8″W / 41.24694°N 95.85222°WCoordinates: 41°14′49″N 95°51′8″W / 41.24694°N 95.85222°W Area: less than one acre Built: 1899 Architect: Chief Engineer, CRI & PRR; Volk, John, & Co. Architectural style: Romanesque Governing body: Local NRHP Reference#: 95000856[1] Added to NRHP: July 21, 1995 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.
Contents
History
The museum is housed inside an Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad passenger depot that was also used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific. The depot opened in 1899 and would become a daily stop for the Rocky Mountain Rocket, Midwest Hiawatha, the Arrow, and Corn Belt Rocket before the end of passenger service in 1970. Similar Rock Island passenger depots were also constructed in Iowa City, Iowa and Ottawa, Illinois.
Museum
RailsWest includes historical exhibits on the eight railroads that served the community along with displays on the Railway Mail Service and an extensive HO scale model railroad. Adjacent to the historic depot are Union Pacific locomotive 814 and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy locomotive 915, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy cabooses, a 1953 switch engine built by the Plymouth Locomotive Works, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Omaha lounge car, a Union Pacific boxcar, and Union Pacific Railway Post Office car 5908. RailsWest is adjacent to tracks of the Union Pacific, BNSF, and Iowa Interstate Railroad with a fenced-in area for railfanning.
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Union Pacific 814
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Union Pacific 814 side view
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Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 915
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
External links
U.S. National Register of Historic Places Topics Lists by states Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • WyomingLists by territories Lists by associated states Other Categories:- Railroad museums in Iowa
- Museums in Pottawattamie County, Iowa
- Buildings and structures completed in 1899
- Stations along Rock Island lines
- Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
- Iowa Registered Historic Place stubs
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