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Elkhart’s New York Central museum

By December 27, 2018Features

By Thomas Dyrek

When one thinks of a town along the New York Central, places such as New York City, Detroit, and Cleveland come to mind. However, the NYC also had a major presence in northern Indiana. Because of this, a museum dedicated to the NYC was not formed out east, but rather in a historic freight house in Elkhart, IN.

Founded in 1987, the National New York Central Museum features a large collection of NYC-oriented memorabilia and several full scale pieces of equipment displayed outside including a New York Central 4-8-2 and a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1.

The freight depot that houses the indoor exhibits was built in 1907 by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, an NYC predecessor. The exhibits inside include photographs, lanterns, and other historic items from the New York Central.

Perhaps the most notable exhibit is an impressive O scale model railroad in the back of the building, surrounded by shelves displaying a huge collection of O scale locomotives and rolling stock.

The outside exhibits include several historic freight and passenger cars, cabooses, and three locomotives. EMD E8A number 4085 has been cosmetically restored and placed on display next to the freight house. Visitors to the museum are permitted to enter the cab of the locomotive and blow the horn which has been hooked up to an air compressor. The 4085 pulled the last run of the 20th Century Limited in December of 1967.

The museum also displays former PRR GG1 electric locomotive #4882, built in 1939.

The 4882 participated in the “Farewell to the GG1s” event in 1983 and was officially retired on October 31 of that year. The locomotive found its way to the museum where it is on static display.

Displayed next to the 4882 is one of two surviving New York Central 4-8-2 Mohawk type steam locomotives, #3001, the museum’s pride and joy.

Built in 1940 by Alco, the 3001 pulled fast freight and passenger trains over the NYC until being retired in 1957. A month after being retired, the NYC sold the 3001 to the Texas and Pacific Railroad to replace badly vandalized and subsequently scrapped T&P 2-10-4 number 638, which was on static display at the Texas State Fairgrounds in Dallas. Disguised as T&P 909, the engine was later donated to the Museum of the American Railroad who traded it to the National NYC Museum in 1984 in exchange for a second GG1 in the museum’s collection. The 3001 was moved to Elkhart, placed on display, and cosmetically restored to its original NYC appearance.

Several freight and passenger cars, some of which have no connection to the NYC, are also part of the museum’s collection. The non-NYC collection includes a couple B&O boxcars, two Illinois Central coaches, and two Milwaukee Road refrigerator cars. NYC equipment includes a couple passenger cars, some MOW equipment, and several cabooses, including one from NYC subsidiary Indiana Harbor Belt. Some of the trains on display have not yet been restored, but it is the museum’s intention to eventually have the entire roster looking as good as new. Here’s the roster detail.

-New York Central L-3b 3042’s tender, used as an auxiliary water tender on the American Freedom Train and the Chessie Steam Special.

-New York Central 250-ton capacity crane X-13, built in 1946 by the Industrial Brownhoist Company.  X-13 was based in Selkirk, N.Y. and donated by Conrail in 1997.

-New York Central 150-ton capacity crane X-28, built in the 1920s and based at the NYC’s large Harmon Yard in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.

-New York Central bay-window caboose 21084, built in 1963.

-New York Central Standard Caboose 19211, a wooden caboose built around 1910.

-New York Central transfer caboose 18136, a very simple caboose rebuilt in 1967 from a 1949 box car.

-New York Central 3-bay covered hopper car.  The original number is not presently known and is currently assigned the number NNYX 902.

-New York Central tank car 16039, built in December 1952.  It was donated by Sturgis Metal & Iron in 2006.

-New York Central RPO-baggage car 5104, nee-Michigan Central 1016, built in 1914 by the Standard Steel Car Company.  It was converted for work train service in the 1950s.

-New York Central idler car 504472 for crane X-13, based in Selkirk, N.Y. and donated by Conrail in 1997.

-New York Central boom car of unknown background, assigned the Conrail number 45507 and donated in 1997.

-Indiana Harbor Belt caboose 75, built for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

-Baltimore & Ohio box cars 288121 & 288257, 50-foot AAR two-door box cars built in 1957.

-Chicago, South Shore & South Bend electric commuter car 15, built by Pullman-Standard in 1926.

It was the first of the South Shore’s cars to be lengthened to 78-feet by adding a new section in the middle.

-Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific observation car 454 Minnesota, built in 1937 by the Budd Company. It is painted for NYC, to represent similar Budd built obs that were an integral part of the post-war Great Steel Fleet of streamliners.

-Conrail bay-window caboose N21A 21230, built in July 1978 by Fruit Growers Express.  21230 is the only survivor of the three units built.  It ended its days as part of the wreck train in Selkirk, N.Y. and was donated by Conrail in 1997.

-Two Illinois Central coaches, 2691 and 2694, built in 1914 by the Standard Steel Car Company.  2694 was modernized in the 1940s to match the appearance of the new streamlined cars.  2691 functions as the exhibit car, while 2694 holds the Museum’s archives.

-Merchants Despatch flat cars 725220 and 725023, donated by Norfolk Southern in 2007.

-Milwaukee Road refrigerator cars 38662 & 38794, built in the 1940s.

-Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern wooden caboose 010.

-New York, New Haven & Hartford grill-dining car 953, built by Pullman-Standard in June 1949.  It was a less-formal alternative to the full dining cars and twin-unit diners that many railroads owned.  It passed to Penn Central and Conrail, serving as part of the wreck train in Selkirk, N.Y. and donated by Conrail in 1997.

-Pennsylvania Railroad RPO-baggage car (CR number 45710), possibly a BM70K, used as part of the Selkirk, N.Y. wreck train and donated by Conrail in 1997.

-Pennsylvania Railroad X26 box car 499656, a wooden car with steel reinforced sides.

-Pennsylvania Railroad X26 box car with cut-down sides (after fire damage) to function as the idler car for NYC crane X-28.

The museum is located next to the original New York Central mainline to Chicago, and today Norfolk Southern operates over 70 trains a day on the line, making it a railfan favorite. The museum has built a small railfan viewing platform next to the museum, and the nearby Amtrak station also provides a nice place to watch trains.

Exhibits are beautifully restored and maintained by a large group of volunteers, but the museum always welcomes new volunteers too. There is a membership program and the museum is open year round except for holidays and Mondays. The museum charges a small admission, but it is definitely worth it.

The National New York Central Museum is a unique museum that can keep any railfan or history buff occupied for a couple hours, if not longer. I would highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area to enjoy the history of one of the most famous railroads in America.

For more information, go to www.nycrrmuseum.org.

 

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