Trains LIVE — National Railroad Museum library expands — 8-16-2023 — It was a good idea, no great idea, at first. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
In 2016, the Merrill (Wis.) Historical Society began gathering books and ephemera, for a railroad library within its local history collection. The library was unique in North Central Wisconsin — Merrill being 200 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Housed in the Society’s History & Culture Center, the library was a resource for researching railroad topics, model railroaders, and casual readers.
The Sherburne S. Merrill Railroad Reference Library opened on National Train Day, May 14, 2016.
When the pandemic hit, volunteers to fill the historical society’s basic needs became hard to find. Finding volunteers with specialized knowledge to staff the railroad library became a greater challenge. The historical society did not want the railroad resources left unused, hence, the decision was made to close the library and find a suitable home for the collection.
In early 2023, Tom Burg, of the Merrill Historical Society, contacted the National Railroad Museum (Green Bay, Wis.). The museum agreed to accept the Merrill railroad collection, integrate it with its own, and make it available for research.
Today, we are speaking with Daniel Liedtke, National Railroad Museum curator, about the Merrill collection and the museum’s archive holdings.
If you would like to explore the National Railroad Museum’s archive collection for research purposes, please contact Daniel Liedtke.
Trains LIVE — National Railroad Museum library expands.
Trains LIVE is a regular video program, recorded live and unscripted from Kalmbach Media. The series began in July 2022.
Trains LIVE features Bob Lettenberger, Trains associate editor, Kalmbach Media staff, and guests talking about railroads and trains in a casual, behind-the-scenes format. On Trains LIVE we will ask the questions you would like to ask and take you into places not normally open to the public. Trains LIVE also takes you on the road to museums, trackside locations and other railroad-related venues. It is presented every other Wednesday at 2 p.m. Central time.
If you have questions or comments, please log-in and leave a comment in the area at the bottom of the page. We will attempt to answer questions during future episodes. All aboard! It’s time for Trains LIVE!
