DULUTH, Ga. — The Southeastern Railway Museum, a 35-acre facility established in Duluth in 1970, is among sites included on Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 list of 10 Places in Peril.
The organization says the list, issued Feb. 26, is designed to raise awareness about Georgia historic, archaeological, and cultural resources threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development, or insensitive public policy.
“We hope the list will continue to bring preservation solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources by highlighting ten representative sites,” Trust CEO W. Wright Mitchell said in a press release including the complete list.
The museum collection of more than 90 pieces of rolling stock includes the Marco Polo, a 1927 Pullman private car used by Franklin D. Roosevelt as governor of New York and U.S. President; 1911 Pullman sleeper-lounge-observation Superb, the second oldest steel private car in existence and part of the National Register of Historic Places; and a wide variety of diesel and steam locomotives, most of which are awaiting restoration.
The Trust says the museum was included on the list because of its limited capacity to stabilize and restore its equipment, much of which is exposed to the elements, contributing to ongoing damage and deterioration. While the museum has a small staff and volunteers dedicated to its success, the Trust says, they face insufficient funds and skills to care for the full collection.
“Our mission is to protect what we have,” Chuck Miller, the museum’s executive director, told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “We’re not in ‘peril’ — but we are in a state of protecting this history we have.”
The museum is about 25 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Visit its website for more information, including how to provide support.
My visits have seemed to have found that it needs much more covered – enclosed spaces to keep the equipment out of the weather. As well those enclosed spaces need sprinkler protection.
It is a wonderful place to visit and they have some great pieces of railroad history that deserve care and preservation, I hope the proper folks will keep it funded.