The Oklahoma Railway Museum boasts an impressive collection of vintage railroad equipment with ties to the Sooner State. It’s best known for its collection of working first-generation diesel locomotives, which include a former Rock Island Alco RS-1, a Santa Fe CF7, and an EMD F7A painted in Frisco colors. On the spacious grounds are more than a dozen freight cars, cabooses, and passenger cars from Oklahoma railroads. There are two steam locomotives on exhibit, including a WWII-era US Army tank engine and a Santa Fe 2-8-0 dating to 1897.
Choices
On the first and third Saturday of the month, from April through August, museum visitors are offered a 40-minute train ride over an original MKT line. Passengers may choose to ride in an open-air excursion car or aboard a 1940s-era streamlined car that was used on Santa Fe trains such as the Texas Chief and El Capitan. The train is often pulled by a 1952 SW8 diesel locomotive that’s been painted in MKT’s classic green and yellow livery.
When to go
Besides the regular Saturday excursions, special train rides are scheduled throughout the year and include an Easter Bunny Express, Halloween and Polar Express trains, and motor car excursions.
Good to know
Start your visit at the Oakwood depot, a traditional small-town station built in 1805 to serve the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway. Unused after 1958, the wooden depot was moved to its present location in 2000 and restored.
Worth doing
Two miles north of the museum is Oklahoma City’s Adventure District, home to many of the city’s most popular attractions. These include the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Science Museum Oklahoma, and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Don’t miss
In 2020, the museum completed the restoration of a 1954 EMD SW1200 diesel locomotive into its original orange and black Milwaukee Road colors. It is kept in operating condition and occasionally pulls the museum’s Saturday passenger trains.
Getting there
The museum is located a half-mile west of I-35 off exit 131 (NE 36th Street) on historic Grand Boulevard.
Location: 3400 Northeast Grand Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK
Phone: 405-424-8222
Website: oklahomarailwaymuseum.org
E-mail: info@oklahomarailwaymuseum.org
