September 26, 2023
While in Bellevue, Ohio, I wanted to see the train museum, the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum.
So on September 1 (Friday), we geared up and rode the motorcycle into Bellevue to see the museum.
We slowly pulled up to the admission building and took the last non-handicapped parking space. If we had been in the truck, we wouldn’t have fit.
We looked around and realized they had more parking across the train tracks on the other side of the road from the Railroad Museum.
We stopped in at the admission desk and paid for our tickets.
We crossed the street to the main part of the museum.
Best railroad museum yet! I wish we had gotten here when the museum first opened. I think we could’ve spent that extra hour in the museum. They had so many train engines and train cars! Best of all, many were set up so you could enter them.
I took so many pictures, I found it hard to decide which to share.
I took childish delight in ringing the train bell on CEI #8. I loved how the museum had set it up to allow the bell to be rung.
They had a mail car, with the mail catcher set up outside.
The old train station was beautifully restored.
The troop transport car made me think of the post by a fellow blogger https://suzassippi.wordpress.com/2023/07/12/west-to-los-angeles-ca-port-of-embarkation/ about her dad’s service in WW II. He rode on a troop transport car to Los Angeles, California before heading to India.
There were several cabooses to look at. I am sharing the signals poster, even though the reflections make it a disappointing picture.
Many of the open cars were full of the NKP (Nickel Plate Railway) mementos and historical artifacts.
They had some retired equipment used to maintain the railways.
After checking out every train car that was open, we went across the street and across the train tracks to check out some additional train cars. The crane was the most fascinating car to us. It started life as a steam crane and was later converted to use a diesel engine.
The snow plow engine was very impressive.
We headed inside the admissions office and to see the exhibits inside.
To me, the most fascinating one was the train bell used on the train that transported Abraham Lincoln’s body. It stuck me that we had seen the horse drawn hearse that carried his body in the Tallahassee Automobile Museum.
We walked through unrestored sleeper cars and the the dome car in the process of being restored.
There is a historical marker just outside the main part of the museum.
I did ask how the Nickel Plate Railway got it’s name. The newspaper in Milan, Ohio published a scathing editorial when Milan lost out to Bellevue to get the railway. He called it a “Nickel Plated Railway” and the railway company decided to adopt the name.
I didn’t ask how the Mad River Railroad got its name.
This museum is worth the trip for any train enthusiast. So far, it is the largest train museum with the largest number of train cars that we’ve visited.
Since this is a mostly outdoor museum, if it is sunny, you might consider wearing sunscreen. The paths are paved, level and easy to walk. Getting into the train cars requires going up steps.
Best Train Museum Yet!
Blackberry Homestead 
I can see from your photos how much care was taken restoring all the train cars. They are beautiful and what an interesting place! I always notice how HUGE they are when seeing one up close.
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I agree, up close, they are HUGE! They look big when watching them from a crossing, but when climbing on them, you get to understand the actual size.
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Wow! What a fascinating place! Thank you for mentioning the troop train and linking to it, and it was interesting to see the inside of one. I had no idea Flagler had been anywhere before Florida. I learned about his empire on my RV camping trip with cuz while we were in St. Augustine and walked by the Flagler College.
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You are welcome! I found the troop train especially interesting since I read your blog. It is fascinating how things link up sometimes.
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I forgot in my last comment that I was also going to say IMO it is fine to share a not necessarily photogenic picture when you want to convey information–that signal photo conveyed a lot. I have taken many a photo through glass when that is the only way to get it. I once laid on my belly on the floor of a post office to shoot a mural through a glass wall that was obscuring it!
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Thank you for saying that. I really debated sharing that picture. I just couldn’t get a good picture of the signal poster, no matter how I moved. I just found it to be so interesting. I didn’t know about all the signals before.
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What a fun and interesting place! I thought the snow plow was interesting and, of course, the bell from the train that transported Abraham Lincoln’s body. There is a “train museum” not far from us – if you happen this way again. It is called the National Museum of Transportation, and it is located in Kirkwood, MO. Your post reminds me that I’d like to visit there again; it’s been years since I was there. I had an uncle that worked on a rail car checking the tracks. So, it was interesting to see that piece of equipment. He went all over Canada and the U.S. These trains tell us stories of history. Thanks for your post.
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We’re hoping to head to Missouri next year during the summer. The transportation museum sounds like fun. My great-grandfather was a train engineer back in the day of steam engines. My Great Aunt Hazel explained how much of our family in Chattanooga, TN worked for the railroad. It must be something in the blood to love trains.
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There’s a Mad River (flowing water river) in Vermont, but that’s a little far afield from Ohio!
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There is a Mad River in Ohio near Springfield.
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This a fascinating site. This train museum was so interesting. Anita 👍
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Thank you! We really enjoyed the train museum.
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I absolutely love railroad museums. This one sounds amazing!
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It is amazing! I loved being able to climb into the train engines, rail cars, and the cabooses. The restored engines, rail cars and caboose are beautiful.
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