The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a

railroad museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...

located at 507 Mulberry Street in

North Judson, Indiana North Judson is a town in Wayne Township, Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,857 as of the 2020 census. History The area now known as North Judson was originally Brantwood, a town platted on October 1, 1859, less ...

. At one time, a significant portion of the working population in North Judson was employed by one of the railroad companies in town. The town once hosted four major rail lines including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Erie, New York Central and Pennsylvania. North Judson had as many as 125 trains each day. The first railroad in town was the Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad Company constructed from Logansport to

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

, from 1858 through 1861. In 1865 it merged with the Chicago & Great Eastern Railway Company. Later, the line was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The town had been called Brantwood, then changed to North Judson. The second railroad in town was the

Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad The Chicago, Indiana and Southern Railroad is a former railroad which operated in the states of Illinois and Indiana during the early 20th century. The CI&S formed in 1906 from the consolidation of the two other railroads: the Indiana, Illinois ...

, the 3I route. It ran from

Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 censu ...

, to North Judson. Begun in 1881 it reached

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, in 1894. Later it was known as the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

. The third line through town was the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad, built in 1881 through 1883. It was absorbed by the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

. In 1902 the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was built. It later merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.Hoosiervalley Railroad, History page (http://www.hoosiervalley.org/history/) The non-profit museum is located at a former

facility. The museum is open Saturdays all year with train rides also available from May to October. The collection has a variety of historic freight rolling stock, including Chesapeake and Ohio Railway # 2789, a

2-8-4 Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, thou ...

steam locomotive.

References

External links

Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum

Grasselli Tower Project
Railroad museums in Indiana Museums in Starke County, Indiana {{Indiana-museum-stub