The Southern Railway Museum (SEM) occupies a 35 acres site in Duluth, near Ellijay, in northeast Georgia. In operation since 1970, SEM features more than 90 items of vintage Pullman toys and antique steam locomotives, as well as a permanent locomotive engine collection. The museum is currently open Sunday, Friday, and Saturday. No overnight stays are offered, but there is a bus schedule that will take visitors to the site at either a fixed time or as requested by their guests.
The collections consist of scale model of actual Pullman cars, vintage gauge electric cars, gauge steam engines, locomotive parts and architectural elements representing major railroads from the past to the present. In addition, there are also items associated with the history of freight and passenger service on the former Eastern and Western Railroad. The US National Archives also have a special exhibit featuring documents related to the development of the US railroads. Other railway museums in the US include the New York Central Railroad Museum in New York City, which is visited by thousands of tourists and collectors every year.
Other US locations have additional railway museums. For example, in Cleveland, Ohio, visitors can go to the Cleveland Ohio Central Railroad Museum and the Cleveland Metropark Zoo. In Chicago, Illinois, you can visit the Shedd Aquarium & Science Museum or the Chicago Science Museum. And, in Kansas City, one can go to the Kansas City Southern Railway Historical Association and the Kansas City Southern Railroad Museum.
In the UK, there are numerous railway stations around the country, which are visited by people from all parts of the UK, such as London, Scotland Yard, and Birmingham. To go to these stations and see the locomotives, you need to travel by train – a very tedious task! Luckily, the National Railway Museum in London offers visitors the opportunity to view these engines in person. In addition to locomotives, this museum has a great collection of models and replicas of Victorian era trains, as well as the world’s first diesel-powered locomotive, which is the Power Train of the World.
Other European destinations include Florence, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; and Warsaw, Poland. For those traveling to the United Kingdom, a British railway museum can be reached via the London Midland Railway Museum, which is within the London Midland Line. The Birmingham International Airport offers an underground train station that will allow passengers to go directly to the railway station of their choice. There is even a replica of the Bullinali Station of Venice.
The last European destination to visit for visitors to the United Kingdom is Warsaw, Poland. Just south of the capital, there is a special section of the Wojna railway museum in which visitors can relive the sights and sounds of Polish independence. The city museum also has an underground station where one can continue on to Bratislava, the largest city in the former Polish Republic. One of the most popular attractions here is the Gora Kota (The Tramway) – a circular trolley museum that gives people the chance to travel back in time. The station has also been incorporated into a larger scale model by the Warsaw State Opera.
