Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, North Judson

4.3

Specialty Museum · Museum

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The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located at 507 Mulberry Street in North Judson, Indiana. 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, 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 3I route. It ran from Streator, Illinois, to North Judson. Begun in 1881 it reached South Bend, Indiana, in 1894. Later it was known as the New York Central Railroad. The third line through town was the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad, built in 1881 through 1883. It was absorbed by the Erie Railroad. In 1902 the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was built. It later merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
The non-profit museum is located at a former Erie Railroad 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 steam locomotive.

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Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum reviews

TripAdvisor traveler rating

16 reviews

Google

4.6

By Janet M

We highly recommend a visit! My husband operated a diesel train for a hour ( need prior arrangements). While the cost is pricey, this experience is well worth every dime! All of the staff were quite.... more

We highly recommend a visit! My husband operated a diesel train for a hour ( need prior arrangements). While the cost is pricey, this experience is well worth every dime! All of the staff were quite.... more »
By JasonKY1

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is one of the smaller railroad museums I've been to, but has a good collection of well-maintained rolling stock, along with a small museum of memorabilia and...

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is one of the smaller railroad museums I've been to, but has a good collection of well-maintained rolling stock, along with a small museum of memorabilia and... more »
By Glen M

Nice little train museum. Their 2-8-4 steam locomotive is lovely to see, as are their diesels. The museum itself is mainly b&w photos, but they are well captioned. Several of the cars are open with...

Nice little train museum. Their 2-8-4 steam locomotive is lovely to see, as are their diesels. The museum itself is mainly b&w photos, but they are well captioned. Several of the cars are open with... more »

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Google

By Lou Donkle

What an amazing collection and restoration facility! These guys do an amazing job collecting and preparing old cars for exhibit. You can tour inside many of the cars that are on exhibit and also take train rides. My favorite car is “The Katy.” That explains the Blues Brothers song, “She caught The Katy, left me a mule to ride.” Huh! Who knew The Katie was a railroad line?!

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By Mark Huffman

Loved the train ride, all the volunteers there are great people who ensured you have a fun time, I was born and raised in Cass County and during the ride the volunteer giving the information on the train, the area and general history of the town and county was excellent very informative. This is a must for any family and group to take

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By Farah Campagna

my family bought tickets to the pumpkin train, we felt this train ride was misleading. Your ticket is not guaranteed to be in an actual enclosed train car. We got to sit in an open air cattle car it’s water bill here we sat and freeze. Same price paid for those who got to sit inside. Around 95 for, 4 tickets to freeze and not get a true train ride experience. We got the hobo train ride experience. The limited seating issue needs to be mentioned to buyers. Those who do the Santa train definitely will need to know too. Pictures posted to show where we got to sit and how cold my child was, if we had known beforehand, maybe it would not have such a letdown…not very enjoyable.

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By Bryan Monaco

I can't say enough great things about this museum and the people who run it. It shows off the very important railroad history of northwestern Indiana. The train ride is great and the crew was great. I wish it wasn't 250 miles from me. I will definitely be back.

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By Danielle Hepworth

Great experience!! definitely go to the bathroom b4 u arrive!!!!! Limited bathrooms and none on 60 min train ride!

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