HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
The Indiana Railway Museum is a tourist railway and museum located in French Lick, Indiana. The Museum was founded in 1961 in the town of Westport, Indiana where the railroad operated a tourist excursion utilizing one small locomotive, three passenger cars, and about twenty volunteers. Ridership was estimated at about 500 passengers in 1962. The museum and railway remained in Westport until a move was necessitated in 1971. The organization relocated to Greensburg, Indiana where it operated until 1976 when it again changed locations. The Museum was relocated to French Lick in 1978 after an agreement with the Southern Railway Company granted the Museum a total of sixteen miles of track stretching from West Baden, Indiana approximately one mile north of French Lick, to a small village named Dubois, to the south. The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates passenger trains over ten miles of this track from French Lick to Cuzco.
The railroad has continued to grow and currently boasts a roster of over 65 pieces of of rolling stock and locomotives, 9 full-time staff, 350 members, and 60 volunteers. In 2010, the railroad had a ridership of over 47,000 passengers.
To download a map of the local area and a list of the members of the French Lick-West Baden Chamber of Commerce CLICK HERE.
Staff
General Manager Alan Barnett |
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Assistant Manager & Curator Rick Olsen |
Operations Manager Teresa Richardson |
Signal Maintainer Tim Burns |
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Mechanic Lee Jochim |
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Maintenance of Way Crew Steve Hobson Mark Spurgeon Lonnie Tuell |
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Restorationist Nick McCracken |
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infoirm@indianarailwaymuseum.org 1-800-74-TRAIN P.O. Box 150 | |