Visitors to the Utah State Railroad Museum at Union Station are treated to a variety of interactive and pictoral displays and artifacts illustrating the construction of the transcontinental railroad. As visitors enter the Railroad Museum they pass under timbers used to construct the historic Lucin Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake. In the museum theater enjoy a movie about the Big Boy Locomotives that ran from Ogden to Cheyenne. In March 2011 the museum unveiled it’s newest exhibit of the original Golden Spike Safe and Utah’s Cenntenial Gold Spike. Weight your group on the Station’s original baggage scale.
Operation Lifesaver Exhibit
Children learn railroad crossing safety in this exhibit which encourages them to answer safety questions to activate the safety lights on the railroad crossing. The exhibit was recently renovated and is beautiful.
Maintenance of Way Exhibit
The Maintenance of Way exhibit includes a variety of small equipment used to maintain the tracks. A rail handcar used to transport maintenance crews. A locomotive cab where children of all ages can experience the thrill of play driving a locomotive. Practice morse code skills with your fellow visitors with the two telegraph keys.
Browning-Kimball Model Railroad
A favorite with visitors is the model railroad. Scale model scenes of local topography have been painstakingly created to depict the local terrain. A model of the 1060′s era Union Station and historic 25th street are a highlight. Look closely at each of the landscapes for many have amusing tiny additions, such as a man floating in a barrel int he great salt lake, fisherman, a bat, birds, elk, a bald eagle. There are four operating model trains which start their runs as you enter the exhibit with a motion activated sensor.
SPENCER S. ECCLES RAIL CENTER
Experience the sheer immensity of the big locomotives up close outside in the Eccles Rail Center. On display are a large variety of locomotives, switch engines, boxcars, cabooses and a staff favorite, the steam powered rotary snow plow.
The laundry building located south of the Eccles Rail Center played an important role in the operations of the railroad for the United States.
