The Arizona Railway Museum

The Arizona Railway Museum, located in Chandler, Arizona (near Tempe and Phoenix) like most state railroad museums primarily focuses on railroading history in and around the Arizona although they also cover much of Southwest region itself. Since their beginnings in the early 1980s the museum has acquired quite a collection of artifacts over that time ranging from rare historic diesel locomotives to a 2-8-0 steam locomotive of Southern Pacific heritage. Along with their steam and diesel locomotives the museum also has a large collection of passenger and freight cars from Pullmans to several cabooses. Aside from the ARM's static displays they also offer other activities such as train trips and volunteers are always welcome to stop by and help out with one of their many ongoing restoration projects. Finally, the ARM is perhaps most unique in that it closes for during the summer season due to the intense heat although it does remain open during the rest of year (which is also when they perform most of their work projects).

I must say that due to lack of information about the museum on their website and other sites around the web along with the fact that I have never visited the facility myself, highlighting ARM in detail is a bit difficult (and I apologize for an inaccuracies listed here). I can say that the museum does not really host events like other organizations do, such as regular trains or bringing in the popular Thomas, the tank engine. To raise money outside of admission fees ARM typically sponsors train trips or "Dinner in the Diner" events. This money not only goes towards keeping the facility operating but also helping to fund their many ongoing restoration projects (they also collect donations towards these projects).

Chicago & North Western Railway EMD E8A #5022B: Built in July, 1950 this C&NW was originally used on its 400 passenger trains. It operated in Metra service for several years before being retired in 1991. Today, it is currently owned by Sonia Orlenko, which is allowing it to be displayed at ARM.

Homestake Mining Porter 0-4-0 #5: This little switcher was built by the Porter Locomotive Company in 1923 and has been owned by ARM since 1985. Today, it has been cosmetically restored and is on display.

Magma Arizona Railroad Baldwin DRS-6-6-1500 #10: A rare Baldwin-built roadswitcher, #10 was originally built for the McCloud River Railroad as #29 in July, 1950. Today, the unit still has its original prime mover and has been partially restored and is operational, used by the museum occasionally to shuffle cars around the property.

Southern Pacific Baldwin 2-8-0 #2562: The museum's only main line locomotive, this Consolidation was built for SP in 1906. After being retired by the railroad it was donated to the City of Chandler in 1956 and in the mid-1980s ARM acquired the rights to maintain the locomotive. Today it is cosmetically restored and on display at Tumbleweed Park.

US Army Plymouth ML-8 #1: This tiny locomotive was built during World War II in early 1943 for the army. It was acquired by the museum in the spring of 1988 and has been restored to the point where it is operational and also helps to move cars around the museum's property.

Along with its roster of locomotives the Arizona Railway Museum also owns a large collection of rolling stock (both freight and passenger). Aside from their railroad equipment and artifact collection the museum also has several restoration projects planned on numerous pieces of its rolling stock so if you are interested in volunteering please contact them. For more information about the Arizona Railway Museum please click here to visit their website, which provides more information about opening dates and if you are interested in volunteering to help them with projects. Finally, for a bit more on the museum please click here.

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