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Iowa Railroad Museums (2026): A Complete Guide

Last revised: October 6, 2026

Iowa’s railroad museums sit on the granger map, and two of them face the same railroad town. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum occupies the 1905 Carnegie library in Council Bluffs, at Mile 0. RailsWest keeps the 1899 Rock Island depot, with Burlington 4-6-0 No. 915 and Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 814 outside. Sioux City has the Milwaukee Road shops and Great Northern No. 1355 in the roundhouse. Boone pairs a scenic railroad with the James H. Andrew Railroad Museum. Mount Pleasant has a three-foot-gauge railroad on the Old Threshers grounds. Britt is the home of the National Hobo Convention and the National Hobo Museum.

An aerial view of the Sioux City Railroad Museum, which preserves the remains of the Milwaukee Road's shops in the city of Sioux City, Iowa. Musuem photo.

Which days Boone and Mount Pleasant run a train is on the Iowa scenic-train guide. Confirm the museum doors on each site before you drive.

On this page: At a glance · Iowa railroads · Council Bluffs · Sioux City · Boone · Mount Pleasant · Smaller museums · Related reading

At a glance

Place	Town	What it is known for	Site
Union Pacific Railroad Museum	Council Bluffs	Carnegie library opened August 15, 1905. Museum opened May 10, 2003, at Mile 0	up.com · Union Pacific
RailsWest	Council Bluffs	Rock Island depot of 1899. Burlington 4-6-0 No. 915 and Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 814	Historical Society of Pottawattamie County
Sioux City Railroad Museum	Sioux City	Milwaukee Road shops, roundhouse, and turntable. Great Northern No. 1355	siouxcityrailroadmuseum.org
Boone & Scenic Valley	Boone	James H. Andrew Railroad Museum on the grounds. Fraser Train and the 156-foot Bass Point Creek High Bridge	bsvrr.com · profile
Midwest Central Railroad	Mount Pleasant	Three-foot-gauge railroad on the Old Threshers grounds	mcrr.org · profile
Delmar Depot Railroad & Military Museum	Delmar	Restored Milwaukee Road wooden depot	City of Delmar
National Hobo Museum	Britt	National Hobo Convention since 1900. Former Chief Theatre on Main Street	britthobodays.com
Trainland U.S.A.	Colfax	Lionel O-scale layout. Red Atwood began the collection in 1964	trainlandusa.com
Trains on the Farm	Clarksville	Preserved Chicago Great Western depot and a small operating model layout	Chicago Great Western
Iowa Trolley Park	Clear Lake	Restored cars beside the Iowa Traction freight interurban	Clear Lake

Iowa railroads

The Chicago & North Western reached Council Bluffs in January 1867. The Rock Island arrived in 1869. Around them the Burlington, the Milwaukee Road, the Illinois Central, and the Chicago Great Western built the granger lines. Boone & Scenic Valley uses a piece of the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern. A fuller account is on the Iowa railroads page.

Council Bluffs

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is at 200 Pearl Street, in the Beaux-Arts building that opened as the city’s Carnegie library on August 15, 1905. The railroad opened the museum there on May 10, 2003, the 134th anniversary of the golden spike at Promontory. Council Bluffs is Mile 0, the eastern point Abraham Lincoln designated for the Pacific railroad. The first Union Pacific museum opened in the Omaha headquarters in 1921, after a piece of the Abraham Lincoln silver service turned up in a vault. The collection later spent time at the former Omaha Union Station. Admission at Council Bluffs is free. The company history is the Union Pacific page.

RailsWest, at 1512 South Main Street, is the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County’s railroad museum. The building is the Rock Island passenger depot that opened in August 1899, designed by Volk, John & Co. The Milwaukee Road also used it. Named trains that called here included the Rocky Mountain Rocket, the Corn Belt Rocket, the Midwest Hiawatha, and the Arrow. The National Register listing is July 21, 1995.

Outside stand Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 4-6-0 No. 915 and Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 814. No. 915 is a K-4, built as No. 44 in 1901 at the Burlington & Missouri River shops in Havelock, one of fourteen of the class. It became No. 715 in the 1904 renumbering and No. 915 in 1951, and the city of Council Bluffs received it in 1965. No. 814 is an American Locomotive Company engine of 1937, the surviving FEF-1 from the series 800–819. A 1953 Plymouth switcher, cabooses, a lounge car, a boxcar, and a railway post office car share the grounds.

Sioux City Railroad Museum

The Sioux City Railroad Museum occupies the historic Milwaukee Road shops, with a roundhouse and a turntable. Great Northern No. 1355 is in the roundhouse. In May 2026 volunteers were at work on a restoration aimed at operation, with help from a National Park Service grant. The museum’s own site is the place to check the engine’s status.

Boone & Scenic Valley

Boone & Scenic Valley and the James H. Andrew Railroad Museum share the grounds at 225 10th Street. The Fraser Train runs about an hour and forty-five minutes and crosses the Bass Point Creek High Bridge, 156 feet high, and the bridge over the Des Moines River. Steam on the property is JS 2-8-2 No. 8419, built in China in 1989. Which trips use it is on the scenic guide.

Midwest Central Railroad

The Midwest Central Railroad is the three-foot-gauge line on the Old Threshers grounds at Mount Pleasant. The scenic guide listed no October public train for 2026. The North Pole Express is a December ticket, and those dates stay on the scenic page.

Smaller museums

The Delmar Depot Railroad & Military Museum keeps a restored Milwaukee Road wooden depot. Open days are posted by the city of Delmar.

The National Hobo Museum is in Britt, in the former Chief Theatre at 51 Main Avenue South. The National Hobo Convention has met here since 1900. The Hobo Foundation, formed in the mid-1970s, and the Britt Hobo Days Association keep the collection. The convention’s creed is the line “Decide your own life, don’t let another person run or rule you.”

Trainland U.S.A., at Colfax, shows the Lionel O-scale collection Red Atwood began in 1964.

Trains on the Farm, at Clarksville, keeps a preserved Chicago Great Western depot and a small operating model layout. The Iowa Northern still serves the community.

The Iowa Trolley Park at Clear Lake keeps restored cars next to the Iowa Traction freight interurban. The scenic guide found no 2026 public ticket page, so call before you treat the stop as a ride.

Sources

Union Pacific Railroad Museum history page, up.com: Carnegie library opened August 15, 1905; museum opened May 10, 2003, the 134th anniversary of Promontory; 200 Pearl Street. The 1921 Omaha headquarters museum follows the railroad’s May 8, 2008 anniversary release. Mile 0 follows the railroad’s May 10, 2023 anniversary article. Admission is the free general admission the railroad lists.
RailsWest: Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Rock Island depot opened August 1899, architects Volk, John & Co. National Register reference 95000856, listed July 21, 1995. Burlington No. 915 and Union Pacific No. 814 are the pair named on the Iowa scenic-train guide. No. 915’s 1901 Havelock build, the 44 / 715 / 915 number path, and the 1965 city donation, and No. 814’s 1937 Alco FEF-1 identity, follow the equipment record used for this page.
Sioux City Railroad Museum: Milwaukee Road shops, roundhouse, and turntable. Great Northern No. 1355 restoration aim follows KTIV, May 16, 2026.
Boone & Scenic Valley and Midwest Central dates, the 156-foot bridge, JS No. 8419’s 1989 Chinese build, and the October train status follow the Iowa scenic-train guide and the two profile pages. National Hobo Museum: britthobodays.com, former Chief Theatre, convention since 1900. The town is Britt.

Confirm hours and which locomotive is on the property before you travel. American-Rails does not sell tickets.

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