Nebraska Railroad Museums (2026): A Complete Guide

Published: October 14, 2026

Nebraska’s railroad museums sit on the Union Pacific. Omaha’s Durham Museum is Gilbert Stanley Underwood’s 1931 Union Station. Kenefick Park, on the Lauritzen Gardens grounds, displays Big Boy 4023 and Centennial 6900. North Platte keeps Challenger 3977 at Cody Park and the Golden Spike Tower over Bailey Yard. Grand Island shows Union Pacific Engine 437. Kearney shows No. 481. Wakefield keeps a small Chicago & North Western depot.

Golden Spike Tower and Visitor's Center in North Platte NE

The Golden Spike Tower & Visitor's Center in North Platte, Nebraska which overlooks Union Pacific's massive Bailey Yard facility. The tower opened to the public in 2008. Museum photo.

Nebraska has no full-size scenic railroad on the 2026 calendar. The Omaha Zoo Railroad is a ride inside the Henry Doorly Zoo, and its weekends ran through October 4. That trip, and anything else that moves, is on the Nebraska scenic-train guide. American-Rails does not sell tickets. Confirm the doors before you drive.

On this page: At a glance · Nebraska railroads · Durham Museum · Kenefick Park · Cody Park · Golden Spike Tower · Stuhr Museum · Kearney · Wakefield · Related reading

At a glance

Place	Town	What it is known for	Site
Durham Museum	Omaha	Union Station, Gilbert Stanley Underwood, opened January 15, 1931. Museum from 1975. National Historic Landmark, December 23, 2016. Passenger cars on the old track	durhammuseum.org · 801 South 10th Street
Kenefick Park	Omaha	Big Boy 4023, Alco 1944, and Centennial 6900, Electro-Motive 1969, the first of 47. Dedicated October 15, 2005. Free	lauritzengardens.org · 100 Bancroft Street
Cody Park Railroad Museum	North Platte	Challenger 3977, Alco, June 1943, placed October 19, 1968. Centennial 6922 since August 1985. Hershey depot	1400 North Jeffers Street
Golden Spike Tower	North Platte	Overlook of Bailey Yard. Opened June 16, 2008. The view is the visit	goldenspiketower.com · 1249 North Homestead Road
Stuhr Museum	Grand Island	Union Pacific Engine 437, with a boarding car and a caboose. The museum does not sell a ride	stuhrmuseum.org · 3133 West US Highway 34
Trails & Rails Museum	Kearney	Buffalo County Historical Society, from 1975. Union Pacific No. 481 and a caboose. Shelton depot. On the old Mormon Trail	bchs.us · 710 West 11th Street
Wakefield depot	Wakefield	Chicago & North Western museum in the 1925 Omaha Road station. Open on select days	101 East 1st Street

Nebraska railroads

The Pacific Railroad Act became law on July 1, 1862. Union Pacific broke ground at Omaha on December 1, 1863, and the transcontinental line met the Central Pacific at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869. Mileage peaked at 6,166 in 1920. The 2020 figure is 3,062. The Union Pacific is still the railroad across the state. The Chicago & North Western crossed the north on the Cowboy Line. The state account is the Nebraska railroads page.

Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops at Omaha, Lincoln, Hastings, Holdrege, and McCook. North Platte, Kearney, and Grand Island are freight towns on that map, which is why the steam there is on display. Fremont’s excursion railroad has ended. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at 200 Pearl Street, and it is on the Iowa railroad museums page. The Omaha Zoo Railroad is the ride inside the Henry Doorly Zoo. Its 2026 weekends ended on October 4. The scenic guide has that trip.

Durham Museum

The Durham Museum fills Omaha Union Station at 801 South 10th Street. Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed the Art Deco building, and it opened on January 15, 1931. The museum’s history gives the cost as $3.5 million and the floor area as 124,000 square feet, and it counts a peak of 64 passenger trains and about 10,000 people a day. Passenger trains left the station in May 1971.

The building reopened in 1975 as the Western Heritage Museum. It took the Durham name in 2008. It is a Smithsonian affiliate, and Union Station was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 23, 2016. The visit is the great hall and the history of the city. Restored Union Pacific passenger cars, a sleeping car, a lounge, and a caboose among them, stand on the old track beside the building. Trains no longer depart from the station. Hours and admission are on the museum’s site.

Kenefick Park

Kenefick Park is at 100 Bancroft Street, on the grounds of Lauritzen Gardens, and admission to the park is free. Union Pacific dedicated it on October 15, 2005, and named it for John C. Kenefick, the railroad’s chairman. The two locomotives had stood at an earlier park on Abbott Drive. They spent a turn outside the Western Heritage Museum, and the new hill above Interstate 80 has been their place since the 2005 dedication.

Big Boy No. 4023 is an Alco 4-8-8-4 of 1944, from the second order, 4020 through 4024. It is a static display. The Big Boy Union Pacific operates is No. 4014, and the type history is the Big Boy page. No. 4014 called at Omaha on May 30, 2026, on the America 250 trip, and then went on. No. 4023 stayed at the park. Beside it is Centennial No. 6900, an Electro-Motive DDA40X of 1969, the first of the 47, rated at 6,600 horsepower. The garden’s hours are on the Lauritzen site. The park asks no fare of its own.

Cody Park

Cody Park Railroad Museum is at 1400 North Jeffers Street in North Platte. Challenger No. 3977, an Alco 4-6-6-4 of June 1943, construction number 70160, was given to the city and placed in the park on October 19, 1968. It is one of two surviving Union Pacific Challengers. No. 3985 is the other, and 3977 is the engine in this park. Centennial No. 6922, another DDA40X, joined the display in August 1985. The Hershey depot stands on the grounds. Both locomotives are static.

A second North Platte steam engine, Union Pacific 2-8-0 No. 480, is at Memorial Park. It does not run. The place to see the yard those engines once fed is the tower in the next section.

Golden Spike Tower

The Golden Spike Tower opened on June 16, 2008, at 1249 North Homestead Road. It looks down on Bailey Yard, Union Pacific’s classification yard, named for Edd H. Bailey, the railroad’s president from 1965 to 1971. The view is the visit. Hours and tickets are on the tower’s site, and they change with the season. The California Zephyr does not stop in North Platte. The tower and Cody Park are the railroad afternoon in town.

Stuhr Museum

The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer is at 3133 West US Highway 34 in Grand Island. The railroad display the museum names at the entrance is Union Pacific Engine 437, with a Union Pacific boarding car and a caboose. The museum does not sell a ride. Hours follow the museum.

Kearney

The Trails & Rails Museum, at 710 West 11th Street, is the Buffalo County Historical Society’s grounds. The society marked its 50th year in August 2025, so the museum dates from 1975. The site sits on the original Mormon Trail, which at this point is 11th Street. Moved buildings fill the grounds. The Shelton depot is one of them.

Union Pacific steam engine No. 481 and a caboose stand along 11th Street. The society’s account calls No. 481 a 1903 engine, gives its last runs as 1955 on the Kearney–Stapleton line, and says it had already been displayed in a Kearney park. It is a static exhibit. The museum does not sell a ride. Hours and admission are on the society’s site.

Wakefield

Wakefield’s railroad stop is a small Chicago & North Western depot museum in the 1925 Omaha Road station at 101 East 1st Street. It opens on select days. The days are on the local listing, and the collection is the building.

Sources

The Durham Museum, durhammuseum.org, 801 South 10th Street. Gilbert Stanley Underwood, Art Deco Union Station, opened January 15, 1931. Museum history: $3.5 million, 124,000 square feet, a peak of 64 passenger trains and about 10,000 people a day. Passenger service ended in May 1971. Western Heritage Museum, 1975. Renamed The Durham Museum in 2008. Smithsonian affiliate. National Historic Landmark, December 23, 2016. Sleeping car, lounge, and caboose on the old track, matching the scenic guide. Hours and admission follow the museum.
Kenefick Park, Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft Street. Free. Dedicated October 15, 2005. Big Boy 4023, Alco 1944, numbers 4020–4024, static. Centennial 6900, Electro-Motive DDA40X, 1969, first of 47, 6,600 horsepower. The operating Big Boy is No. 4014. Its May 30, 2026 Omaha call was the America 250 trip. Garden hours follow Lauritzen Gardens.
Cody Park Railroad Museum, 1400 North Jeffers Street, North Platte. Challenger 3977, Alco, June 1943, construction number 70160, placed October 19, 1968. One of two surviving Union Pacific Challengers. Centennial 6922 added in August 1985. Hershey depot on the grounds. Union Pacific 2-8-0 No. 480 is at Memorial Park and does not run. Both displays are static.
Golden Spike Tower, goldenspiketower.com, 1249 North Homestead Road. Opened June 16, 2008. Overlook of Bailey Yard, named for Edd H. Bailey, Union Pacific president 1965–1971. The view is the visit. Hours and tickets follow the tower. The California Zephyr does not stop at North Platte.
Stuhr Museum, stuhrmuseum.org, 3133 West US Highway 34, Grand Island. Grounds map: Union Pacific Engine 437, a Union Pacific boarding car, and a Union Pacific caboose. The museum does not sell a ride. Trails & Rails Museum, Buffalo County Historical Society, bchs.us, 710 West 11th Street, Kearney. Museum dates from 1975. On the original Mormon Trail. Union Pacific No. 481, described by the society as a 1903 engine, last runs in 1955 on the Kearney–Stapleton line. Shelton depot. Static. Wakefield: 1925 Omaha Road station, 101 East 1st Street, Chicago & North Western depot museum, select days. Hours follow each site.
Pacific Railroad Act, July 1, 1862. Union Pacific groundbreaking at Omaha, December 1, 1863. Promontory Summit, May 10, 1869. Peak mileage 6,166 in 1920. Current mileage 3,062 in 2020. California Zephyr stops: Omaha, Lincoln, Hastings, Holdrege, and McCook. Those dates and figures match the Nebraska railroads page and the scenic guide. The Omaha Zoo Railroad’s 2026 weekends ended October 4. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum, 200 Pearl Street, Council Bluffs, is on the Iowa hub. Fremont’s excursion railroad has ended.

Confirm hours and which locomotive is on the property before you travel.

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