Ohio Railway Museum Unveils “Vision for the Future” Plan

Published: February 19, 2026

WORTHINGTON, Ohio — The Ohio Railway Museum (ORM), one of the nation’s oldest all-volunteer rail preservation organizations, has laid out an ambitious blueprint aimed at transforming its compact Worthington campus into a more complete, visitor-friendly destination for interpreting Ohio railroading and operating historic equipment. Unveiled in conjunction with National Train Day in 2025, the museum’s “Full Steam Ahead” Vision for the Future development plan couples a major site expansion with new facilities, restored historic structures, and upgraded amenities designed to support both preservation work and public programming.

At the center of the plan is a landmark lease agreement with Norfolk Southern that provides the museum access to adjacent land known as the Silcott property. According to reporting in Trains, the addition amounts to roughly two acres situated between Norfolk Southern’s Sandusky District and the museum’s trolley line—an expansion that, for a space-constrained museum, represents a rare chance to reimagine how artifacts are stored, displayed, and interpreted.

Ohio Railway Museum photo featuring property acquired from Norfolk Southern.

ORM’s proposal is not a single project but a sequence of upgrades that build on each other: define and secure the footprint, extend track and wire, add indoor storage and restoration capacity, then improve the visitor experience so the museum can attract larger crowds and stronger community support.

A key early step is basic campus definition—fencing and gated access—intended to improve security while giving the museum a more coherent “arrival” and circulation experience for guests.

From there, the plan turns quickly to what rail museums value most: track. ORM calls for roughly 2,900 feet of new track, including yard leads and a display track, plus a short “running” track described as Main 2. Just as significant, the museum says its original main line would double in length along the former Columbus, Delaware & Marion (CD&M) right-of-way—reaching as far as Indianola Park. In other words, the museum is seeking not only more storage and switching flexibility, but a longer ride and a longer interpretive corridor for visitors.

The museum also envisions new operating and display facilities as the physical backbone of the expansion: multiple car and trolley barns, a dedicated restoration/maintenance building for engines and rolling stock, and even a functioning (replica) interlocking tower—an interpretive structure that can double as a signature centerpiece for the campus.

While track and barns tend to grab attention, ORM’s plan leans heavily on a second theme: restoring historic railroad buildings and reusing them to tell better stories.

The museum’s press release highlights preservation work for several significant structures, including the old Pennsylvania Railroad freight depot, the Silcott scale house, and the Worthington passenger depot. These are not just “nice-to-have” projects—ORM is framing them as vital interpretive assets that connect the museum’s collection to the region’s broader railroad history.

The former PRR freight depot is singled out as a potential primary museum building once restored—an especially meaningful move because it would shift ORM’s core exhibits into a historic structure that looks and feels like the railroad environment the museum interprets.

For many smaller museums, growth plans rise or fall on the basics: restrooms, accessibility, shade, places to sit, and clear ways to move around the grounds. ORM’s plan addresses those fundamentals directly.

ORM lists accessible walking paths, elevated train platforms, and a “native foliage” Garden Railway exhibit meant to pull families deeper into the site and encourage longer visits. It also calls for a dedicated modern restroom facility—often one of the highest-impact improvements for day-trip destinations—plus an eye-catching “Concession Caboose,” a visitor-friendly feature that fits the museum setting while generating revenue.

Beyond these headline items, ORM says phased projects include an observation deck for railfans, rebuilding and extending trolley wire to support heritage operations, and adding green space with native plantings and pollinator gardens along the right-of-way—elements that align with the museum’s stated emphasis on sustainability and “conservation-minded” design.

The museum has been clear that Vision for the Future is intended to be implemented in phases as funding and resources allow. Trains reports the effort is expected to unfold over a multi-year timeline, with costs still being refined as vendors and suppliers are consulted—an approach that suggests ORM is trying to keep the plan flexible enough to match real-world fundraising.

ORM’s press release similarly emphasizes community engagement and ongoing updates about fundraising and project timing, positioning the initiative as something supporters can watch take shape step-by-step rather than a single “grand opening” moment.

About The Museum

The Ohio Railway Museum traces its roots to 1948, giving it an unusually long track record in the preservation movement. The museum’s own history notes that its early journey began with Ohio Public Service Interurban Car No. 21—an artifact the museum highlights as being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, ORM operates on the former CD&M railbed, an interurban corridor the museum describes as having been established in 1901 and ultimately ending service in the early 1930s. That setting is central to ORM’s identity: it’s not just a static display site, but a museum grounded in an authentic transportation right-of-way, which supports operations and living-history interpretation.

ORM also emphasizes that it is an all-volunteer nonprofit, with visitors’ admission, purchases, and donations directly supporting restoration work, maintenance, and public programming. To learn more about their future plans and visiting the site please click here to visit the museum's website.

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