Texas Railroad Museums (2026): A Complete Guide

Published: October 11, 2026

Texas kept the railroads that crossed it, and a few of the locomotives that ran them. In Frisco, north of Dallas, the Museum of the American Railroad has Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4018 and St. Louis–San Francisco 4-8-4 No. 4501, moved off the State Fair grounds in Dallas. Galveston’s museum is the Santa Fe depot of 1932. Temple’s museum is the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe headquarters depot of 1911. Plano keeps a Texas Electric interurban car in the 1908 station. Wichita Falls has Fort Worth & Denver 2-8-0 No. 304, a Brooks engine of 1906.

Magma Arizona #5 / Center for Transportation and Commerce #555, a 2-8-0, originally built in October 1922 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCo) in Dunkirk, New York and preserved at the Galveston Railroad Museum. Museum photo.

The Texas State Railroad, the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, the Austin Steam Train, and Galveston’s short Harborside Express are on the Texas scenic-train guide. Confirm the museum doors on each site before you drive.

On this page: At a glance · Texas railroads · Frisco · Galveston · Temple · Plano · San Antonio · Wichita Falls · Rosenberg · Related reading

At a glance

Place	Town	What it is known for	Site
Museum of the American Railroad	Frisco	State Fair exhibit of 1963, moved from Dallas. Union Pacific Big Boy 4018, arrived August 25, 2013. Frisco 4-8-4 No. 4501, Baldwin 1942	historictrains.org · Big Boy
Galveston Railroad Museum	Galveston	Santa Fe depot of 1932, at the island’s old passenger terminal	profile · rides
Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum	Temple	Founded 1973. Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe depot of 1911, restored and dedicated July 8, 2000	315 West Avenue B
Interurban Railway Museum	Plano	Texas Electric station of 1908. Car 360, built 1911, with a mail compartment	901 East 15th Street
Texas Transportation Museum	San Antonio	Volunteer museum since 1964. A short train on the grounds	11731 Wetmore Road
Wichita Falls Railroad Museum	Wichita Falls	Founded 1980. Fort Worth & Denver 2-8-0 No. 304, Brooks, July 1906	Depot Square
Rosenberg Railroad Museum	Rosenberg	Tower 17, from the Santa Fe crossing of the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio	1921 Avenue F

Texas railroads

The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado was chartered on February 11, 1850, the railroad usually counted as Texas’s first. From that charter the state filled with the Santa Fe, through its Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, the Southern Pacific, the Texas & Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the Katy, the Fort Worth & Denver, the Cotton Belt, and the Frisco. The mileage made Texas the largest railroad state. Union Pacific and BNSF are the Class I freights now. A fuller map is on the Texas railroads page.

The Texas State Railroad, between Palestine and Rusk, the Grapevine Vintage Railroad into the Fort Worth Stockyards, and the Austin Steam Train’s Hill Country Flyer are operating railroads with historic equipment. Their calendars are on the scenic guide.

Frisco

The Museum of the American Railroad began as an exhibit at the 1963 State Fair of Texas, the work of Dallas collectors and the fair’s staff, and it stayed at Fair Park. It became a museum in its own right in 1986 and was long known as the Age of Steam Railroad Museum. The grounds there were about 1.8 acres. In November 2011 the Fair Park site closed, and the collection moved to Frisco, the town north of Dallas that took its name from the railroad. The last pieces arrived on September 10, 2013.

Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4018, an Alco 4-8-8-4 of the 1941 series, had stood at Fair Park since August 1965. It reached the Frisco site on August 25, 2013. St. Louis–San Francisco No. 4501, a Baldwin 4-8-4 of 1942, arrived the night of May 27, 2013. Union Pacific Centennial No. 6913, one of the DDA40X diesels, came with an earlier cut of the move. The collection also includes a Houston & Texas Central depot of about 1905 and a Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe interlocking tower. TrainTopia, the museum’s layout, is next door at the Frisco Discovery Center. Guided walks of the rolling stock are what the museum sells. The Big Boy page is the type history. This engine is a display locomotive.

Galveston

The Galveston Railroad Museum occupies the Santa Fe depot of 1932 at the island’s old passenger terminal, on the grounds of the former Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe headquarters. The yard holds locomotives and cars, including Santa Fe passenger diesels in the warbonnet. The Harborside Express is the short ride, run when the museum posts it. That calendar, and the seasonal trains, are on the scenic guide. The museum’s own page is the profile.

Temple

The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum was founded in 1973 to keep the railroad history of central Texas. Its first home was the Santa Fe depot at Moody. The building it has now is the Temple depot of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, completed in 1911, a Prairie-style station and the Southern Division headquarters. The Santa Fe gave the depot to the city in 1995. The restored building was dedicated on July 8, 2000, and it still sits beside a live BNSF yard, with Amtrak next to the collection. Santa Fe steam and diesel locomotives, and a string of cabooses, stand on the grounds at 315 West Avenue B. The museum posts its days.

Plano

The Interurban Railway Museum is the Texas Electric Railway’s Plano station, a brick depot and substation of 1908 at 901 East 15th Street, beside the DART tracks in Haggard Park. The Texas Electric, assembled from earlier interurban companies, connected Dallas with Denison, Corsicana, and Waco, and quit in 1948. The car the museum is known for is No. 360, built in 1911, a wood-and-steel interurban with its own mail compartment. The city lists admission as free. The museum posts its days.

San Antonio

The Texas Transportation Museum has collected in San Antonio since 1964. The grounds at 11731 Wetmore Road hold railroad equipment, fire trucks, and automobiles, and the volunteers run a short passenger train on the property. The museum posts which days that train turns a wheel. The Southern Pacific and the Missouri Pacific were the railroads that made the city a junction. Their story on the ground is this collection.

Wichita Falls

The Wichita Falls Railroad Museum was founded in 1980 and has stood in Depot Square, the old union-station ground, since 1992. The locomotive it is known for is Fort Worth & Denver City No. 304, a 2-8-0, class B-4-R, built by Brooks in July 1906, construction number 40246. The Fort Worth & Denver City was on its way into the Burlington family. The railroad gave No. 304 to the Wichita Falls Rotary Club in 1955, and the club’s engine is what the museum has. Missouri-Kansas-Texas No. 1029, an Electro-Motive NW2 of 1947, is in the same collection. Confirm the doors before a trip. The Fort Worth & Denver page is the company history.

Rosenberg

The Rosenberg Railroad Museum, at 1921 Avenue F, is a short stop built around Tower 17. The tower controlled the crossing of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio, the Southern Pacific’s line across the coastal prairie. A caboose, a passenger car, and a garden railroad share the site with the tower. The museum posts its days.

Railroad museums · Texas railroads · Texas scenic trains
Galveston Railroad Museum · Big Boy · Santa Fe · Frisco · Texas & Pacific · Fort Worth & Denver · Katy
New Mexico railroad museums · Arkansas railroad museums · Union Pacific · Southern Pacific · Cotton Belt · Missouri Pacific

Sources

Museum of the American Railroad, historictrains.org, and the Dallas Morning News. Exhibit at the 1963 State Fair of Texas. Museum in 1986, long called the Age of Steam Railroad Museum at Fair Park. Fair Park site closed November 2011. Move completed September 10, 2013. Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4018, an Alco of the 1941 series, at Fair Park from August 1965, arrived in Frisco on August 25, 2013. Frisco No. 4501, Baldwin, 1942, a 4-8-4, arrived May 27, 2013. Union Pacific Centennial No. 6913 was in the January 17, 2013, movement. The Big Boy type history is the existing page.
Galveston Railroad Museum. Santa Fe depot of 1932, as the scenic-train guide gives it. The existing profile is the museum’s own page. The Harborside Express stays on that guide.
Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum. Founded 1973. Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe depot completed in 1911, Southern Division headquarters. Santa Fe donated the depot in 1995. Restored building dedicated July 8, 2000. Address 315 West Avenue B.
Interurban Railway Museum, Plano. Texas Electric station of 1908 at 901 East 15th Street. Texas Electric service, 1908–1948. Car No. 360, built 1911, with a mail compartment. City tourism lists admission as free.
Texas Transportation Museum, San Antonio. Collecting since 1964. Address 11731 Wetmore Road. A short passenger train on the grounds, on the days the museum posts.
Wichita Falls Railroad Museum, founded 1980, in Depot Square since 1992. Fort Worth & Denver City No. 304, Brooks, July 1906, construction number 40246, class B-4-R, a 2-8-0. Donated to the Wichita Falls Rotary Club in 1955. Missouri-Kansas-Texas No. 1029, an Electro-Motive NW2 of 1947.
Rosenberg Railroad Museum, 1921 Avenue F. Tower 17, from the crossing of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio. Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado chartered February 11, 1850, as the Texas railroads page records it.

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

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