Wisconsin Railroad Museums (2026): A Complete Guide

Published: October 10, 2026

Wisconsin’s railroad museums are a congressional museum in Green Bay, a Chicago & North Western branch the preservationists bought at North Freedom, and the last piece of the Milwaukee Electric’s interurban to East Troy. The National Railroad Museum has Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4017 indoors, with the British A4 that carried Dwight D. Eisenhower’s train. Mid-Continent, at North Freedom, has run since 1963 and is restoring Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 No. 1385. East Troy still has overhead wire on the line finished in 1907. At Wisconsin Dells, the Riverside & Great Northern is the Sandleys’ 15-inch-gauge works, running again under a preservation society.

Chesapeake and Ohio steam turbine electric M-1 500 during trials in 1947

The East Troy Railroad Museum's carbarn, typically only open to the public on Railfan Day, is seen here with preserved equipment. Museum photo.

Mid-Continent’s excursions, East Troy’s trolleys, the Dells miniature, the Osceola train, and the dinner train at Trego are on the Wisconsin scenic-train guide. Confirm the museum doors on each site before you drive.

On this page: At a glance · Wisconsin railroads · Green Bay · North Freedom · East Troy · Wisconsin Dells · Related reading

At a glance

Place	Town	What it is known for	Site
National Railroad Museum	Ashwaubenon	Founded 1956. Congress recognized it in 1958. Union Pacific Big Boy 4017. British Railways A4 No. 60008, Dwight D. Eisenhower	profile · 2285 South Broadway · rides
Mid-Continent Railway Museum	North Freedom	First train May 26, 1963, on a Chicago & North Western branch of 1903. Ten-Wheeler No. 1385, Alco, March 1907, in restoration	midcontinent.org · rides
East Troy Railroad Museum	East Troy	Milwaukee Electric line completed December 13, 1907. Museum owns the railroad from January 13, 1995. National Register, June 10, 2026	easttroyrr.org · rides
Riverside & Great Northern	Wisconsin Dells	Sandley 15-inch gauge. First passengers June 6, 1949. Golden spike at the Dells, August 9, 1953. Preservation society, 1988	dellstrain.com · rides

Wisconsin railroads

The Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western covered the state, and the Soo Line and the Wisconsin Central held the north. The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company built the interurban web around Milwaukee, a different company from the steam railroad that shared the city’s name. Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National are on much of that map now, with Union Pacific in the south. A fuller account is on the Wisconsin railroads page.

The Wisconsin Great Northern dinner train at Trego, and the Lumberjack Steam Train at Laona, are rides. Their seasons are on the scenic guide. The Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway boards in Wisconsin and is run by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. That museum’s own page is the Minnesota railroad museums guide. The train is on the Wisconsin scenic guide.

Green Bay

The National Railroad Museum was established in 1956 by Green Bay people who set out to save a steam locomotive for a city park. General Carl R. Gray, who had commanded military railroads in the Second World War, was arguing at the same time for a national museum. In 1958 a joint resolution of Congress recognized this one as the National Railroad Museum. It is a private nonprofit, on about 33 acres along the Fox River in Ashwaubenon, at 2285 South Broadway. The profile already on this site is the National Railroad Museum page.

Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4017, an Alco 4-8-8-4 of the 1941 series, stands inside the Frederick J. Lenfestey Center. British Railways No. 60008, Dwight D. Eisenhower, is the LNER A4 built in 1937 as No. 4496, Golden Shuttle. It reached Green Bay in 1964, and the dedication that September had Eisenhower there. The museum’s collection also includes its Pershing locomotive and a General Motors Aerotrain. The short diesel train on the grounds is included with admission on the days the museum runs it. Those days, and the holiday trains, are on the scenic guide. The Big Boy page is the type history.

North Freedom

Mid-Continent began on April 29, 1959, as the Railroad Historical Society of Milwaukee. Consumers Company 0-4-0 No. 701, given that November, was the first engine. The group ran its early trips on the Hillsboro & Northeastern. On February 10, 1963, the society took the name Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society, and that year it bought the Chicago & North Western branch at North Freedom, the line built in 1903 to the iron mines at La Rue and later used by a quartzite quarry. The first train for visitors left on May 26, 1963. The wooden depot on the grounds was built in 1894.

Chicago & North Western No. 1385 is a class R-1 4-6-0, built by Alco in March 1907 and bought from the railroad in 1961. It is the steam locomotive the museum is restoring. The train on the branch is on the scenic guide, which has the days and the trip out to Quartzite Lake. The collection of wooden cars is the other half of the visit. The Chicago & North Western page is the company history.

East Troy

The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company finished its line into East Troy on December 13, 1907, the outer end of a route that left Milwaukee through Mukwonago. In 1939 the village bought the surviving piece, from East Troy to Mukwonago, and kept it for freight after the rest of the interurban was abandoned. A brick substation of 1909 still stands in the East Troy yard. Excursion trolleys have used the wire since the early 1970s. In 1985 the Wisconsin Trolley Museum took over the operation. On January 13, 1995, the Friends of the East Troy Railroad completed the purchase, and the East Troy Railroad Museum has owned the railroad since.

The line is about seven miles, still under trolley wire, and on June 10, 2026, the East Troy Electric Railroad Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cars come from the Milwaukee Electric, the North Shore Line, the South Shore Line, and the Twin Cities. The museum posts the days. The trip itself is on the scenic guide. The interurban page is the national story of this kind of railroad.

Wisconsin Dells

The Riverside & Great Northern is a 15-inch-gauge railroad, big enough to ride and small enough that the Sandleys could build the locomotives themselves. Elmer Sandley and his son Norman set it up in Janesville as the demonstration line for the Sandley Light Railway Equipment Works. The first fare-paying passengers rode on June 6, 1949, behind locomotive No. 128. Neighbors objected. In 1952 the Sandleys bought an abandoned grade just north of Wisconsin Dells, a piece of the La Crosse & Milwaukee alignment of 1857 that the Milwaukee Road had left in the 1890s for an easier hill. They drove a golden spike on August 9, 1953.

The works built miniature steam locomotives and cars into the early 1980s, including equipment for the Milwaukee County Zoo, and then the shop went quiet. The Riverside & Great Northern Preservation Society formed in 1988 and reopened the railroad on May 15, 1990. The scaled-down depot, the old shop, and the 15-inch track are the museum. The days the train runs are on the scenic guide.

Railroad museums · Wisconsin railroads · Wisconsin scenic trains
National Railroad Museum · Big Boy · Aerotrain · Chicago & North Western · Milwaukee Road · Soo Line · Wisconsin Central
Minnesota railroad museums · Illinois railroad museums · Iowa railroad museums · Interurbans

Sources

National Railroad Museum. Founded 1956. Joint resolution of Congress, 1958. Address 2285 South Broadway, Ashwaubenon. Campus about 33 acres. Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4017, an Alco of the 1941 series, displayed in the Lenfestey Center. British Railways A4 No. 60008, Dwight D. Eisenhower, built in 1937 as London & North Eastern No. 4496, Golden Shuttle, arrived in 1964. The existing profile is the museum’s own page. The grounds train stays on the scenic-train guide. The Big Boy type history is the existing page.
Mid-Continent Railway Museum. Railroad Historical Society of Milwaukee incorporated April 29, 1959. Consumers Company 0-4-0 No. 701 given in November 1959. Renamed February 10, 1963. Chicago & North Western branch at North Freedom, built in 1903, bought in 1963. First public train May 26, 1963. Depot of 1894. Chicago & North Western No. 1385, Alco, March 1907, class R-1, a 4-6-0, purchased in 1961 and in restoration. Ride dates stay on the scenic-train guide.
East Troy Railroad Museum. Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company completed the line to East Troy on December 13, 1907. Village purchase of the East Troy–Mukwonago piece, 1939. Substation of 1909. Wisconsin Trolley Museum operation from 1985. Purchase completed January 13, 1995. About seven miles. National Register of Historic Places, June 10, 2026. Ride dates stay on the scenic-train guide.
Riverside & Great Northern, dellstrain.com. First fare-paying passengers June 6, 1949, at Janesville, behind No. 128. Grade at Wisconsin Dells purchased in 1952, a La Crosse & Milwaukee alignment of 1857 later left by the Milwaukee Road. Golden spike August 9, 1953. Gauge 15 inches. Preservation society formed in 1988. Railroad reopened May 15, 1990.
Osceola & St. Croix Valley trains are the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Wisconsin operation, on the scenic-train guide. The Wisconsin Great Northern at Trego and the Lumberjack Steam Train at Laona are rides on the same guide.

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

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