American Passenger Train History Museum

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American Passenger Train History Museum We are a museum dedicated to preserving and interpreting the American passenger train in photos, memorabilia, artifacts and railroad equipment.

Labor Day weekend was very busy around the museum. Volunteers welcomed visitors aboard our 1883 coach and sleeper Jeffer...
09/10/2026

Labor Day weekend was very busy around the museum. Volunteers welcomed visitors aboard our 1883 coach and sleeper Jefferson River for tours and switched the cars back to their normal locations ahead of winter. We also spent many hours removing the old scale house at our storage facility. Volunteers also shored up the storage building for concrete installation and framing that are going to happen later this fall.

Special thanks to all the volunteers that came out this weekend and to all that visited us on Sunday!

Work weekend is in full swing! If you’re looking for something to do, swing by 1006 F street, we are working on the sto...
09/05/2026

Work weekend is in full swing! If you’re looking for something to do, swing by 1006 F street, we are working on the storage building.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow from 1-3 to see the 1883 coach! 1010 G street.

Do you or someone you know have any interest in a vintage Fairbanks Morse scale? We will be removing the structure the ...
09/03/2026

Do you or someone you know have any interest in a vintage Fairbanks Morse scale? We will be removing the structure the scale is currently in and would like to see it to to a good home. If you’re interested, please reach out. Otherwise it will likely be scrapped. You will need to remove it, but we will have volunteers on hand this weekend if you need help loading.

Hey you.Yes you, reading this post. You’re invited to stop by our shop in Charles City on Sunday September 6th to tour o...
08/25/2026

Hey you.

Yes you, reading this post.

You’re invited to stop by our shop in Charles City on Sunday September 6th to tour our 1883 coach.

We will be giving guided tours of our Frisco coach, answering questions and showing people around the grounds from 1-3 PM. There is plenty of parking at our shop building located at 1010 G Street in Charles City, or come via the Charley Western Trail.

Stop by for a few minutes, or stay the whole time. We’re excited to share our newest and oldest car with you!

5 days and 800 miles later, she’s put to bed.
08/18/2026

5 days and 800 miles later, she’s put to bed.

At 3:10 this afternoon, SLSF 514 was successfully mated with its trucks and rolled on the rails of APTHM for the first t...
08/17/2026

At 3:10 this afternoon, SLSF 514 was successfully mated with its trucks and rolled on the rails of APTHM for the first time. This project was 2 years in the making and we are thrilled to have accepted this amazing donation. We would like to thank the following people/companies for their help on this project:

Chatfield Brothers Repair of Floyd
Zeke’s Construction of Charles City
DeBoest Concrete of Charles City
Dave Bock, Complete Appliance Demanufacturing of Charles City
The Huff Brothers of Chamberlain, SD
All of our partners in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Photos of today’s events courtesy of Gail Sullivan.

All of our amazing volunteers who put in blood, sweat and tears to get this car home. None of this would be possible without your dedication!

Take a breath, take a well earned break and let us enjoy our 143 year old piece of American passenger train history!

While the highlight of this weekend was the arrival of Frisco coach 514, volunteers put in a full weekend on preparing t...
08/17/2026

While the highlight of this weekend was the arrival of Frisco coach 514, volunteers put in a full weekend on preparing the grounds for 514’s arrival and a handful of other projects around the museum. Brent and Justin removed a leaky vent and replaced damaged metal roofing on the shop as well as some demolition at the storage building. While that was happening, Chris and Dave cleared out the shop so we can roll 514 indoors after she’s on her wheels. Meanwhile, Dean organized delivery of rock and expertly spread it with his Bobcat so the truck and cranes have sure footing for our lift. Our dedicated volunteers also spent many hours switching cars to clear the mainline for 514’s journey to the shop, where she will be stored indoors. It was an extremely busy weekend and it should climax with a tandem lift of 514 this afternoon!

514 has arrived in Charles City and hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday she’ll be craned onto her trucks. She’s half-a-mile fr...
08/16/2026

514 has arrived in Charles City and hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday she’ll be craned onto her trucks. She’s half-a-mile from her new home!

Progress continues on getting Frisco 514 home. We were forced to pivot when the car weighed more than the official recor...
08/15/2026

Progress continues on getting Frisco 514 home. We were forced to pivot when the car weighed more than the official record and any of us were expecting. After maxing out our movers trailer we were force to pivot and we removed the trucks from the car body and shipped them separately. The trucks are now on the ground at the museum, while the car body makes its way north. We are hopeful that we can mate the car to its trucks Monday. Special thanks to Chatfield Brothers Repair for their assist in unloading the trucks.

Coming soon to a railroad museum near you!Built by Barney and Smith in March 1883, St Louis and San Francisco coach 661 ...
08/13/2026

Coming soon to a railroad museum near you!

Built by Barney and Smith in March 1883, St Louis and San Francisco coach 661 is being loaded for transport by truck to the museum in Charles City. Loading operations in Pine Bluff, Arkansas began this morning, with delivery tentatively set for Saturday morning. 661 has been donated to APTHM and is our oldest car by a wide margin. We understand this car to be the oldest surviving example of a Jim Crow coach and is an important piece of history, so much so that it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

https://catalog.archives.gov/medialive/66/1425/26142566/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_AR/06000413.pdf?fbclid=IwcGRvZgRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80Mzc2MjYzMTY5NzM3ODgAAR6wwHuj186HQfOZJuqfnuFiqaj2IDiRGV2lGaIPhT3sk8F-mJ8XEG7DJI1UtA_aem_G7qld-DQKa2LR7U2p4dn7Q

If you drive down 11th Avenue on Saturday, there’s an excellent chance you will get to see our 143 year-old piece of history.

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Charles City, IA

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