American Passenger Train History Museum

05/18/2026

Last Friday, Mid-American came out and mounted our transformer to the pole and hooked up the depot! We now have permanent commercial power to the building! We keep making slow but incremental progress, thanks to the generous support of donors like you!

05/06/2026

Big day today! Electrical service installation to the depot began this morning!

05/04/2026

Construction continues on the depot. Mechanical and electrical contractors continue their work to get the trail restrooms closer toward completion. Over the winter we also had crews out to remove the vermiculite and raccoon f***s out of the attic so we can begin repairs, and install ductwork and insulation.

04/16/2026

Railking delivery!

04/16/2026

Yesterday, the museum took delivery of our new-to-us Railking car mover. It came to us from a grain operation in eastern Nebraska. We are thrilled to have a car mover from this century that parts are still available for! If you or someone you know is looking for a Shuttlewagon, reach out as our old unit is available!

02/10/2026

This weekend Bob, Justin and Zander road tripped to Kenosha, WI to pick up a Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul depot safe. We estimate this safe is from the early 1900’s and will be right at home in the depot ticket office!

11/13/2025

11/13/2025

APTHM is excited to announce that we have crossed a major milestone in the renovation of the depot. In collaboration with NIACC’s Building Trades Class for the 2025-2026 school year we have completed most of the framing for new walls in the depot. This step will allow us to start roughing in electrical, plumbing and heating/cooling systems in the building. This is a major achievement and we are extremely grateful to the wonderful students from NIACC who helped make this dream a reality!

10/21/2025

Our museum inhabits the grounds of the old Charley Western. Enjoy these photos of our railroad in its previous life!

10/14/2025

Please enjoy this post!

This weekend volunteers replaced a broken post in our new storage building. Additionally paint work was done on some of our Milwaukee Road cars as we attempt to squeeze out a few more work weekends before winter sets in.

Thanks to L & J Industries Inc. for fabricating our new post base, always a pleasure working with your team!