Oklahoma Railway Museum(14)
- Jonathan Elmore
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 10
OKLAHOMA CITY
I had just turned 4 years old when my family moved from Burrton, Kansas to Drummond, Oklahoma. Everything was good. We lived in a kind of run down house but we were happy to be in a new place. One thing that Drummond had that Burrton didn't was a train that drove through in the middle of the night. I had never experienced a train horn before, especially one at 2am. I screamed like I was being hung up by my toes. Mom, Dad, and my older brother Jeff converged on my room to see what the heck had happened. I was terrified of the monster noise. Over the years, I would hear the midnight train and actually fall into a deeper sleep after it sounded off.
Once I figured out what trains were and what they sounded like, I was intrigued by them. I still am today so I went over to the Oklahoma Railway Museum. There's a little side museum as you walk in. It has some cool memoribilia and old tools that were used to keep trains running in the early days of rail. Inspired by the great collection inside, I went back out to see the rail cars and engines that I had seen pulling up. There were everything I hoped they would be, metal giants. The Museum has quite a few cars that you can see from the platform and more you can see off the platform. The only thing you need to worry about is not every car is available to look up close if you're either in a wheelchair or you have mobility issues. Luckily for me, I'm still a little spry so I could climb up the stairs into the cars that were open. It really made me appreciate modern travel. The caboose looked like the person in charge of it was probably bounced around like a rubber ball for most of the ride.
One thing that felt odd was there wasn't anyone there to talk about the trains or the individual cars and their history. There are little placards on each car to let you know what it is and what it was used for. Since the Museum has a volunteer staff, sometimes days can't be fully covered. Nothing wrong with that at all. We all do what we can do when we can do it. Just be aware of it when you go. And you should go.
Another cool thing that the Oklahoma Railway Museum offers every 1st and 3rd Saturday is a train ride on old passenger railcars pulled by a classic diesel engine. You can get tickets in advance or in the gift shop which is only open on train ride days. The museum is open 9 to 5, January through October. Most things are outdoors so cold and inclimate weather make it difficult and unpleasant to look around. Other than that, take the family to see some classic trains.
3400 NE Grand Blvd, Oklahoma City
405-424-8222
Jonathan Elmore ©2025
