Photo by Magpieturtle, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Upcoming Events
No ticketed events are currently listed for Empire State Railway Museum. Many heritage operators publish schedules seasonally or run on regular open hours instead of dated events.
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About Empire State Railway Museum
Guided tours begin inside the restored 1899 Ulster & Delaware Phoenicia Railroad Station, the historic heart of the Catskill Mountains. Visitors explore the museum’s vintage collection—including a Lake Superior & Ishpeming 2‑8‑0 locomotive, historic baggage cars, and a New Haven caboose—while learning about regional rail heritage. Seasonal exhibits illustrate the Catskill Mountain railroads’ past, and lectures and events deepen understanding of this unique New York rail legacy.
History
The Empire State Railway Museum is founded in 1960 by railroad enthusiasts from the New York metropolitan area, although its formal inception is recorded as 1984. Early ambitions included purchasing a segment of the New York Central Putnam Division after that line’s middle portion is abandoned in 1962, and the organization begins operating excursions on the Middletown & New Jersey Railroad, acquiring Baldwin 2‑6‑2 #103 and other equipment. In 1964 member Jay Wulfson departs to launch the Vermont Railway, and in 1965 the museum starts publishing the annual Steam Passenger Service Directory; regular excursions cease in 1966 because of deteriorating track conditions and vandalism. Between 1970 and 1971 the remaining collection is moved from Middletown to the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut, prompting a loss of membership as volunteers shift to new projects. The museum purchases the historic Ulster & Delaware Phoenicia Railroad Station—built in 1899—along with a local redevelopment group in 1985, restoring the building as its permanent home. After Catskill Mountain Railroad vacates its Kingston storage yard in 2016, the museum relocates its LS&I 2‑8‑0 No. 23 locomotive to a new barn on the Phoenicia property, where a tender rebuild completed in 2002 has been part of ongoing restoration efforts.
The Trains
The museum’s collection includes Lake Superior & Ishpeming 2‑8‑0 steam locomotive No. 23, a Delaware & Hudson Railway baggage car, a Boston & Maine Railroad baggage car, a Central Vermont Railroad automobile boxcar, a New Haven caboose and Delaware & Hudson Railway caboose No. 35952, most of which are stored in a barn at the Phoenicia station. Historically, the museum’s site served as the western terminal of the Catskill Mountain Railroad, with the line running from Phoenicia eastward to Kingston, New York, before the railroad ceased operations in 2016.
Nearby
New York's Empire State Railway Museum links with the Delaware & Ulster Railroad at 16 mi, the Catskill Mountain Railroad at 18 mi, then The Trolley Museum of New York at 20 mi.
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