Empire State Railway Museum

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.