By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
The Galveston Railroad Museum opened their Texas battleship exhibit on July 1, and guests took in the many artifacts as they browsed the room dedicated to the history of the battleship. The exhibit is a collaboration between the Texas Parks and Wildlife and Battleship Texas Foundation.
“Traveling the World at Sea: The Story of the Battleship Texas” is on display July 1 – January 31, 2024. The museum is delighted to host the exhibit.
The story of the battleship Texas and all the places she visited is told in the exhibt. You can see numerous items that were once on the battleship, such as the microphone used by General Eisenhower to give his pre-D-Day speech aboard the battleship.
The ship is currently docked in Galveston at Gulf Copper Drydock and Ship Repair in the Galveston Ship Channel. It is undergoing renovation where it can easily be seen across the harbor from Pier 21.
Beyond the battleship room is another room filled with the museum’s collection of porcelainware, china and silver that were once used in the dining cars of American trains.
Walking through the hallways you will find shelves filled with model train cars.
A video about the USS Battleship can be found in the museum’s mini auditorium. Workers are busy behind plexi-glass walls putting together model train sets that had been dismantled while the building itself was shuttered for a period.
Museum guests stroll through the hallways enjoying railroad memorabilia. The door opens to the courtyard. With the summer’s heat most guests head directly into the train simulator room.
Once inside the simulator room, children were drawn to the toy train set. Some of them were drawn to climbing over the set, and their mothers were drawn to pulling the climbers down. Other children were busy enjoying connecting the toy train cars and making “choo-choo” noises.
One child visitor, Shrinika from Dallas, was on a full-scale tour of Galveston with her family, and her father reports they were enjoying their tour and especially liked the railroad museum. They hope to come back for Polar Express.
Several children waited in line for their chance to try out being an engineer in the simulator booth.
Moving into the grand waiting room of the former railroad station is a chance to cool down and rest on one of the authentic station benches once sat upon by passengers from the past.
While sitting in the monumental room, it’s a challenge not to feel you can chat freely with the plaster sculptures of would-be passengers from decades in the past. The artist took great care to recreate them in detail so that you almost feel they might share something such as the price of gas or sugar while you are sitting near one of them.
In addition to the sculptures being true to life, the entire museum being housed in the former railway station creates an authentic experience and you can’t help but feel you’ve stepped back in time.
Forty years ago, the railroad depot was on its way to being demolished. But thankfully, this did not happen. Mary Moody Northen put her mind to creating a museum out of the building, and since then, the museum has educated and entertained 1000s of guests both young and old.
Beyond the interior options are the numerous historic train cars which guests are invited to climb aboard and explore. Included in the lineup of open train cars is a dining car, a mailroom, passenger cars and sleeping quarters complete with lavatories. There are also two locomotives.
Great care has gone into designing the museum to be a place where one can see, feel, and if you let your imagination go, enter into history.
The museum is staffed by both paid employees and volunteers, Rick, who serves as a volunteer engineer, takes passengers on mini train rides. He enjoys keeping busy with his volunteer service. He himself was once an engineer in the railroad industry.
Caleb is one of the many paid staff members. He said he enjoys his work environment and the many guests who come to visit the historic train museum.
His coworker, Andrew, also enjoys working at the museum. His enjoyment of the museum goes back further than his employment there.
“I was over the moon when I first came here as a child,” said Andrew, who loves history.
Occupying five acres, the museum is one of Galveston’s treasures and draws visitors regardless of the weather conditions. All who come through the ticket agent window are transported into a transportation history experience.
The museum is located at the west end of The Strand where The Strand meets up with Rosenberg at 2602 Santa Fe Place. For more information on hours and ticket prices, go to: https://galvestonrrmuseum.org.
