Hello friends and Hivians. I hope all is well. I'm doing ok and looking forward to this weekend, I have plans! But that will be shared at another time.
Here we have an old train depot that now sits in Gemni Park adjacent to the Sarphy County Museum in Bellevue, Nebraska. The depot was built in 1869 and is the oldiest surviving one in the the state of Nebraska. It was originally built for the than Omaha Southwestern Railroad. It later served trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad via the Burlington Route. The Bellevue Station is often referred to as the Burlington Depot in Bellevue.
The station has been moved twice (all short distances) and now has been sitting at its current location since 1987. The museum obtained the depot for $1 on the condition it just pay for it to be moved. Interior tours of the station are available.
I was fortunate enough to see it through one of the museum workers. When I walked into the museum to pay I mentioned how cool the railroad depot was. The lady asked if I wanted to go inside it. Of course I said yes than she asked if I wanted to do it now or after I looked around. I didn't hesitate, to the depot we went, haha. She wasn't a tour guide but knew some of the details of this local treasure. I'm glad they weren't busy or she might not have offered to open it up for me to see.
Before I show you the inside here are a few older carts and a dolly that were on display on the outside of the building. It's really neat to see these kind of things. Very different compared what is used today. Items of this nature are more than likely hand crafted. I imagine these got good use for quite some time due to being made to last. My favorite is the cart with the look like wagons wheels. It just gives off a very vintage look back at the past.
This depot has been restored and features a pot belly cast iron stove, morse code telegraph keys, period luggage, type writers, old metal fans and other things that showcase railroad history. I personally got drawn to the benches. I've seen this style of benches before at a few other railroad museums I've visited. I just don't get sick of seeing them.
The museum worker told me two things I want to share. One was that a working employee housed his family in the depot. They had there living quarters in one of the the four rooms in the building. What was cool about this story is relatives of that employee visited not that long ago to check it out. I believe she said it was the eldest family members Grandfather.
The other thing she told me was that the museum is moving to another location. The new location will be much larger and better located for more to see. The existing facility is already bursting at it seams. The main reason for the move is it's getting a rather large private collection donated to them. I was stoked when she told me what type of collection.
So a former railroad executive, Bill Wimmer is donating his entire private railroad collection to the Sarpy County Museum. Now its currently in a 5000+ square foot building. With over 50+ years working for the railroad he and his wife have accumulated a lot of railroad memorabilia. Some really cool artifacts which includes a Plymouth locomotive. I wish I could see all of it right now but I can not. I do share this attached video above which gives glimpses of some of it. The new museum is projected to be open in two years I can't wait to visit.
The next thing I visited was the Union Pacific Caboose they had on display. This was one of the best ones I've seen restored. Ok Spoiler no train but seeing this was cool and the lady also unlocked it so I could see it on the inside.
So let me tell you a little bit about its history. It was built in May of 1967 and was retired from the railroad on 30 August 1989. A lot of cabooses were replaced by the End of Train (EOT) devices, also known as Flashing Rear-End Devices (FREDs), which monitor the air brake pressure and safety of a train. It didn't take long to find a home. It was donated to the city of Springfield, Nebraska in 1989. It was displayed there at Buffalo Park until it was sold in April of 2014 to the museum where I'm at today.
Like I said above this one is probably the best one I've seen. There are two others in the area where I live and they seem pretty bare on the inside compared to this one. Now the lady said the restoration and the tracks that are laid underneath it were done by former and retired railroad workers.
Unlike the other caboose displays this one had some good reading material about it. I often thought it would be boring riding in a caboose but this one seems to have all the amenities you need. Running water, power, bathroom, plenty of seating and a nice cushioned place to lay down at.
After I was satisfied with my time with the caboose I headed into the museum. It really is cram packed with many artifacts. Since there wasn't much to show on railroad history in the main museum I will save that for another post. I will say it really has some cool things. Oh almost forgot, the train depot and the caboose will be making the move to the new museum as well.
That's all I have for you at time. I hope you enjoyed this little installment of railroad history in a place very close to my home.
Take care, stay safe, and be happy. Until next time!