I'm looking for railroad museums that have railroad side businesses to raise revenue. This can be car storage, freight hauling, shop work or any other railroad skills that can be contracted out.

Aaron Isaacs, editor
Tourist Railroads & Railway Museums

A couple:
Central Pa. Chapter NRHS (White Deer, Pa.) did some car storage for freshly-built covered hoppers on their 1.6 miles of track a couple years back.

Wilmington & Western did have a freight subsidiary for occasional freight back when it assumed ownership of the Landenberg Branch in 1982, but if they still do anything it's only switching for a lumberyard and brickyard next to their junction switch.

I need not mention Strasburg RR, eh?

The B&O RR Museum has supposedly/reportedly painted a couple pieces for local railroads, mostly locos, over the years, but whether that's officially a "business" I couldn't say.

The Western Md. Scenic RR was doing some car work for MARC and others at their Ridgeley, WV shops a while back, I believe.

RMNE's wholly-owned subsidiary railroad, Naugatuck Railroad Company, is a common-carrier with past intermittent freight business during the past 15 years, and has more-regular freight customers projected in the near future.

https://www.facebook.com/NaugatuckRailroadFreight

Howard P.

Off the top of my head:

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (common carrier freight; contract freight; contract switching; car storage; shop services)

Kentucky Railway Museum (car storage)

Indiana Railway Museum (common carrier freight subsidiary)

Monticello Railway Museum (car storage)

The East Broad Top Preservation Association is reportedly starting a small scale freight car repair business at Mt. Union, PA.

The Railroad Museum of New England (Naugatuck Railroad) as H.P. has mentioned above.

Alan Maples

[quote="Alexander D. Mitchell IV"

I need not mention Strasburg RR, eh?
[/quote]


But...... it's not a museum nor a 501C3 of any kind so..... they fit not at all.

Well, in all fairness I DID say "I need not mention them", right? <:-p

Looking to Canada, you have the West Coast Railway Association with its BC Rail shop complex.

East Troy Electric Ry. in Wisconsin used to do some switching for tube mill--some of their products were so long that it was more feasible to ship them on very long flatcars than to go through the permit hassle of truck transport. When I visited East Troy last summer I was told that they hadn't done any freight moves for quite a while.

As I recall, Durango & Silverton (and prior to that the D&RGW when that route was the Silverton Branch, but still in the preservation era) helps to maintain a hydroelectric power plant on the route that doesn't have road access. A notable shipment on the line--and I don't recall if it was before it became divested from D&RGW or not--was the replacement of the penstocks (large steel pipes from the dam to the plant itself) when the originals got too rusty. The road was in the envious position of having loaded movements in both directions as the new pipes were hauled in and the old ones taken out. I seem to recall these pipes were quite large, essentially filling the loading gauge. And of course, the road helped build the power plant back in the first place almost a century ago.

It must be interesting to be an electric company employee who takes a narrow gauge steam train once in a while to perform routine lighter work at the power plant.

I also think White Pass & Yukon would be open to freight traffic if any presented itself.

Boothbay Railway Village in Maine contracts out its shop. See the recent "new" Edaville #11 locomotive which was built for Edaville by the crew at Boothbay Railway Village.

The Durango & Silverton ran several revenue trains hauling pipe to and from the power plant at Tacoma during their first summer of operation in 1981. They also handled the occasional carload of freight to a mining operation just North of Elk Park.

I am not sure if they are still considered a common carrier or not, but being the only mode of ground transportation into much of the Animas canyon, if it can't get there on its own feet, it goes by narrow gauge railroad.

East Troy also switched bulk potash cars at one time. They cannot do any freight moves now because CN removed the interchange switch at Mukwonago.

I believe that the Boone and Scenic Valley sometimes handles some freight for a local lumberyard.

I suppose one could argue that Steamtown fits into this category, considering the amount of cars the DL stores in the yard, but I don't believe Steamtown actually makes any revenue off of that (due to that whole "not-for-profit deal")

The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Mineral, WA does machine shop and boiler work on a contract basis. We are currently working on the drivers and driving boxes for ex-Southern Pacific 4-6-0 #18 (36" ga.) located in Independance, CA.

Brian Wise
General Manager
Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad

As recently as five years ago the W&W was handling the delivery and removal of cars to Delaware Brick on the West side of Centerville Rd. at Landenberg Jct. CSX Wilsmere yard switching crews set the cars across the street for them and picked up the empties. I don't know what current practice is.