The topic of gasoline prices and visitorship raises (again) an important question:

Can you possibly get there without a car?

Many British excursion railways and museums make a point of interconnectivity. None of my British friends can possibly understand why there isn't an interchange station between Amtrak/SEPTA and the Strasburg at Leaman Place. If at all possible, British (and many European) excursion lines offer cross-platform connections at real passenger stations with regular passenger trains. I was even able to hop local buses from BR stations to remote lines like the Kent & East Sussex and Bluebell in 1991.

But in America? Load up the car. This is a consideration not just for visitors, but for potential volunteers and staffers as well.

Random search and first-hand knowledge:

Baltimore Streetcar Museum and B&O Museum: both within walking distance of regular transit and free-downtown- circulator-shuttle bus stops; one can walk from Amtrak/MARC's Penn Station to the BSM but it's not very obvious or pedestrian-friendly, or ride from Penn Station to B&O Museum free via circulator buses. And you can get downtown via Light Rail from the major airport.

Wilmington & Western: Adjacent to a major DART bus line (#6) between Wilmington (Amtrak Station!) & Newark, but Sunday service is experimental and subject to discontinuance (heck, it's an improvement from when I was there, when they only operated on the Sundays when the buses didn't run!).

Ellicott City: Out of luck

National Capital Trolley Museum: Has a local transit bus connecting with a subway terminal every 30 minutes on weekends.

Western Md. Scenic RR, Cumberland: You can certainly get there by Amtrak, but it's a short hike or taxi ride between the two stations, and a heck of a lag between rides unless you come in from the west and return west.......

Strasburg/RR Museum of Pa.: You can get a bus from Lancaster to Paradise, but not to Strasburg.

Altoona: the Railroaders Memorial Museum is an easy hike from the Amtrak/bus station.

East Broad Top/Rockhill Trolley Museum: an admittedly extreme case of "load up the car."

Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern: ditto.......

There is the Greenfield Village Amtrak station (GFV) in Dearborn, MI.

Greetings:
The Valley Railroad (Essex Steam Train & Riverboat) can be reached Monday through Saturday via AMTRAK or Shoreline East to Old Saybrook then taking the "9 Towns Transit" (schedule online) service to our station in Essex. There is also "Essex Taxi" service (with advance notice only) albeit a bit pricey.
J.David

Shore Line Trolley Museum is a 5 to 15 minute walk from Connecticut Transit buses, depending what routing each trip uses. You can get free transfers with New Haven train station buses.
McKinney Ave. in Dallas, Tex. is a similar situation, but extensions are planed to light rail stations.

There is an intercity bus terminal across the street and parking lot from Steamtown and the Electric City Trolley Museum and Station in Scranton, Pa.

New Hope & Ivyland RR occasionally runs to a connection with S.E.P.T.A. trains at Warminster, Pa. station.

Trans Bridge Lines Doylestown, Pa. - New York City buses stop in Lambertville, N.J., about a 10 to 15 minute walk across the Delaware River from the New Hope station of the New Hope & Ivyland RR. The New Hope, Pa. bus stop is way out in the suburbs. They also stop in Flemington, N.J., "near" the Black River & Western RR. station. They connect at Doylestown with Philadelphia buses and commuter trains.

You can get to the Western Railway Museum in California via Rio Vista Delta Breeze bus Monday through Saturday. The fare is $6.00. It is a deviated fixed route bus service. It runs three times a day with the first eastbound departure at 11:00 AM. You must telephone to be picked up at the Suisun/Fairfield Amtrak station or the Fairfield Transit Center with connecting buses from BART and Greyhound (707-374-2878).

If the return bus schedule is not convenient, you can usually get a ride from the museum back to the Amtrak station from a member or visitor.

So it can be done.

Here in the Seattle area, we have a bit of each...

Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie can easily be reached by a Seattle City bus. It's a bit of ride, but it's not difficult.

Centralia-Chehalis Railroad Association is probably reachable by city bus. You could, conceivably, get there by Amtrak to Centralia, then bus to Chehalis (10 miles or so?), but I'm guessing that would take a while. I do know they are often willing to pick folks up at the Amtrak Station and or take them back for departure, but I don't know if the average guest would be aware of that.

Mt Rainier Scenic RR is a car only visit, unless you get on a group tour from Gray Line or one of the other tour operators that visit Mt Rainier. No public transport anywhere close, and if you take a Taxi from the Amtrak Station in Tacoma (50 miles away), you'll have one very happy taxi driver at the end of the trip, and a much lighter wallet!

The new home of SP 4449 / SP&S 700 will not only be in the downtown region, it will be served by bus and light rail both, and easily accessible from Union Station.

Here's the link for the Old Saybrook-Essex bus schedule.
The Riverside Shuttle stops in front of Old Saybrook Station,
and at the Rt. 154 grade crossing, next to Essex VRR station.

http://estuarytransit.org/schedules2.html

Lee

Ardenwood Farm, home of the SPCRR is served by a couple of AC Transit Bus lines, but they let you off at the front gate, a half mile walk parking lot, the railroad and other activities, a intentional buffer separating the farm from the street.

The Niles Canyon Railway has both bus and occasional (very occasional) cross platform transfer in Niles, now that added a stop there.

I recently visited Hawaii, and was surprised at how well served the Hawaiian Railway Society site at Ewa was by public transit.

San Francisco’s cable car museum is served by two cable car lines… which stop just feet from the front door.

Of course, in the far west, there are some sites that are nearly impossible… Nevada Northern at Ely, located on US 50, marketed as America’s Most Lonely Highway, or the Cumbres and Toltec, In a very remote part of Colorado and New Mexico.

So many sites are in weird remote places, located there ether because they are preserving a historic site, line or right of way, or more often because the land was chosen because it was cheap, and it was cheap because it was remote.

For the Trolley Museum of New York it is possible to get there without a car from New York City, but without careful timing the connections might be dicey:

Two ways:

Bus to Bus:

Take Trailways Bus to Kingston.
Walk 2 blocks to the Kingston CITIBUS stop for the 'Historic Kingston Trolley Bus' (yes, Kingston has a bus that looks like a trolley), take bus to Downtown end of line (if you ask the driver nice, she'll take you right to the museum parking lot).

Train to Water Taxi:

Take AMTRAK to Rhinecliff.
There is a water taxi that runs a summer weekend schedule between Rhinecliff and Downtown Kingston (I haven't seen their 2011 schedule yet). The Kingston dock is a few steps from the museum's trolley tracks. If you miss the water taxi or it's docked due to bad weather, you can call for a conventional taxi ($12-$15).

Let me know about this SEPTA connection Jim. That's the way I want to ride NH&I. Right from Philly. It's on my list of lines to ride.

$15 or even $30 is cheaper than renting a car. And the fuss getting it. If you can get someone to share the trip. The costs can be cut in half. I do it all the time.

You can reach the Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles via the MTA 96 bus plus a 0.8 mile walk in the park. 96 bus connects to the Burbank Metrolink station amoung other locations. There may be other busses too.

Greg

Thanks Lee, we'll be useing your advice, see you sometime this summer.

I've done this twice. It was a nice day. The walk in the summer can be a bit hot. But I didn't mind.