The Railroad Museum of the Niagara Frontier is located in the 1922-built Erie Railroad

Erie Railroad

The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...

 freight depot in North Tonawanda, New York

North Tonawanda, New York

North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south border...

. Operated by the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society, its mission is to preserve the railroad history of the Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 area, once the railroad hub of America. The Museum is owned by the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

History

The museum was opened after members restored the depot on June 1, 2003. The ribbon cutting ceremonies included a speech from George Maziarz.

Exhibits

The Railroad Museum of the Niagara Frontier owns several small artifacts and four pieces of railway equipment. They include two bay-window cabooses, one of Erie ancestry and the other from the New York Central. The Museum's locomotives include a gasoline-powered Plymouth 20-Tonner and a Whitcomb 50-Ton Diesel-Hydraulic centercab switcher built by the Canadian Locomotive Company in Kingston, Ontario. This locomotive was formerly owned by the Tonawanda Island Railroad (TILR).
Across the street from the station is an old New York Central interlocking

Interlocking

In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively referred to as an interlocking plant...

tower called EL-2. Future plans are to restore the tower and integrate it into the museum.