The Whippany Railway Museum is a railway museum

Railway museum

A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives , railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment.See List of railway museums...

 and excursion train ride located in Whippany, New Jersey

Whippany, New Jersey

Whippany is an unincorporated area located within Hanover Township in Morris County, New Jersey. Whippany's name is derived from the Whippanong Native Americans, a tribe that once inhabited the area...

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History

In 1965, Whippany was the location of the Morris County Central Railroad, a steam excursion railroad. A group of employees of the Morris County Central Railroad came together to form the Morris County Central Railroad Museum and used half of the Morristown and Erie freight house. In 1967 the freight house was moved across the tracks to its present day location. during the years from 1967 to 1973, the museum was visited by thousands of railfans who had come to ride the excursion trains. In 1973 due to financial pressures the Morris County Central Railroad moved its operation to Newfoundland, NJ. One year later the Morris County Central Railroad Museum also moved to a restored refrigerator car at the Newfoundland, NJ, location where it operated as the Pequannock Valley Transportation Museum.

The tough economics of the late 1970s, as well as several serious acts of vandalism and arson to the railroad's equipment and and its facilities, soon caused the closure of the railroad. Morris County Central Railroad ran its last train at the end of 1980. The Museum stayed opened however.

In 1983 the members of the Pequannock Valley Transportation Museum began looking for a new site, preferably in a railroad structure. The freight house at Whippany was immediately considered, but it was in very bad shape, having suffered from the ravages of nature and time, as well as vandalism. it was scheduled to be demolished. But the members of the Pequannock Valley Transportation Museum began the hard task of cleaning up the site as well as restoring the freight house building itself. This included lifting the building off and replacing its crumbling foundation. In January 1984, the PVTM moved the last of its property back down to Whippany. During this time the Museum was reorganized as the Whippany Railway Museum to better reflect its new location. Work continued throughout 1984 and 1985 refinishing and setting up displays, as well as creating a gift shop. Finally, on October 26, 1985, The Whippany Railway Museum had its grand opening to an enthusiastic public.

The museum has continued to flourish at its Whippany location, as well as expanding its collection of New Jersey railroad history. In early 2011 the Whippany Museum was recognized for its outstanding efforts in its preservation of this history by a proclamation from the New Jersey State Assembly. This proclamation applauded the tireless efforts of the volunteers who preserve for future generations the history of railroading in the state of New Jersey, as well as recognizing the praiseworthy events and excursion rides that are regularly hosted by the museum.

Locomotives

Builder	Model	Year built	Type	Current number	Former numbers (if applicable)	Operational status
GE GE Transportation Systems GE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...	70-tonner GE 70-ton switcher The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November, 1942. These...	1951	Diesel-electric Diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...	RV Rahway Valley Railroad The Rahway Valley Railroad was a shortline railroad in the Northeastern United States which connected the Lehigh Valley Railroad in Roselle Park and the Central Railroad of New Jersey in Cranford with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western in Summit...  16		Cosmetically restored
GE	70-tonner	1954	Diesel-electric	RV 17		Awaiting cosmetic restoration
ALCO American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...	RS-1 ALCO RS-1 The ALCO RS-1 was a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market.The carbody configuration of...	1954	Diesel-electric	ME Morristown and Erie Railway The Morristown and Erie Railway is a freight short line railroad based in Morristown, New Jersey. It operates freight rail service five days a week in Morris County, New Jersey and surrounding areas...  21	SOO Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...  350; V&M 1; MDDE Maryland and Delaware Railroad The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company is a Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware. These branches were omitted from the system plan for Conrail in 1976 and would have been discontinued...  21; MCER Massachusetts Central Railroad The Massachusetts Central Railroad is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, USA. It was established in 1979 to provide railroad transportation services between Palmer and South Barre on the old Right of Way of the Ware River Railroad....  21	In service
ALCO	0-6-0 0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...	1942	Steam Steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...	Morris County Central 4039 United States Army Steam Locomotive No. 4039 United States Army Steam Locomotive No. 4039, is located in the Whippany section of Hanover Township, New Jersey. The locomotive was built in 1942 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 4, 2002. The locomotive is part of the Whippany Railway Museum.-History:The locomotive...	U.S. Army United States Army Transportation Corps The Transportation Corps was established 31 July 1942 by Executive Order 9082. The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army, and was headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia, but has now moved to Fort Lee, Virginia. The Transportation Corps is responsible for the...  4039; Virginia Blue Ridge Virginia Blue Ridge Railway The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway is a historic intrastate short line railroad that operated in central Virginia in the 20th century.The company was incorporated in 1914, and construction was started in 1915. The VBR extended from Tye River Depot in Nelson County, where it interchanged with the...  5	Being operationally restored (due 2012)
Baldwin Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...	2-8-0 2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...	1904	Steam Steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...	Morris County Central 385 Southern Railway 385 Southern Railway 385 is a steam locomotive built in 1907 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Southern Railway. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation of Southern's H-4 class.- External links :* http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/0/3/0/1030.1235532417.jpg...	Southern Railway 385; Virginia Blue Ridge Virginia Blue Ridge Railway The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway is a historic intrastate short line railroad that operated in central Virginia in the 20th century.The company was incorporated in 1914, and construction was started in 1915. The VBR extended from Tye River Depot in Nelson County, where it interchanged with the...  6	Cosmetic restored as Southern No.385
H.K. Porter	0-4-0F	1937	Steam Steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...	TX 7240	Texaco Fireless Cooker 7240	Cosmetic restoration completed

External links

• Whippany Railway Museum (Official site)