The Wichita Falls Railroad Museum will have a reopening ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday at 500 Ninth St.
The museum will be open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Jan Seville, president of the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum nonprofit, said they’ll start with the listed hours “and see how it goes” before making any adjustments in the hours.
Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for military, students and senior, $2 for children, she said.
Seville said the museum will have eight of the vintage railroad cars open for visitors for now, with the others to come on line later. In addition to hosting visitors, she said the museum plans reenactments, educational programs and children’s programs in the future.
After years of struggles, the museum that features vintage rail equipment closed permanently in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nonprofit that operated it at the time could not meet its obligation to maintain the property at the railroad tracks, which it leased from the city, according to a Feb. 13, 2021, article in the Times Record News.
In 2022, the city granted the Museum of North Texas History (MNTH) permission to inventory the holdings of the defunct museum, place some items in MNTH, and sell most of the rolling stock.
But in September 2023, the City Council granted a release to the newly formed nonprofit in hopes of getting the museum back in shape and reopened.
Among the items on the grounds are a Fort Worth & Denver 304 engine and its coal tender, a U.S. Postal Service car, a military bunk car used in World War II, a Pullman sleeper, a caboose, a trolley and a hand car that railroad workers used.
Railroads have been an important part of Wichita Falls history since the beginning. The city marks its official creation as Sept. 27, 1882, when the Ft. Worth & Denver Railroad arrived and turned the small settlement into a regional market center.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls Railroad Museum to have reopening ceremony Saturday
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News | USA TODAY Network
