Colfax Railroad Museum

The Colfax Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in Colfax, Wisconsin housed in the 1914 Sandstone Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Depot.

Colfax Railroad Museum

Location	500 E Railroad Ave, Colfax, Wisconsin, 54730
Coordinates	44.997311°N 91.725025°W / 44.997311; -91.725025
Type	Railway Museum
Website	https://www.colfaxrrmuseum.org/

Collection

The museum houses a collection of equipment from railroads that served western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. The collection includes Soo Line caboose number 273, Barney and Smith Car Company heavyweight coach number 991, and Soo Line GP30 number 703, and other cars.

The depot houses the large collection of railroad lanterns, railroad china, and the nation's largest railroad paperweight collection. Exhibits in the museum illustrate the items of material culture that people encountered in their day-to-day activities with the railroads and how technology changed over time.

Steam locomotives

Locomotive	Type	Built	Retired	Acquired	Status	Image
Coronet Phosphate #5	2-6-2ST 'Prairie'	1911	?	2014	Static Display

Diesel locomotives

Locomotive	Type	Built	Retired	Acquired	Status	Image
Soo Line #703	EMD GP30	1963	1998	?	Static Display

Passenger cars

Railroad Company	Operating Number	Car Name	Car Type	Status
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha	301		Railroad Post Office	Static Display
Milwaukee Road	917202		Baggage	Static Display
Northern Pacific	950		Coach	Static Display
Soo Line	991		Coach	Static Display

Freight cars

• Soo Line, Boxcar #36400

Cabooses

• Milwaukee Road #X00127
• Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern #018
• Soo Line #256
• Soo Line #273

MoW equipment

Canadian National Speeder #154-33

History

The museum is housed in the third depot to be built in the village. Built from sandstone quarried nearby, this building was constructed between 1914 and 1915 on the foundation of the second depot, which had previously been moved off the site to serve as a personal residence.

In 1958, a large storm tore through western Wisconsin, producing many tornadoes, one of which hit the freighthouse on the depot's west side. The wall of the women's waiting room was rebuilt from the rubble, but the freight house was never restored.

See also

• List of museums in Wisconsin

References

Preceding station	Soo Line			Following station
Wheeler toward Portal		Main Line		Chippewa Falls toward Chicago

External links

• Official website