A room at the Amtrak Train Depot in Kingman, Ariz., will be devoted toy trains and other railroad memorabilia when when a local train club opens it later this month, reported the Kingman Daily Miner newspaper.
The Whistle Stop Railroad Club repaired some broken-down toy trains and railcars, and now have them operating. More about the museum at 400 E. Andy Devine Ave. (aka Route 66):
The 14,500-square-foot room will showcase various railroad relics, different types of model trains and several panels describing the history of railroads throughout the world, across the U.S. and here in Kingman. […]
The club is undecided whether it wants to keep the museum open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or add Sunday to the schedule. Bacon said Kingman sees a lot of tour buses coming through town on Sundays and thinks it would be a smart move to stay open in order to attract passengers’ interest.
The Kingman Tourism Development Commission is funding the $15,400 project, which includes mandatory insurance. The club has promised to give back any money it doesn’t spend to get the museum up and running. Also, the city gets the rights to any property purchased for the museum with city funds.
The club is a nonprofit organization, so if there are months when the museum pulls in more revenue than it spends on expenses, the “profits” will be paid back to the city, Bacon said.
Admission will cost $2 a person, and children under five years old will get in free.
The museum and Amtrak station are housed in the Kingman Train Depot, which is more than 100 years old. It was renovated and reopened last spring.
UPDATE 7/20/2012: Read the comment from Dave Bacon below. It looks like the museum’s opening won’t be until August at the earliest.
Due to the fact that some building materials are not available locally our opening date of late July will not be possible. An announcement will be made as soon as we can determine when the opening date can be set. The write-up is partially correct. The size of the room is 1380 square feet, not 14,500 square feet. The museum will be small and crowded but, the Whistle Stop Railroad Club will make a very interesting and educational display.