When you visit the Walkersville Southern Railroad Museum you’ll see engaging displays, working trains, and the Walkersville Southern Railroad (WSRR) train station, which originally served passengers of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Your experience can be complimented with a ride on the WSRR, offered on weekends. The collective experience, located in a small town setting, provides insight into the important role that railroads had in American communities during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Museum Exhibits
Our museum features exhibits about the history of Walkersville Southern Railroad (WSRR), its predecessor, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), as well as a brief history of the town of Walkersville.
Our displays include the following railroad artifacts and objects:
Velocipede pump car from the late 1800s
1903 locomotive demonstrator
Front of Baldwin Switcher from the 1940s
Tools used for track work
Children’s area with Thomas wooden trains, games and coloring books
HO model train layout constructed by the late George Wireman, former conductor
Area for viewing videos and reading railroad books
Educational Programs
The Walkersville Southern Railroad Museum is committed to sharing its unique resources and educational opportunities for all audiences. Here, visitors of all ages can take a deeper dive into the world of railroading. We offer hands-on access to much of our unique collection of artifacts, themed displays, and personalized tours.
School Tours: K – 12, & Beyond
Our creative educational tours are aligned with the grade-level of students in the subjects of local history or science and physics. We can also customize the tour content to align with the current classroom content of our visitors. History based programs will emphasize the industry and agriculture that developed in conjunction with the railroad. Science based programs may include a tour of the rail yard and simple experiments utilizing full-scale railroad equipment.
Field trips to our museum include a presentation by one of our historians and a train ride on the Walkersville Southern Railroad.
Email paul@wsrr.net for more information and scheduling.
Engines of the WSRR
Hover over image for information.
Buildings
Museum Building
The brick building that houses the museum was originally the Walkersville Ice and Power Company, associated with the Glade Valley Milling Co. In addition to producing and delivering ice to local customers the building was outfitted with frozen food lockers that were rented to the general public. The company was later sold to Cargill, a national grain and feed supplier. When freight operations on the Frederick and Pennsylvania Railroad decreased in the late-1900s, it brought about the demise of this busy industrial center.
Walkersville Southern Railroad Station
The historic railroad station was constructed in about 1880 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and originally served as a ticket office that offered Adams Express mail service and telegraph service. A tool shed, also constructed by PPR stored a Velocipede pump car that provided local workers transportation up and down the tracks for the purpose of making repairs. Following its extensive restoration, the train station, now serves passengers of the Walkersville Southern Railroad.