Courtesy Galveston Railroad Museum
The two new Santa Fe F7 locomotives painted in the flashy Warbonnet paint scheme of red, yellow and silver have been wowing visitors at the Galveston Railroad Museum since they arrived in November.
And to complement the new Super Chiefs are two restored Amtrak-certified coach cars and an Amtrak-certified café/lounge/dining car hooked up to the locomotives, thus looking like a working passenger train of yesteryear.
“When visitors walk out of the west depot doors – the doors that lead to all trains – the area is dominated by the two fully restored F7-A locomotives,” says Galveston Railroad Museum Executive Director Morris Gould. “The museum has provided a special step-stand to climb up and admire the fully-restored cabs.”
The historic-styled train engines were the centerpiece of the museum’s so-called grand reopening celebration in November, capping more than four years of restoration efforts after Hurricane Ike barreled through Galveston in September 2008. The museum had a “soft” reopening in March 2011 while restoration work took place after Ike flooded the museum and The Strand area with water several feet high. The F7s replaced two Texas Limited locomotives damaged beyond restoration.
Reminiscent of train travel’s glory days and once the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) Railway, the Super Chiefs and their streamlined silver passenger cars were known as “The Train of the Stars” due to the many celebrities they once whisked between Chicago and Los Angeles.
“Due to the unique aspect of these locomotives being EMD F7-A and blue card Amtrak-certified in ATSF Warbonnet heritage, they have created the interest in the rail fan community to bring focus on the Galveston Railroad Museum,” says Gould. The EMD F7 was a 1,500 horsepower diesel-electric locomotive built between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors and General Motors Diesel.
Furthermore, the museum plans to offer off-island excursions and to lease the equipment to other museums and corporations for V.I.P. excursions. “The museum has already received inquiries about this special train for this specific purpose,” notes Gould.
Restored depot. Courtesy Galveston Railroad Museum
Courtesy Galveston Railroad Museum
Museum exhibits also include the restored depot, once Galveston’s original Union Station, built in 1933. Located on the west end of The Strand, the museum houses about 50 railroad cars and locomotives on five acres including five cabooses, two steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, passenger cars and a post office car.
On a smaller scale, an elaborate O-Gage model train layout features electric trains chugging through mountain tunnels and a cityscape. The museum has cars and locomotives used in movies over the years including the Robert E. Lee, a combination observation and sleeping car with chairs and a large restroom where men would smoke. A 1920s Pullman heavyweight car was also used in movies. Two restored dining cars from the 1940s are used to host birthday parties, while museum facilities also host weddings, parties, corporate meetings and receptions.
Another thrill for museum visitors is a train ride where a GE 80-ton locomotive pulls a restored Missouri-Pacific caboose seating 25 people. The rides take place on most Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., lasting 15 minutes and running parallel to Harborside Drive.
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