I'm sad to say that I've lived in Columbus almost 30 years and this is the first time we've visited the Ohio Railway Museum. The museum is only open from March through October AND ONLY on Sunday from noon until 4pm. My grandkids were in town from Colorado and we were looking for fun things to do. The museum certainly meet the need. The grandkids had a great time exploring the exhibits and going for a trolley ride (twice). The trolley runs at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 and makes about a 2 mile run. The museum's website says that their primary goal is PERSERVATION and not RESTORATION - although it's apparent they do some restoration of their rolling stock. Everyone associated with the museum is a VOLUNTEER and there are NO paid employees. All proceeds from ticket sales and concessions goes back into the museum's mission. They have a 4-6-2 steam locomotive that is open to the public, along with a passenger car, a railway mail car, and a streetcar. And, there is the interurban trolley used for the 2-mail excursions. Most of the rest of their stock is in various states of perservation or restoration. With 4 and 6-year grandkids in tow, we spent almost 2 hours at the museum. As someone noted - this is a nice small train museum that's well worth a visit but probably not a place for repeat visits. read more

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I'm not a big train person, but many in my family are or were (dad, brother, wife, daughter.) We've thought about coming here for awhile, and today worked out. Very limited hours (Sunday 12-4.) The train rides are every hour, at the half hour, so 1230, 130, 230, 330. We came just as one was leaving. It's one car, an old streetcar, and a very cool, short ride. Goofy jokes from the engineer, info and sightseeing comments from the conductor, lots of whistle blows. Baby K loved it. There are other streetcars and trains in the yard, some of which you can climb in, many others awaiting restoration. It's very clearly an all-volunteer labor of love. The volunteers were very friendly and helpful, especially of the kids. It's not a fancy place, and you have to be careful on the tracks and gravel, etc., but it is great fun for kids. For this non-train-guy history buff, it was very cool. There are some displays in the station, and a few toys for the kids (a train set to play on, and some to buy.) They do Halloween and Christmas events, so we'll probably be back for those or just so Baby K (and maybe even Sweetie) can ride the train. read more

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As others have stated, this is the place for train fans! You enter through a small building, which has a small memorabilia display, the ticket counter, and a small gift shop-type area (the small engines seem to be a big hit with all the kiddos we saw), as well as the restrooms. You head out through the back to the tracks to see the trains. There's a variety of them out there, and there is a combination of signage and enthusiastic volunteers who will guide you around the different engines and cars. They do preservation, rather than restoration, so you can definitely see the age on some of them, but it's fascinating to learn more, such as about the mail delivery car. Train rides run every hour at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 and last about 20 minutes. You get unlimited rides for the entry fee on the day of your visit, if you want to hang around for them. A volunteer walks up and down and provides narration about what you're seeing, some train facts, and info about where you're going. If you want to know in advance which train is running, you can check their facebook page the day of your visit. There's a small snack shack and a cute picnic area, alongside a train table for the youngsters - signage indicates you can bring a train with you or buy one in the shop. Hours are limited - Sundays 12-4 from May-December. There's a decent sized gravel parking lot out front. They also offer special events, such as haunted rides in October and holiday rides in December. Neat place! You can definitely tell it's a labor of love for the volunteers. read more

This is a small train museum that's worth a visit but not repeat visits. You definitely get a sense for history here but you don't learn a whole lot. My kid had fun and that's what counts but there really isn't a lot here. There is a tiny museum here in an old train station. There are several ancient train cars and engines outside to look at and walk through. We took a ride on an old commuter train car from the 50's. My son had fun and went through the passenger cars a few times. I'm guessing the passenger cars and the steam engine are probably close to 100 years old. They have not been restored and everything in it is original. Ancient seats, light fixtures, electrical outlets and switches, plumbing. Everything looks so strange and different from what we expect to see. You can feel the history as you walk through. When you ride the commuter train, the conductor gives you a few facts about it and it's in better shape than the cars. None of the cars have been restored as far as I can tell and look like they were salvaged from a junkyard where they've sat for decades. This is both a good and a bad thing. Mostly bad though. It would have been nice if everything was restored to at least half its former glory. There are no signs or an audio recording or a brochure or anything telling you anything about any of the cars. So you feel the history but you don't learn a damn thing. You're left to guess at how old they are and what they were used for. The museum is just one little room with mostly trinkets that look like they were salvaged from the junkyard as well. Though there were some old telegraph machines, a telephone and typewriter. The building is old too and in that old style architecture from the early 1900's, like the open windows above the interior doors that I never could understand. I was a little disappointed with how little there was in the museum and how few trains there were, and with the condition they were in. I understand they probably don't have the means to restore them but they could at least tell you something about them. I think they could do a better job with this place. But it was fun and worth a day trip once. I have an album of pictures on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3683294846716.164791.1405457206&type=1&l=588f9a2a6c read more

I found my trip to the Ohio Railway Museum to be quite interesting. From the start I was intrigued by this seemingly randomly placed museum that is curiously only open for four hours a week. When I visited, my curiosity only intensified further. It seems that this museum has been in operation since 1945, when it acquired it's first piece, which today is apparently stored under a giant tarp. From what I have been able to gather online, the museum has had some peaks and valleys through it's 70 year history. At one time, the museum was able to lovingly care for all of this cars and locomotives but during the late 70s, 80s, and 90s, the museum and it's collection were neglected. So severely neglected that much of it's collection is in a terrible state today. That brings me to my visit. From what I gathered in passing conversation with volunteers, the museum began a new "era" in 2008 and is trying to do it's best to protect and restore the neglected collection. Located just off 161 and a few blocks away from Old Worthington, the museum was very easy to get it. Parking was a easy as well and the lot was surprisingly full (to me). We were greeted warmly and asked if we had ever been there before. I said no and got a a quickly and efficient rundown of everything going on. I was also just on time for a tour (which occur on the hour, from what we were told) and to take a quick ride on the train (which happens every hour on the half hour). Woot - good timing! The tour group got a brief rundown on the 105 year old steam locomotive and a quick walk through an old passenger car. The passenger car is showing it's age and a bit of it's horse-hair stuffed seats (which was actually cool to see). We also saw an old mail car (which had an unexplained coffin in it - occupancy status unknown). The mail car was somewhat interesting but would make a pretty neat location for a dinner or wedding if the museum did such thing. Before we took our train ride, I took a quick self-guided tour of an old commuter car that I just loved. It was in the best shape of anything we had seen and I felt sad that we didn't get more details about it. I asked a volunteer who shared with me that it was used for short distance trips between Ohio towns between the 20s and 40s. I loved this car. Then we jumped on the train for our quick ride to the end of their railway and back - maybe 15 minutes in total. The passenger car was big an spacious and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit and enjoy the quick ride. Once we were done, we took a quick peek at the rest of the exhibits in the air conditioned office, much of which featured Ohio train history. All in all... the Ohio Railway Museum is pretty fantastic. I am not a train enthusiast or anything but what they are trying to do is pretty awesome. You can see that the museum is being run by an an awesome group of people who want nothing more than to protect these aging trains and to share them with the public. The admission price of $8.00 felt really fair considering it came with a train ride with a side of history. If you find yourself in Worthingon on a Sunday between 12-4pm... get to the Ohio Railway Museum and show them some support. read more

A+ experience if you like trains. Train enthusiasts will be happy just to spend some time in and around trains, considering that's not an experience you get to have often in Columbus. If you're like me, and only casually like trains, YMMV. The experience is basically this: - You get introduced to train basics by a very enthusiastic man. - You go on an old steam train and check out the passenger and mail cars. It is hot so maybe don't go on a humid day. We couldn't spend much time inside because it was sweltering today. We did have a guide so we got to learn things about the train. - You can mill around and look at a few other trains until it's time to actually ride a train. - You ride a train. It doesn't go that far. Then it comes back. But there are trees and some old rail cars and it's a pretty view. You might see a running train pass by. There is a guide on the train pointing out things and giving you information. They are in the middle of some restoration projects; funding doesn't seem to be huge, so it seems that it takes awhile. Overall, it's a neat experience if you're game to try something new... or old, as the case may be, as all of the equipment shows its age. read more

This place is just so so but one of a kind in the area. Wort the 6 bucks for a quick train ride and to wander around the old trains. The best part is just how photogenic some of this stuff is. read more

Ohio Railway Museum - Museums Near Me - Worthington, Ohio

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Hey man, this place is pretty cool if you like trains or if you have kids (because all kids are required by law to like trains. I don't know why but I don't make the rules around here.) It's pretty cheap to get into, and you get a trolley ride with your admission, plus there are many different engines and rail cars that you can walk around or through. The downside is the hours, but if you're looking for something to do between 12 and 4 on Sunday you could do a lot worse. Both my girls are into trains right now, so they loved this place. read more

What little kid doesn't love train rides?! We went here with friends who's 2 year old son is currently obsessed with trains. We thought this would be kid friendly for our 2 year olds since the website clearly says it's meant to be fun for younger kids and not scary, but turns out we were completely wrong. The set up was very scary. The costumes worn by the staff almost all involved masks or blood & gore. Instead of enjoying the museum, the kids were scared of the costumed characters and yelling "I scared" the whole time. This will be our first and last trip here. The 10 minute train ride at the end was not worth the $10 and the tears. read more

Wow! Super fun time. Volunteer' s who operate the Museum really seem to have fun and enjoy being there. Train ride was great! Engineer and conductor interacted well and were funny. Go. You will not be disappointed. Awesome gift shop for the kids and the adult train lover. read more

If you have someone in your family who loves trains - especially if that someone is a child - then this is the place for an ideal quick afternoon trip. It's very small, but the low price of admission makes up for it. The staff is very friendly and well-informed, and there is more to see than one might first imagine when driving up. For the locomotive enthusiasts, the quick train ride up and down the track at the end of the tour will be a special treat. They also do a fun "haunted train ride" during the Halloween season that my kids always got a kick out of. It's fun, and not too scary for the youngest of guests. read more

How did my husband term this? Umm.... it's cheap rent. :-) This place is purely run by volunteer, very small, but pretty darn cool for all that! We went for the apparently extremely popular ghost trolley series, and the kids had a very good time. The three year old enjoyed it a lot, and the 18 month old was fairly unimpressed by the whole thing. The event wasn't scary at all for the three year old - I think he was more confused by why there was coffin in the back of the post car. He wanted to know why there was a fake person in the box. They did give each kid a bag of goodies at the end, and that was a hit. I think we'll be back again. read more

As a railway buff I am surprised that I have lived here for over a year and just now made a trip to visit this museum. Museum is easy to get to and parking plentiful. Volunteer staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Admission includes a train ride as well as a guided tour. In enjoyed looking at the cars and the steam engine. I did find it sad that the steam engine has obviously been sitting idle for many years. While I enjoyed the trip, looking at the cars and locomotives rusting away has more of a feel of a grave yard than a museum. read more

Great treasure right here in central Ohio! The museum is undergoing restoration of the cars and grounds and it is really looking great! This is a not for profit all volunteer organization that is trying to do great things with your help and patronage! Stop by on May 4, 2014 for a terrific opening day! read more