Galveston Texas Railroad Museum

My personal attachment to the Galveston Railroad Museum is through my great-grandfather.  Thomas E. Brazelton finished his illustrious 50 years of railroading as an industrial agent for the Santa Fe Railroad.  His last office before his retirement to Paris, Texas was located in the train station in Galveston that is now the museum. 

As a child growing up his daughters (my grandmother and two never married great-aunts) would entertain my brothers and me with interesting family lore about their parents’ adventures as their father went from being a telegraph operator to small station manager to metropolitan executive.  Stories included packing a pistol in the baby carriage as he and my great-grandmother would stroll to the bank with my grandmother and the cash deposits of the day from the train station he managed in Pecos, Texas.  Tales of standing on the rear platform as a train was travelling down the tracks and he lost his hat to the wind.  At the next station a message was telegraphed to the previous station for the next train to keep an eye out for it.  This train made a quick unscheduled pause to pick up the hat to return it to him.

He was caught on the island by a hurricane in 1916.  He apparently weathered the storm in his office above street level.  After the storm there was a shortage of fresh drinking water.  Steam engine locomotives, both wood and coal fired, were filled with fresh water to make the steam.  Several had apparently been left at the station and not removed from the island before the storm.  The family story says he organized a group of men and they systematically drained the large reservoirs of fresh water for distribution until a more permanent source became available. 

This venerable old building has taken a beating from the elements but still stands majestically at the top of The Strand, the historic street still lined with classic iron-fronted commercial buildings.  Now a museum with a lobby populated by ghosts of passengers past and tracks lined with classic railroad cars destined for nowhere, the hurricane of 2007 made its mark.  Perhaps the worst storm to hit the island since the devastating storm of 1900 that killed over 6,000 residents, Hurricane Ike filled the streets and buildings with several feet of water from the Gulf of Mexico.

The waiting room of the station took on an eerie air of composure as milky white plaster passengers were lifted by the rising water and began floated aimlessly.  These mannequins with life-like features are depictions of passengers going about the normal travel routines when the station was perhaps at its peak during the early years of the 20^th Century.     Most of these mannequins have been restored and are now back in position waiting to pick up a long lost conversation with fellow travelers and enjoy the excitement of travel on the rails.

The railroad cars on display received extensive damage for the storm.  Restoration is progressing but damage was so extensive that it will take years of volunteer help and fund-raising to restore those that are salvageable.  Many that were open before the storm remain closed.

While most railroad buffs will be saddened by the effects of Hurricane Ike, the museum still remains a viable relic to the colorful past of Galveston and the golden years of the railroads.  That said, donations are still needed to help support and rebuild the museum.

The museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and price of admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 years are older, and $4 for children (4 to 12 years).  The address is 2602 Santa Fe Place, Galveston, TX  77550.  The museum web site is www.galvestonmuseum.com.