Like "The Little Engine That Could," the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum Board is plugging away at getting the downtown attraction above water and back on track.
“We had a couple of stumbling stones because when we turned on the water we had a big old leak,” said the board’s program director, Jan Saville.
Saville said volunteers are in the process of cleaning the vintage railcars at the museum’s site at Seventh Street and the railroad tracks.
“Everything is muttering along. It’s slow-go,” she said.
The nonprofit signed a lease on the property with the city of Wichita Falls in February, essentially breathing new life into a hard luck museum that became defunct in 2020.
“What we are in need of is reliable volunteers,” Saville said. “We’re only getting three or four on a Saturday for a few hours, and a few of us go down there through the week and do a few things."
She said the volunteers are cutting weeds, cleaning the old cars and repairing the yard office that served as the museum’s headquarters.
The group also needs money.
“We’ve got to raise some money in order to do any restoration,” Saville said.
She said the group has received some generous local donations, and BNSF, the railroad company, contributed toward having some floors and windows in the cars replaced.
They also sell rides on a “trackless” little train on the museum grounds during After Hours Artwalk events.
"We are planning some larger fundraising efforts once we get open. It’s hard to do it when you’re closed,” Saville said.
The board will hold a community meeting at 6 p.m. July 25 at Salad Express at 3411Kemp Blvd.
“We’re inviting the community to come out and hear the story and hopefully get some people that have some interest in helping us out,” she said.
The group tentatively hopes to have part of the museum open to the public in September, but Saville said that’s a “big if.”
The museum had its ups and downs during its 40 years of existence until COVID-19 became the final blow in 2020. The group that had operated it closed the museum and walked away, abandoning the engines, cars and other railroad artifacts on land owned by the city.
The Museum of North Texas History conducted an inventory and took many smaller artifacts. By August of 2022, the city was looking at selling some of the cars. An outpouring of public support persuaded city councilors to give a new group time to try to save the museum.
Railroads have been an important part of Wichita Falls history since the beginning. The city marks its official creation as Sept. 27, 1882, when the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad arrived and turned the small settlement into a regional market center.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Despite 'stumbling stones' new group works to save Wichita Falls Railroad Museum
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