Formation Public proposals to create a railroad museum in Altoona date at least to 1938, when the
Altoona Mirror published a
letter to the editor suggesting the city develop a
tourism industry, including a "community railroad museum", centered around its railroad history. In 1959, Altoona's
Chamber of Commerce proposed a similar museum. By 1963, a proposal for a "Pennsyland" railroad museum led representatives of the city's Tourism Bureau to compete against the
Strasburg Rail Road in
Lancaster County for possession of 28 pieces of decommissioned Pennsylvania Railroad
rolling stock. Negotiations intensified when the
Pennsylvania General Assembly chartered the
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania but did not immediately designate a location. In 1965,
Strasburg was selected as the site for the state museum and later awarded the contested Pennsylvania Railroad stock, which included historic
steam locomotives and
passenger cars being kept at a roundhouse in
Northumberland. Despite the state's decision, the Altoona Railway Museum Club carried on with efforts to construct a museum in Altoona. In 1968, the club was granted a charter by the
National Railway Historical Society to begin operating as the Horseshoe Curve Chapter. The chapter collected railroad artifacts to display in empty storefronts and at civic events in attempts to raise public support for a museum. The Railroaders Memorial Museum was incorporated in 1972 to raise more funds and collect more artifacts. The new group's first major acquisition was the 1975 purchase of
The Loretto, a
private railroad car built for
steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab. That same year, the Altoona Redevelopment Authority sold a parcel of land previously purchased from the
Penn Central Transportation Company to a private developer for use as a
shopping center. The land deal stipulated that the developer donate a portion of the property and $50,000 towards museum construction. The Railroaders Memorial Museum received full ownership of the property in 1978.
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new museum were held on May 13, 1979. The museum, still incomplete, opened to the public on September 21, 1980.
Initial restoration campaigns on display at the
Horseshoe Curve. In the early hours of October 8, 1983,
The Loretto was badly damaged by
arson. Two juveniles were charged with setting the fire, whose damage was estimated at $200,000. The Restore the Loretto Committee was formed to raise money to
restore and preserve the railroad car. Altoona's
city council later wondered whether a similar campaign could be organized for
PRR 1361, a deteriorating
K4 steam locomotive owned by the city and displayed at the
Horseshoe Curve. Museum officials immediately lobbied for a role in the project. The city established the Horseshoe Curve Task Force to investigate the feasibility and costs of restoring No. 1361. In 1985, the Railroaders Memorial Museum was granted possession of the PRR 1361 on condition that a suitable replacement be provided to the Horseshoe Curve;
Conrail subsequently donated PRR 7048, a
GP9 diesel-electric locomotive, for the purpose.
Pennsylvania State Representative Richard Geist announced that the museum would receive a $50,000
grant and a crew of state workers to move No. 1361 and begin a cosmetic restoration. At the museum's
mortgage-burning ceremony on September 28, 1985, Conrail
chairman L. Stanley Crane announced that his company would pursue
steam train excursions. "The K4 [1361] would be a very appropriate locomotive to do that with," said Crane. The move was intended to put Conrail in step with other contemporaneous railroad operators during the company's bid for
public offering. Over the next two years, the engine was restored to working condition in Conrail's
Altoona railroad shops, but ran for just a year before bearing and axle failures sidelined it indefinitely. Inconsistent direction and financial issues at the museum hindered repairs to the steam engine. In 1996, the disassembled engine was sent for a complete restoration to
Steamtown National Historic Site in
Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Railroaders Memorial Museum ceased funding the incomplete project in 2007. Pieces of the engine were divided for storage between the museum and
East Broad Top Rail Road. The restoration was officially canceled by the museum in 2010. The failed restoration remains a controversial topic due to its lengthy history, technical errors, and use of state funds.
Expansion The
National Park Service's interest in western Pennsylvania's historic roads and sites led to the formation of
America's Industrial Heritage Project in 1988. Congress authorized the commission to identify historic sites of
heavy industry and to help develop a more interconnected tourism industry in southwestern Pennsylvania. The commission identified the cities of Altoona and
Johnstown as potential focal points for the new tourist industry. As part of the program, the Railroaders Memorial Museum collaborated with officials from the National Park Service to renovate tourist facilities at the nearby Horseshoe Curve. The $5.8 million renovations were completed in 1992 with the dedication of a new visitors center to be operated by the museum. Museum officials also collaborated with agents from America's Industrial Heritage Project to seek a larger space for the Railroaders Memorial Museum. In 1990, the museum expressed interest in moving to the nearby Master Mechanics Building. The four-floor brick office building had originally been constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, with sections of the building dating to 1882. It had last been occupied by Conrail and vacated in 1984. The $12 million project was funded by the National Park Service, the
Federal Highway Administration, and a state grant.
Bureaucracy and
natural disasters delayed the project and briefly plunged the museum into a fiscal crisis. Grand opening ceremonies were finally held on April 25, 1998.
Management changes In May 2002, a new member of the
board of directors—Dean McKnight, a senior vice president at M&T Bank—alerted his fellow board members that the museum was dangerously close to
insolvency. An
internal audit showed that the museum had maxed out its
line of credit and was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Despite public reports showing that the museum had been steadily losing money since its reopening in 1998, the board expressed shock upon learning that they couldn't "afford to open the doors." The eleven other members of the board soon resigned. The new board members hired the
Westsylvania Heritage Corporation, another descendant of America's Industrial Heritage Project, to run the museum, and approved drastic measures to keep the museum afloat. They cut the operating budget and
laid off more than half of the museum's employees. The paid services were largely replaced with volunteer labor. They began to seek more revenue by hosting events and renting the museum's facilities. The museum gradually reduced its outstanding debt. In 2007, the board transferred museum operations to the Salone Management Group, which had previously organized concerts at the museum as part of its events programming. Board members and the outgoing executive director cited company's greater financial resources as reasoning for the transfer. In 2010, Salone Management Group oversaw construction of a
quarter-roundhouse on the museum grounds. In 2020, the board of directors hired a new executive director: Joseph DeFrancesco, a former executive director of the
Blair County Historical Society. Shortly thereafter, the
COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed the Railroaders Memorial Museum and Horseshoe Curve visitor center. DeFrancesco ordered "cuts across the board" and restructured the museum. The museum reopened in March 2021. On June 24, 2021, the Railroaders Memorial Museum hired FMW Solutions to again restore the PRR 1361 to operating condition.
Charles "Wick" Moorman, a retired railroad executive with both
Norfolk Southern Corporation and
Amtrak, was elected chairman of the board. A new staff of professionals and a new board of directors has ushered in a new era for the organization with a solid financial foundation. == Building ==