1c. Union Pacific Railroad Museum


Omaha, Nebraska



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History:



Very few companies in the world can boast of a history like the Union Pacific Railroad. Thankfully, the company has always appreciated it's place in history and has kept many representative items from it's past so that the public can view and appreciate these memories.

Museum is now housed in the restored Carnegie Library in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Museum moved to Council Bluffs and was opened on May 10, 2003 and was formerly housed at the HQ Building at 1416 Dodge St., Omaha, 68179

Union Pacific Railroad Museum Fast Facts(1)
  • Union Pacific Railroad's artifacts are displayed in Council Bluffs' former Carnegie Library, built in 1903.
  • The museum encompasses a total of about 20,000 square feet on three levels.
  • UP's photograph collection includes nearly 750,000 images.
  • There are 4,000 artifacts, ranging from picks and shovels to furniture used in President Lincoln's funeral railcar.
  • Newspaper articles, letters, diaries, books and promotional materials are just some of the archival collection that dates back to the mid-1800s.
  • The museum displays Union Pacific's 140-year history from the 1800s to today's technologically advanced railroad.
  • The museum is staffed by 100 volunteers and three full-time managers.
  • The railroad's first museum opened in 1921. It was located in Union Pacific's headquarters building. In 1996, the collection was moved into storage at the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha.
  • Renovation for the museum in the former Carnegie Library began in March 2002 and was completed in May 2003.

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During OWTC Map Time Period:



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This is an image of the where the Union Pacific Museum used to be housed (just inside this door) until the mid-1990's. The museum was then moved temporarily into the Western Heritage Museum and this space in the HQ building was converted into the company cafeteria.
This image was photographed on November 20, 2007



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Today:



Union-pacific-museum
Excellent image of the new UPRR Museum in Council Bluffs in the restored Carnegie Library.
Image is courtesy of Wikipedia and poster Americasroof.
  • The Union Pacific Museum, will be creating an exhibit to celebrate the era of passenger train travel called "America Travels by Rail". The permanent exhibit will open in the spring of 2010 and will be located on the top floor of the Museum. According to Beth Lindquist, director of the museum, the exhibit will talk about the heyday of passenger travel and streamline trains. A lot of trains for the Union Pacific were called Streamliners. Council Bluffs is also home to the Union Pacific's corporate business fleet of passenger trains and can sometimes be seen at the rail yard in Council Bluffs.



Page Specific Links:


Union Pacific Corporate Page
UPRR Historical Photo Galleries

Citations: