Museum Move to Frisco Complete

9/10/2013

Done! Borrowing from the single-word message that announced completion of the nation's first Transcontinental rail line, the Museum of the American Railroad has officially relocated to Frisco, Texas. At 2:30am today, the last few pieces of the Museum's collection were placed onsite in Frisco. With the arrival of the circa 1900 H&TC handcar shed, several line-side signals, stairways, and miscellaneous track components, the Museum's move from Dallas' Fair Park to Frisco is now complete.

The arrival of Big Boy #4018 on Sunday, August 25 marked the completion of the rolling stock move, which left only a few infrastructure items at Fair Park. With these items now in Frisco, the Museum ends its 50-year tenure in Dallas and begins an exciting new chapter in its life.

The move from its 1.8-acre Fair Park venue to nearly 15 acres in downtown Frisco enables the Museum to construct permanent facilities, expand programs, and serve a much broader audience in North Texas. The Museum's extensive collection can now be housed and presented in one location. Several pieces of rolling stock that were in storage over the past several years are now located in Frisco, which was not possible at Fair Park due to limited space.

With the move complete, the Museum can focus entirely on one site and its Capital Campaign for the next phase of construction in Frisco. This phase includes completion of over 5,000 feet of exhibit trackage. The ten additional tracks will provide for display of the Museum's current 42-piece rolling stock collection along with new acquisitions. During the four-year construction project and move, additional rolling stock pieces were donated to the Museum. These pieces will be announced soon and arrive over the next few months.

The Museum maintains interim offices and exhibits at the Frisco Heritage Museum, just a few hundred yards north of its new Frisco site. The Museum Store, second floor exhibits, and educational programs for area schools are available Wednesday through Sunday at 6455 Page Street.

We would like to thank the City of Frisco's Public Works Department, American Rail Services of Sherman, and Lingle Engineers of McKinney for providing manpower and transportation to move the last several pieces of the Museum's collection.