For the past year I've been compiling a list of Railroading Museums for my model railroading website. These museums all look like fantastic places to visit, but what are the most popular? I'll continue with this list for the Midwestern region of the United States. The Midwestern States are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The most popular railroading museums (based on online chatter) in the Midwest are:

10. Durand Union Station in Durand, Michigan

9. Southern Michigan Railroad Society in Clinton, Michigan

8. Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Dennison, Ohio

7. Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, Minnesota

6. Chatham Railroad Museum in Chatham, Illinois

5. Transport Museum of Saint Louis in Saint Louis, Missouri

4. Minnesota Transportation Museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota

3. Florence Depot in Omaha, Nebraska

2. National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin

...and the most popular railroading museum in the Midwestern USA is...

1. Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois

Museums not making my top 10 were Black Hills Central Railroad in Hill City, South Dakota; Bonanzaville USA in West Fargo, North Dakota; Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum in Bradford, Ohio; Chicago Great Western Railway Depot Museum in Elizabeth, Illinois; East Troy Electric Railroad Museum in East Troy, Wisconsin; Eldora Welcome Center and Railroad Museum in Eldora, Iowa; Ellis Railroad Museum in Ellis, Kansas; End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum in Currie, Minnesota; Fennimore Railroad Historical Society Museum in (Fennimore, Wisconsin; Fort Lincoln Trolley in Mandan, North Dakota; Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad and the Nebraska Railroad Museum in Fremont, Nebraska; Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana; Hub City Heritage Corporation Railroad Museum in Oelwein, Iowa; Indiana Railway Museum in French Lick, Indiana; Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, Indiana; Kankakee Railroad Museum in Kankakee, Illinois; Michigan Transit Museum in Mount Clemens, Michigan; Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society in North Freedom, Wisconsin; Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois; North Dakota State Railroad Museum in Mandan, North Dakota; Old Depot Railroad Museum in Dassel, Minnesota; Poplar Bluff Railroad Museum in Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Railroad Museum of Minot in Minot, North Dakota; Rails West History Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Rossville Depot Railroad Museum in Rossville, Illinois; Union Depot Railroad Museum in Mendota, Illinois; and Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

There are over 40 railroading museums in the Midwest, making this the region with the greatest number of RR museums in the United States - and so extremely competitive to get into the top ten. It's nice to see that seven different states did get museums in the top ranking, meaning that anyone living in or visiting this region should have something interesting close enough to visit.

I did keep two very popular museums out of the top ten, because while they do have a railroad exhibit they are not primarily railroading or even transportation museums. These museums were Prairie Village in Madison, South Dakota and Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas. Both have fantastic train exhibits, so be sure to check them out!

I compiled this list by searching for the railroading museums listed on a number of search engines and ranking them by the number of web pages, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc that are available online.

Check out my complete list of Railroading Museums at www.ModelTrainsWithLarry.com.