Atlanta and transportation are inextricably linked. Shortly after the arrival of the railroad, the city developed into a major transportation hub, a phenomenon that continues even today.
The colorful history that railroads and transportation played in shaping both Atlanta and North Georgia is on display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in the northern Atlanta suburb of Duluth. The state designated the museum, which has been documenting railroad history for more than 40 years, as “Georgia’s Official Transportation History Museum.”
The 35-acre museum, located next to an active rail line, is home to more than 90 pieces of historic railroad equipment, buses and artifacts that bring to life the region’s transportation history.
Among the rail cars on display is The Superb, a heavyweight private car built by the Pullman Co. that is said to be the second-oldest steel private car in existence. The car, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been a part of the museum’s collection since 1969.
President Warren G. Harding used the Superb during his “Voyage of Understanding” trip, which began in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 1923. Before finishing the trip, Harding fell ill and died on Aug. 2, 1923; The Superb carried the president’s coffin to Washington, D. C. for the state funeral and then to Marion, Ohio, for his burial.
Many of the historic railroad cars and locomotives on display are open for guests to climb aboard and explore. Visitors can buy tickets to ride on a train made up of vintage cabooses. Also, they can opt to purchase a cab ride and join the engineer as he operates the train around the property.
This fall, the museum opened its largest expansion since moving to its current location roughly two decades ago, and the new 21,000-square-foot Rail Transit Exhibit (RTE) building increases the museum’s covered exhibit space by nearly 50 percent. The new space will have four tracks on which to display rail cars, and a 48-foot-wide central area will be used for exhibits and as an events space.
Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and older and $7 for children between the ages of two and 12 years old. For more information about the museum’s exhibits and its special events throughout the year, visit SoutheasternRailwayMuseum.org.