Duluth Museum Preserves Railroad History

You’ll smell the oil, diesel fumes and – especially on a hot July day – the simmering asphalt. You’ll hear a wailing train engine’s horn, the unmistakable clang of a brass bell, the piercing sound of air brakes strong enough to stop iron and steel measured in tonnage. And you’ll feel a sudden jerk as the train lurches forward.  

But you’ll only experience all of this at the Southeastern Railway Museum (SRM) in Duluth.

Opened in 1970 by the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, the museum has been hosting railroad fans, curious kids and fascinated families who want to travel back to an era when trains tied the nation together and, literally, ruled time. It was the railroads, after all, that came up with the country’s “time zone” system under which we operate today. Until then, each town kept time...well, anywhere from fairly well to down right off the clock.

But time seems much more fluid at the Southeastern Railway Museum where guests wander through the collection of nearly 100 pieces of railroad “stock” and experience everything from the 1919 Baldwin Steam Locomotive General II to President Warren G. Harding’s personal 1911 Pullman car. This century-old private car, Superb, is the second-oldest steel private car in existence. Visitors can even ride the rails across the 35-acre rail yard that use to be this area’s maintenance facility of Southern Rail – now Norfolk Southern.

“Last year we had over 16,000 visitors,” according to Janet Petty of the SRM, adding that railroad enthusiasts come in all ages. “Many are as young preschoolers.”

SRM even has summer camps for kids who want to learn more about the history of railroads. Seven-year-old Hayden Proctor of Atlanta came to the most recent summer camp where he learned about each of the trains, their history and life on the rails.

Of course, being 7, his favorite day at summer camp was “when they had the train robbery!” It was a re-enactment, using one of the old trains, to teach kids about some of the train robbers, why they robbed trains and what ultimately happened to the “bad guys."

Aside from the fact that train robberies did occur, and as Hayden put it, train robbers sometimes “drop their guns” – a reference to an apparently humorous momentary fumble during the re-enactment – Hayden and his fellow “train campers” actually learned a great deal during a week at camp. This little guy knew engine types, locomotive numbers and what tasks various pieces of equipment on display had been used for, as well as what projects with which SRM is currently involved.

“We do a lot of restoration,” says Petty. 

One of the museum’s biggest undertakings has been the restoration of the old Duluth train depot. Moved to the SRM site in 2008, the depot is being refurbished and will be filled with authentic train depot furnishings that have been collected over the years by the SRM. It’s expected to officially open by the end of the summer.

Repair, maintenance and overall operation of the museum comes from museum admission fees, donations, train rides, special event hosting and summer camps. There is also some funding from Gwinnett County and the State of Georgia; The Southeastern Railway Museum is also Georgia’s Official Transportation History Museum. So, visitors will also see a plethora of old buses, restored taxi cabs and fire engines along with a beautifully maintained Ford Model “T” truck.

The Southeastern Railway Museum is located at 3595 Buford Highway in Duluth, about a quarter-mile north of Pleasant Hill Road.