RailsWest Railroad Museum

RailsWest Railroad Museum

RailsWest Railroad Museum is a railroad museum operated by the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County. It illustrates the history of railroads in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The museum is housed inside an Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad passenger depot that was also used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific. The depot opened in 1899 and would become a daily stop for the Rocky Mountain Rocket, Midwest Hiawatha, the Arrow, and Corn Belt Rocket before the end of passenger service in 1970.

Similar Rock Island passenger depots were also constructed in Iowa City, Iowa and Ottawa, Illinois.

Location

1512 S Main St
Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County
Iowa, USA

Getting There

You can take a bus from Omaha, Nebraska to Council Bluffs, and then transfer to another bus that will take you to the museum. The bus routes that serve Council Bluffs include the Omaha Metro Transit and the Council Bluffs Transit. You can visit their websites for schedules and fare information.

Alternatively, you can take a train to the nearby Omaha station, and then take a taxi or ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft to the museum, which is about a 10-minute drive away.

Nearby Airports

This is a list of primary airports in Iowa that have scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines.