Western America Railroad Museum — Attraction in Barstow

Playing a tourist, I decided to go and take a look at this place. From the outside, you can see some very interesting railroad equipment. All of the equipment is locked up and very hard to see the interiors of most the equipment. But you can see a couple of engines from the ATSF and BNSF railroads. And some of the other rail cars. The entrance to the museum is hard to find, and when you find it, you can walk thru and see some displays, and some great older items dedicated to many of the railroads. It seems to be a volunteer run facility. As my mom and I walked around, it was extremely quiet and not many visitors. I guess I was spoiled by the Colorado Railroad museum which was in the process of restoring cars and were very active in regards to showing the trains off, and very active in answering questions. So it's a good place to stop in and see some artifacts from the days of when the passenger trains owned the rails, but other then that, you really won't get to see anything on the rail cars, and that is the shame...

When you find yourself in Barstow, do the right thing and check out their triple threat museums. The renovated Harvey House (used for events and as local office space) has docents and can give you a nice tour. The Route 66 museum is worth a stop. There's also a fantastic NASA exhibit highlighting their (one of only 3 in the world) satellite facility nearby. And of course the Western America Railroad Museum which has unique displays and historic materials reflecting the town's long history as a Santa Fe (now BNSF) Railroad hub. Transportation, mining and the military have been the pilars of Barstow since it was founded. The WARM (and its' neighbors) are well worth...

Really disappointing support from the staff / docents there, I tried visiting as part of a road trip, but was delayed along the way by road closures and rerouting; eventually I was there about 10 - 15 mins before the reported closure time. I saw the staff walking out and I asked if I could just have a quick glance in since I won't be able to come back again.. and just got a gruff "we're closed" as they got into their cars. Not even a single bit of empathy or slowing down of pace. Was only able to take photos outside. Train cars are locked up and some have graffiti on the outside.

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