Trains on display at the Watson Museum

Watson Museum Train ride

An historic train museum in Missouri Valley closed for several months due to flooding, re-opened over the weekend. The Watson Steam Train and Museum had closed as a precaution late this Spring, after being threatened by the Missouri River floodwaters. Mark Warner, Chairman of the Watson Station Committee, said they spent the past few weeks bringing things back, in preparation for Saturday’s re-opening. He says they’ve been getting things returned to the museum and cleaned-up. Warner says they hope to stay open as late as possible this Fall.

During the past four months, the museum’s trains were moved to a storage facility, to protect them from rising flood waters, which threatened, but never actually affected the museum. Warner says they were allowed to store the trains for the summer in a shed on high ground during the Summer.  He says they have plenty of artifacts and antiques on hand for you to view at the museum, including very rare steam and coal trains. Warner says they have a 1948 miniature coal fired Ottaway Steam Train and the 1959 Ottaway Streamliner gas train, which are completely original and extremely hard to find in the U-S.

The gas train runs on 1800 feet of track. The cost for adults and children to ride the train is just two-dollars. The trains will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The museum is located in the Missouri Valley City Park.