Southern Arizona Transportation Museum

I couldn't believe my luck when I found this by accident. We had parked for our visit to the Hotel Congress, and I was scratching my head thinking hmmm wonder what this could be. There's a retired Steam train here. So, with a little snooping around the train led me to a Great little museum!This hidden gem of a museum in Tucson lies adjacent to the Tucson Amtrak station. Be prepared to see and hear plenty of trains nearby, depending on the time of day.The museum is run by volunteers and has a wealth of information and history throughout. Detailing the history of the railroad in Tucson and Arizona, the museum paints a detailed picture of the railroad story. The amount of detail they include in the information signs is incredible.Combining a mix of displays, including interactive and audio, the museum will appeal to visitors of most ages. The life stories of people who worked on the railroad made the visit even more interesting and memorable. Plenty of original parts, clocks, and uniforms filled the museumThe museum is free although we did leave a donation for renovations as it's well worth it.

Great spot to visit for anyone that likes Trains as this has a real Engine that you can climb into & ring the bell if so desired. The inside museum is nicely done for space alloted and holds a lot of information. They also have a small gift shop where we picked up a cool train puzzle for under $20. The Staff (Dayne & Joanne) I hope I got the names right. Dayne was running a train display near the Engine, he was enthusiastic, friendly and very informative. My mother-in-law enjoyed the visit and had a great time especially ringing the bell. Nice spot to visit while in Tucson.

News the Union Pacific's legendary Steam Locomotive 844 was arriving at the train depot was all it took for me to visit the museum again.* It's free! Of course, donations are always welcomed. Anything you want to know about trains, these folks can tell you.The museum is small but packed with history and artifacts and photographs depicting the bygone days of Tucson's early trains. There's even an old locomotive in front of the museum placed there to honor the importance of trains to Tucson's history.I'll take a little bow now: A few of my photographs are in this museum....my favorite is the panorama I took on top of "A" Mountain and the media team blew up real nice. I'm very proud to be a part of this museum's creation and to have made a small contribution.*By the way, the 844 is here now, November 10, 2011. And will be on display for the public on Saturday down at the depot.

This is a small museum, which works on a goodwill basis, so if you do not want to, you might as well not pay for the entrance.The staff is incredibly helpful it is clear they know their stuff, and are willing to share the information.I spend a good deal of time talking with the guys outside in the train and learned all sorts of interesting things.The inside museum has some nice tidy bits of information and funny recordings.This is something you won't want to miss if you are ever in town.

Museum HoursTuesday, Wednesday, Thursday11am - 3pmFriday, Saturday10am - 4pmSunday11am -3pm

Stopped by with my daughter and wife one weekend to check it out. They have a nice old train, and the museum has some great stuff on trains in the Tucson/Southern Arizona area. The only down side is the gift shop is a bit dated and it does not have any stuff about trains in Tucson. The guides are great and really understand the history of trains in the area.

It was by accident we found this place. It is not very big however it was very enjoyable. They museum has a good amount of stuff in it and is full of information. The engine outside is neat and the staff member there explained a great deal of things to us. It was a great way to spend some time in the downtown area.

Even though it was a hot Tucson day we enjoyed the Southern Arizona Transportation museum. We were so excited to be able to up into the engine. The volunteer gave us so much information on how everything worked. We were also excited to find out that it was in the musical Oklahoma. We cooled off in the museum and enjoyed all of the exhibits. Our grandkids enjoyed the information on Morse code as well as all the other information. The statues of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday as well as the murals were a great end to our visit. Like others the gift shop could be improved by being reorganized and having a simple hat, train whistles by themselves and maybe an ornament. However we didn't think this was anything to impact our visit. Again friendly volunteers were a plus and the history learned was priceless. Totally recommend.