All the bells and whistles are at the MoArk Train Museum

Poplar Bluff museums tell the story of us, our family, and our history. I want to tell you some of those tall tales found within our museum walls.

The railroad built this town. Poplar Bluff loves its trains. In 1987, The Missouri Arkansas (MoArk) Railroad Museum was established. Retired railroader Joe Falvey and his wife Bobbi began the project to form a museum. They were interested in the abandoned St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad Depot. It was an operating depot from 1928 to 1965. The Poplar Bluff Police Department took it over but soon abandoned it too. There was already a model railroad club run by Jim Mottram and Daniel Kinder leasing the building.

The Falveys began fundraising and gathering interested rail fans to restore the crumbling depot. With the help of civic leaders like Jay Githens and Jane Haworth, the depot received a place on the National Historical Register. It is now a Poplar Bluff landmark. It even adorns the Poplar Bluff Police shoulder patch as an homage to its days as a police station. The depot was built in the Frisco Spanish Mission Revival Style, making it an architectural icon.

While the depot was remodeled on the inside, train cars began appearing on the outside. An old caboose from the Butler County Railroad was saved from the scrap heap and placed outside. Since it was a Frisco depot, the caboose was painted in Frisco livery. Another caboose then appeared from the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Next was a baggage car from the Union Pacific Maintenance of Way Fleet. It was repainted to the Union Pacific yellow scheme. Now the only problem was that people couldn’t see the historic depot through the rail cars.

Once it opened, the MoArk Railroad Museum celebrated the glory days of Butler County trains. Amtrak, Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific, Frisco, Iron Mountain, Butler County Railroad and many other short lines and timber trains are remembered. Stories, photographs, artifacts and a rail library fill the museum. Model railroads of every scale run throughout the building. A giant, 20-foot layout is waiting for you, as well as an operating European train set. There are literally bells and whistles you can operate. The museum has the only hobby shop in town for rail fans.

Don’t forget to visit the Missouri Pacific red caboose. It is open to the public. Kids can climb up into the cupola and get the view only a train conductor can see.

The MoArk Railroad Museum is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. every Saturday free of charge. Tell them Mike sent you!

Mike Shane is a veteran, Poplar Bluff resident and board member for the Poplar Bluff Museum.