Downtown museum celebrating Tucson’s railroad history reopens | Entertainment

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The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum opened its doors after it was closed for most of the pandemic.

There are several non-contact ways to view the exhibits at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, 414 N. Toole Ave.

Tom Rogers visits the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, 414 N. Toole Ave. on March 26, 2021 .. After most of the coronavirus pandemic closed, the museum opened its doors to visitors with some security measures.

A downtown museum dedicated to one of the driving forces behind Tucson’s early development has reopened after closing much of last year due to COVID-19.

Housed in part of the building built in 1907 as the Southern Pacific Railway Station, the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum celebrates railroad history and the contribution the industry has made to Tucson.

“When the railroad came in 1880, it completely changed the city,” said Kenneth Karrels, chairman of the museum’s board of directors. “It made Tucson more accessible and was a major employer until the 1950s.”

The museum first opened in 2005, but isn’t as well known as a tourist destination like the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Karrels said.

“So many people in Tucson come in and say, ‘I didn’t know you were here,’” he added. “We often find that outside visitors are the ones who hear about us and bring the people who live here with them.”

The museum is free, family-friendly, and has regular events for the pandemic-free years, including a Silver Spike Railroad Festival to celebrate the arrival of the railroad in Tucson and a Holiday Express event for Christmas.

Here are some of the things that you are likely to experience during your visit.

• Contactless exhibits – The volunteers spent the museum’s pandemic break making several of its interactive displays contactless.

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