c & o railway heritage center

Very interesting. Tom was a great guide and very knowledgeable, especially with the presidential train.

I have been to many railway museums over the years and must admit that this one was not really on my radar so one to visit. I found it while searching the Internet for things to do with my son while we were passing through the area. I am glad I did. I am generally not big on guided tours but our guide was great and made the tour fun and entertaining. His name was Ron Hefner (I hope I remembered correctly) - a real credit to the organization.One of the great things about this museum is their focus on the C&O. Too many RR museums just have a bunch of stuff, it's great to see the focus on preserving the history of the C&O.

My husband grew up in NYC, so it's hard for my hometown of Clifton Forge to compete, but the C&O Heritage Museum ALWAYS delights my kids. The whole family loves the engine and cars available to tour. And just try to get kids away from riding the mini steam train! The museum staff was amazing--it was close to 32 degrees and a raw day, but the mini train's engineer took my kids around a considerable track 4 times. The museum itself boasts great miniature trains, both operating and for display, and C&O memorablilia. Wonderful gift shop, too.

An October trip to the C&O Heritage Museum was enjoyable. The weather was mild, sunny, and pleasant. Our first stop was in the gift shop, and there was certainly an abundance of items to choose from. My wife was a C & O employee for almost 10 years. She purchased a number of items for herself and a close friend who worked for the road until her retirement. There were a number of books for sale, as well as videos, maps, clothing items, and other things. After the gift shop, we looked at a number of equipment pieces, including 3 cabooses, a GP 7 early diesel locomotive, a coach/baggage car, a dining car, and what I think was the centerpiece of the museum - the Greenbrier Presidential Express, a 4-8-? steam locomotive. All of the equipment has been kept in very good appearance, and most of the pieces was visitor accessible. The actual museum contained many items, including maps, actual pieces of RR equipment and uniforms, scale models of locomotives, and a very nice model train layout. Amtrak goes through Clifton Forge 3 days a week, and the station is about a mile away from the Heritage Museum. An effort is underway, I understand, to have the Amtrak station moved to the Heritage Museum property, with the gift shop being the actual train station. I would recommend a visit to this attraction to anyone with a slight interest in trains.

We took our entire family, including grandchildren. Everyone enjoyed it. Interesting history. Fun to go into the antique trains. Gentleman working there was so nice!!

Treated to a tour by a couple of well-informed gentlemen, we saw relatively old rolling stock and a couple of good model trains. There was even a miniature RIDING train for kids. Its fun and educational; well worth a look.

I really did not know what to expect when we headed there, but was quite pleasantly surprised when we arrived. We had a grand tour of the outdoor displays and had fun checking out the inside too. We drove for about 45 minutes to get there, but it was definitely worth it.

If you're kids like trains then you need to go here!We stopped on our way (its about twenty minutes off of 81 on 64 West) down to the Blacksburg area. I had researched train museums previously in an effort to find something to do with the kids. I am so glad I found this place!I wish I knew her name because the young lady working that day was simply awesome. Not only did she have a 3 and 2 year old to but a 14 year old as well. She took all of their antics and questions in stride and was a pleasure to be around!The trains are a sight to behold - I had no idea some engines were so huge! Its a delight to watch your kids run around and climb on the things they've only seen while watching "Thomas" or "Chuggington" - they got such a kick out of it and the smiles were priceless! The museum is really neat too and the model trains they run around kept the boys busy for quite some time. You can climb into an engine, a dining car, a freight car, and a kaboose (I had no idea what the purpose of a kaboose was until the day I visited). We spent about an hour and a half here and it really helped break up the car ride. If the kids were older and I could have read all of the information the visit would have been longer. Don't miss out on this treasure! I hope they are around for a long, long time and I could really see us making this an annual pilgrimage!

Fine museum of C and O rail history, presented in context and with true focus. Beautiful, well kept site is home to the arguably the most meticulously-restored rolling stock collection in Virginia (includes two cabooses, dining car, passenger car, baggage car). Depot building is home to a model train display representing the C and O lines and detailed information on such projects as the C and O Hospital. Miniature outdoor ride-able train runs for kids in good weather. Picnic shelter available, gift shop with a variety of specialty merchandise. Very convenient to Red Lantern Inn. Often staffed by one volunteer--be ready to wait a bit to pay admission if someone else is already there visiting.

As a Rail fan, I like to check out other Railroad related Museums. The C & O Railway Heritage Center was very good. The freight house was great about the C & O Railroad history. Also there was model trains there too, But they were not run when we visit during on a Thursday .

See trains inside and on weekends ride the train outside. See real dinning cars and steam train and other cars. You can join them and get magazines and other information on the C&O railroad, that is who built this area as they were large business here in the 50's. A worth while stop.

We sought this out when on a road trip through western Virginia since my husband's a big railroad fan, and we're so glad we did! It's a great place with absolutely fantastic staff; their enthusiasm for and knowledge of the C&O railway is really remarkable. Trains are always cool and I really enjoyed the walkthrough, particularly the Gatsby's Tavern dining car since we live in Alexandria, VA and have been to the real one so it was fun to see its namesake. Although we don't have kids (unless you count inner ones) we got a kick out of the mini-train ride they have set up, such fun. The well-designed museum has an extensive model railroad and lots of fascinating artifacts, photos and informative placards/maps, and the gift shop was full of railroad paraphernalia and excellent books. A big shout-out to Byron, who was amazing and talked trains with my husband for an hour after the tour was over - we probably ended up spending nearly three hours there, which I never would have expected but I wasn't bored a minute. All in all a great time and highly recommended for anyone interested in trains, American history or the like.

We went there with our 2 and a half old granddaughter because she loves trains. She enjoyed it - there was even a little kiddie train to ride but it was a really great tour for adluts. Lots to see and we went into alot of old trains - we enjoyed it

A small, expanding museum that is enjoyable for the whole family, The kids (large and small) will love the model train layout and the small Chessie that they can ride.All will enjoy the Passenger cars (combine and diner). cabooses (2) and Steam Engine (The Greenbrier) that you tour.Great gift shop for C&O gifts. Worth your visit.

We arrived at the Heritage Center just as it was opening on a weekday. Our time was restricted (we had just an hour) so we took a very quick tour. The "Greenbriar" train is beautiful and the museum building is full of interesting relics of days gone by. The staff is knowledgeable and generous. We will definitely return to spend a morning or afternoon!