WICHITA FALLS, Texas — The city of Wichita Falls should get rid of most of the rolling stock from its defunct railroad museum, an official from the community’s history museum has recommended.
The Times Record News reports Madeleine Calcote-Garcia, director of the Museum of North Texas History, made the recommendation at a Tuesday city council meeting. The council took no immediate action on the recommendation.
Staff from the history museum received a small grant from the city to inventory the items at the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum, which shut down in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [see “Digest: New funding plan for FrontRunner …,” Trains News Wire, March 4, 2021]. The rail museum, founded in 1980, is on city property, and turned its collection over to the city when it closed.
Calcote-Garcia recommended selling or donating about 20 pieces of rolling stock, while retaining nine in the best condition or with direct ties to the community. Those would include Fort Worth & Denver 2-8-0 No. 304, built by Brooks Locomotive Works in 1906; a World War II troop sleeper; a Pullman sleeper; and a trolley car believed to be original to Wichita Falls.
Calcote-Garcia recommended the equipment to be kept should be restored by experts and protected by a roof and fencing. Assistant City Manager Paul Menzies said sale of the other equipment would help fund these efforts.
When I was in Wichita Falls in July 2021, the museum rolling stock was suffering from vandalism. The disposition of the rolling stock was being discussed in the community at that time.