MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Thirty-one organizations have received $150,000 in funding from the National Railway Historical Society’s 2025 Railway Heritage Grant program, the organization announced Wednesday, June 4.
The funds go toward preservation of historic railroad artifacts and media.
“The NRHS Heritage Grants program is a prolific and visible funder of restoration and preservation projects,” NRHS President Tony White said in a press release. “I’d like to acknowledge the significance of donations by our membership towards this program: Thanks to the generosity of NRHS members and other donors, NRHS is distributing a total of $150,000 in Railroad Heritage Grants this year.”
Added Heritage Grant Chairman Charles Webb, “The NRHS Heritage Grants program supports preservation and restoration of historic railroad structures, locomotives, railcars, photos, and archival documents. The program has made a lasting impact: Since 1991, the NRHS has awarded 429 grants totaling over $1,403,000 to NRHS chapters and other organizations in support of railroad historical preservation efforts.”
Awards for 2025 include:
$10,000
- Army Transportation Museum Foundation, Fort Eustis, Va.: to restore an Army 1952 Brown Hoist steam crane.
- Old Dominion Chapter-NRHS, Richmond, Va: for exterior paint renewal of Richmond, Fredericksburg &Potomac heavyweight passenger car No. 706 and Southern Railway heavyweight passenger car 1006.
$5,000
- Center for Railroad Photography & Art, Madison, Wis.: to acquire a new digital photo printer to create prints for traveling exhibitions. This grant was awarded in honor of long-serving NRHS Heritage Grants committee member George Hickok
- The B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore: for restoration of the interior of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad observation tavern car number 3316. This grant was awarded in tribute to the memory of NRHS Heritage Grants committee member Carl Jensen.
- Navajo County Historical Society, Holbrook, Ariz.: toward restoration of Apache Railway RS36 No. 800, to be displayed at the Navajo County Courthouse in Holbrook.
- The American Passenger Train History Museum, Charles City, Iowa: for restoration of windows, and exterior and interior painting of an Illinois Central diner-lounge car.
- American Industrial Railroad Society, Eldridge, Iowa: toward restoration of Indiana Northern No. 4, a 1913 Baldwin standard gauge 0-4-0 steam locomotive.
- Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp., Irvine, Ky.: for restoration of office and shop facilities at the organization’s Ravenna shop.
- Midwest Old Settlers and Threshers Association, Mount Pleasant, Iowa: toward restoration of Rio de Janeiro open-air streetcar No. 1779.
- Friends of the East Broad Top, Upper Marlboro, Md: to provide archival-quality shelving for EBT archives located in a new archives headquarters building in Mount Union, Pa.
- Friends of The Harrisville Depot, Harrisville, Mich.: for restoration and renovation of the depot’s historic doors.
- Friends of Historic Finlayson, Finlayson, Minn.: to be applied toward total restoration of Finlayson’s 1909 Northern Pacific combination depot.
- Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society, Avoca, N.Y.: to assist with the purchase of archive quality shelving to allow the society to properly store, catalogue, digitize, and preserve primary source materials.
- Niagara Frontier Chapter-NRHS, Tonawanda, N.Y.: for restoration of Standard Elevator GE Erie 25-ton locomotive No. 1.
- Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Boonton, N.J.: to cosmetically restore Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad GE 44-ton locomotive number 700. [See “GE 44-tonners to be preserved …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 29, 2021.]
- United Railroad Historical Society, Boonton, N.J.: to return the long-lost New Jersey “Merci Train” boxcar to New Jersey. [See “New Jersey ‘Merci Train’ car found …,” News Wire, March 25, 2025].
- Garner Area Historical Society, Garner, N.C.: for interior restoration of early 1950s Southern Railway bay window caboose No. X771.
- North Carolina Railway Museum, New Hill, N.C.: for procurement and installation of boiler tubes for Vulcan 0-4-0 No. 17.
- Harrisburg Chapter-NRHS, Harrisburg, Pa.: to install a fire and burglar alarm system in the preserved Harris Tower.
- Electric City Trolley Museum Association, Scranton, Pa.: toward restoration of brass windows on Scranton Transit No. 505, a 1929 Osgood Bradley trolley car.
- Burkburnett Historical Society, Burkburnett, Texas: to repair or replace 13 windows in the Burkburnett depot.
- Whitman County Historical Society, Colfax, Wash.: toward the exterior restoration of 1946-vintage Northern Pacific coach No. 508.
$4,915
- Hoosier Heartland Trolley Co., Russiaville, Ind.: for restoration of the wooden batten strips and window sills of Indiana Union Traction interurban No. 429, Noblesville.
$4,550
- Friends of the New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.: for digitization of color slides depicting New York City’s rail transit system.
$3,562
- Wichita Falls Railroad Museum, Wichita Falls, Texas: to repair and repurpose a World War II troop sleeper car into a community meeting and event space.
$3,561
- Fox River Trolley Association, South Elgin, Ill.: to complete exterior restoration of Soo Line caboose No. 130.
$3,000
- Missouri Pacific Historical Society, St. Louis: for the digitization of 200 large format locomotive drawings.
- Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society, Darlington, Wis.: to complete restoration of a 1937 steel caboose.
$2,837
- Connecticut Electric Railway Association, East Windsor, Conn.: for exterior repainting of New Orleans Public Service car No. 836.
$2,575
- Milwaukee Road Historical Association, Antioch, Ill.: to create a web database for images showing Milwaukee Road equipment, facilities, structures and people.
$2,000
- Kittitas County Railroad History Association, Ellensburg, Wash.: $2,000.00 for the addition of 1/8th scale railroad structures and 2,800 feet of 7½-inch gauge track at Rotary Park.
