How we started
The Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. began as a group of model railroaders in the 1960's who decided it was time to build a big layout! Originally known as the Amarillo Model Railroad Association, the original club met in the multi-story basement of the old Harvey House restaurant located in the Santa Fe Railroad passenger depot in Amarillo, Texas. Featuring an HO island-style layout near 30'x 40', this early effort featured hand laid brass rail on Tru-Scale milled wood roadbed, all screwed to heavy wooden risers. The turnouts were also all Tru-Scale, with moveable frogs. This layout was almost complete, with coved plaster ceiling, Southwestern landscaping, and Marn-O-Stat variable transformer power control. The rolling stock consisted of many scratch-built boxcars, hopper, and tank cars, plus Ambroid and Athearn wood kits, Model Die Casting locomotives, and some of the die cast Mantua/Tyco locomotives. A few Bowser locos rounded out the stable. Half the equipment had Kadee couplers, but some had dummy couplers, and a few pieces still had the hook-and-loop couplers favored by John Allen on his Gorre & Dapheted Railroad. It was a real hodge-podge, but best of all, everything worked pretty well!

In the 1970's, the Santa Fe decided to sell the depot, and their plans pretty well put an end to the basement AMRA empire. The layout was dismantled, with the various pieces disappearing into the member's parts bins. I can still recall how the room looked the last time the club met in the Santa Fe depot - a blue coved sky with thunderstorm clouds building in the Southwest corner, some open-frame L-girder table work, and lots of lost dreams.

In 1971, the Amarillo Model Railroad Association reconvened in a member's garage on Avondale Street. The club's focus now was to build an around the walls type layout in the member's garage. As you can expect, many members felt that building a fellow member's layout was just not right, so the club fell apart for several years.

By the 1980's, several attempts to start a viable club in Amarillo had been made, but none had really taken hold. This was to come to an end, however, with the growth of the modular layout. Modular layouts are based upon several people building their own "module", usually 2'x4', that meets a certain standard of construction, and has standardized track entrances and exits. The idea is that different modelers can build their own dream "layout" in their 2'x4' world, and then groups of modelers can meet to assemble their individual modules into a huge model railroad. And thus was reborn the Amarillo Model Railroad Association!

The Amarillo Model Railroad Association built a large modular layout that covered about 50'x100'. Each module was a member's individual contribution to the club. Over time, this layout was moved several times, from Autocraft, a local auto repair shop, around town, and ending up at Western Plaza Mall. Here, the layout landed for several years, and the club grew.

The original reborn club first grew with able leadership headed up by Carter Osborne. Carter's leadership, coupled with an aggressive financial policy, led the group to prosper. The dues were intentionally kept high enough to meet all financial demands while putting a little in the kitty! This is the core of what made the AMRA succeed where other groups had failed. All good things must come to an end, and Carter finally burned out!

Following him as president came Dr. Jerry Michels. Jerry continued the strong fiscal policy, and the club expanded to almost thirty members. Additionally, the club developed its first runs of model rail cars for sale to the general public. An instant success! The club's financial footing was secured!

Tell Me More About The History of the Amarillo Railroad Museum!

Our Philosophy
The Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. is founded upon the idea that the incredible history of the Texas Panhandle cannot be told without telling the story of the railroads. Indeed, the growth and development of this vast, arid region could not have occurred without the railroads first crossing it. It is a story of greed, misdeeds, intrique, and shady business dealings. In other words, mankind at his best! Follow this link for an interesting history of the growth of the Texas Panhandle railroads, written by Bob Burton, and as published by the Santa Fe Railroad Historical and Modeling Society at their website, www.atsfrr.com!

A Branch Line Comes of Age - Part 1

ARM Finances
The Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. is a Texas non-profit corporation qualified under United States tax code section 501(c)3 as an charitable organization focused on education. Our mission is to educate the public as to the incredible impact railroads have had, and continue to have, on the development of the Texas Panhandle. We achieve our mission through full sized railroad equipment displays, interpertative trails, model railroading illustrating the Texas Panhandle, oral history preservation, and maintaining a library of film and books related to railroading and its history. Though a small organization, and growing, our future is assured by our ownership of our 12 acre land, our new 5,000 square foot building, and our throughly researched and developed model rail car sales. In particular, the model rail car sales help us achieve our educational goals, as each car is unique modeled, extremely accurate, and are representations of specific actual railroad equipment that operated in specific times and places.

The day to day operations of the Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. are financed by dues paid by members. The basic monthly dues are $25 per member. Student members pay $10 per month. Internet membership is $20 per year. The dues at this time are sufficient to pay most, if not all, of the monthly mortgages and utilities.

The larger portion of the ARM finances are related to the sales of our model rail cars. The cars are integral to our educational purpose, and the ARM attempts to bring four or five new cars to the model railroad marketplace each year. Usually each run of model rail cars will generate sufficient funds to pay for itself and its marketing, and leave the ARM additional funds that are devoted to developing our full sized railroad displays, the interpretative trails, and the historically accurate model railroad that represents the Santa Fe Railroad crossing of the Texas Panhandle from Canadian, Texas, to Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1950's. Additionally, the model car sales support the ARM oral history project. The oral history project is a venture with Texas Tech University to collect and preserve the spoken personal histories of railroad workers from the 1930's to the present. This promises to be a font of knowledge that will one day be lost to historians were it not recorded now.

A third, but extremely important source of funding, is donations. As a charity recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, the Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. is able to provide tax deductions to those who donate money or things to us. The ARM cannot provide values for the things donated to us, but we can provide the donor with a letter acknowledging the donation that is suitable for providing to the IRS. Any donation you value at more than $250 must be acknowledged by the ARM to be deductible, and any donation you value at more than $5,000 should be appraised by an appraiser of your choice at your expense. Appraisal expenses are not part of the donation value, but may be deducted as an incidental expense.

The ARM welcomes your donations, and will work to help make your donation valuable to you. We welcome, of course, items related to railroading, such as watches, timetables, uniforms, railcars, and the like. Additionally, we would love your donations of your automobiles, airplanes, stocks or bonds, insurance policies, or other financial assets. Your donations of equipment, inventory, office supplies, and the like are also very much welcome!

The ARM will be pleased to work with your financial adviser to set up charitable remainder trusts or other financial planning to maximize your estate value to your heirs. Please contact us for more information!

E-Mail Us For More Information On Finances, Donations, or Estate Planning

Our Goals and The Future
The Amarillo Railroad Museum, Inc. is not a static, staid box of dusty yesterdays. It is a dynamic, growing parade of fun, interesting, and educational challenges! And you can (and SHOULD!) be a part of it!

The goals are threefold: One, to educate the public about railroads, the Texas Panhandle, and the important economic issues surrounding both. Two, to illustrate historic railroading through preservation of artifacts, oral history, and model railroading. And, three, to develop our land and buildings for the use of the public, to make a small oasis in the parched Amarillo area, where one can rest soul and body, learn, and rejuvenate.

The first goal, that of education, comes with giving new access to children and adults alike to railroading. Being able to not only see, but touch, experience in every way: that is learning at its best! Our future will include school tours, changing displays, and ties to our corporate friends and neighbors for resources, displays, and financial support.

Our second goal will be met through the development of a complete train of display equipment, including locomotive, boxcars, tankcars, cabooses, etc. Our first display is on site: a former Bureau of Mines helium transport car! This car is historically interesting in that Amarillo was the only helium depository in the US, and the history of helium tracks not only the history of toy balloons, but of warfare, the atomic age, and now our leap to the stars! Future cars should include a carbon black car, oil tankcars, chemical cars, beef refrigerators, and their accessories. Additionally, the ARM is working with Pantex to display the famous "White Train" nuclear weapon transportation train. All of these rail exhibits will prove to be interesting and educational.

The third focus, that being developing a quiet spot in the Panhandle where people can rest and renew is also underway. Included in our plans are interpretative trails where people can walk, picnic, and perhaps even camp if on the road. Additionally, a feature we call "Trainhenge" will be a solar and seasonal observatory with a decidedly railroad theme! An outdoor, "ride-on" railway is planned, as are flower gardens, native plant displays, and places to just sit and think!