Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum’s launch of new Hobo exhibit coincides with summer festival
Trains continue to fascinate adults and children alike, even as the very idea of the railroad harkens back to our country’s distant past. One local museum in Bradford, however, has dedicated itself to celebrating the railroads, their history and their importance in connecting the town and the great state of Ohio to the rest of the nation.
The tiny village of Bradford straddles the Darke and Miami county line and rests comfortably about 8 rural miles east of Greenville. Founded in 1868, the town was given its name by Tom Bradford, a mail agent on the Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indiana Central Railroad, who named it after himself after discovering there were no other towns in Ohio with that name. Known for its annual pumpkin festival and as the home of best-selling science fiction writer John Scalzi, the town is also the home of the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum, and it is that museum that is attracting the lion’s share of attention these days.
“We’re putting in a new Hobo exhibit this year,” says Dr. Marilyn Kosier, president of the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum. “It will be in the basement level, and that will be open by June 5, which is the date for our upcoming Railroad Heritage Festival. That is something new that people can see when they come to the museum. Last year, we finished installing exhibits down at the BF Tower, which is an old railroad interlocking tower and is the only remaining railroad structure in the town after the old train tracks were pulled up in 1985.”
The museum offers photos, information and entertainment for all ages, with three levels of fascinating, professionally procured exhibits and displays. Founded in 2002 by several local railroad enthusiasts, the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum currently features the aforementioned interactive BF Tower exhibit, a Dining Car exhibit, Railway YMCA, a Telegraph interactive display, a Role of the Railway in War exhibit and, in the basement level, a Children’s Play Area featuring interactive play exhibits and a Thomas the Tank Engine set. There is also a museum gift shop for visitors who would like to take home a souvenir of their visit.
The museum and its displays have been recognized for excellence several times in recent years. “We got Best Exhibits in Ohio this year for the Tower exhibit,” continues Kosier. “And we got Best Exhibit in Ohio for our exhibit hall in 2018. This was for museums with budgets of less than $500,000 per year. Those awards and recognition were from the Ohio Museum Association.”
The Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum is located at 200 North Miami Ave. in Bradford. Visiting hours for the museum are Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. from March through December. For more information, call 937-552-2196. Admission is $10 for adults 21 and older.
