Relive the Golden Days of rail travel through Texas as the Rosenberg Railroad Museum presents its RAILFEST on Sunday, June 22, 2025, in historic downtown Rosenberg, Texas.
From full sized rolling stock to multiple detailed model railroad layouts and more, this annual event will present railroading history in multiple ways. Guests will step back in time as they tour the restored 1879 “Quebec”, an executive railcar designed for a business mogul and their entourage. The Mopac caboose is a double-decked delight of railroad history offering a glimpse of where the conductor, flagman and brakeman lived and worked while on the rails.
Long before there was e-mail much of America’s mail traveled by rail. One of the Museum’s newest additions is an authentic “United States Mail Railway Post Office” filled with memories and mail from days gone by. Also on display is a vintage diesel switcher engine attached to an original helium car from the heydays of America’s space program, an AMTRAK passenger coach and more.
Members of the Houston Area Live Steamers (HALS) will be on-site to demonstrate the workings of old-school steam locomotives and to share the history of these grand machines, while members of the Houston Area G-Gaugers (HAGG) operate the Museum’s popular “garden railroad” depicting Rosenberg and surrounding areas from the1950s. Inside the model train room festival goers can view several highly detailed railroad layouts from H-O to O gauge along with static exhibits. Visiting layouts from T-TRAK and Houston Tinplate Operators Society will also be on display.
Pull the levers in an actual historic railroad artifact. Built in 1903, Tower 17 was used by the Union Pacific Railroad in Rosenberg up until 2004 to direct rail travel down the line. And, the main Gallery is filled with railroading memorabilia, graphics, and even a working telegraph system to try out.
RAILFEST 2025 will be filled with a freight-car full of entertainment throughout the afternoon. Hear tall tales from the rails from MaryAnn Blue of the Texas Folklore Society, as train tunes and bluegrass are performed along side the “Quebec” by John Armor. As an added bonus, bluegrass pickers are invited to bring their instruments to RAILFEST and join in the musician’s circle of pickers and grinners. Participating pickers will receive free admission to this fun-filled event all afternoon.
There will be costumed “railroad workers and travelers” strolling the grounds and ready to answer questions about the long-ago days of rail travel. Whether a hobo, conductor or engineer, guests are encouraged to dress the part, too.
RAILFEST 2025 is Sunday, June 22 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Rosenberg Railroad Museum, 1921 Avenue F in Rosenberg, Texas. Admission is $12 for Adults, $10 for children ages 3-12, $10 for seniors and veterans. Active duty military are free. Call 281-633-2846 or email info@rrrm.org.