New Braunfels Historical Railroad and Modelers Society

Model trains, a history museum, and a place for little ones to play. Decent rainy day fun.

This felt more like a personal collection of train and train memorabilia than a museum but if you’re in the area, it’s worth a quick stop. It’s free so be kind and leave a donation or make a purchase.
I’m not a train aficionado a la Sheldon Cooper so it wasn’t of particular interest to me. I did appreciate the time and commitment that went into completing some of the more detailed sets. There were some good photo ops and I picked up a train conductor rubber ducky for a friend who collects them so that was a neat find. Beware, there is a very sweet old gentleman who works/​volunteers here. He can tell you a lot about a lot so be warned if you engage him in conversation.
Great place for kids.

It has great history. Very friendly people that knows the history and enjoys what they do. We had a private tour and we felt special. I wish I knew their names. Thank you for a good experience

If you are a kid or a kid at heart and you’ve always loved model trains and train history, come see this wonderful museum and relive your childhood.
They have many displays including whole trains running model trains, artifacts news clippings, and lots of fun.
The price is free, yes free, but they asked for a $ 3 donation.

This place is about as cool as it gets !
My very young son is a big Train freak and he LOVED this place. Also, the place has cool (local) Germans that run the place and it was great to talk to them for a bit (while my son looked around the first room as you come in).
Also, they had a young boy operating a train set up (and he was changing train cars and tracks, etc.). But, the trains were constantly kept running around the tracks /​mountains and trees (fake landscape). My son and I stood there for about 30 minutes. just watching… mesmorized !!
Then we went outside to the ACTUAL Train compartment they had out back… SO VERY COOL !
This place will be a regular visit for my family !
we loved it !
DID I MENTION it was FREE… but, DONATIONS CAN BE GIVEN !!

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!
I absolutely fell in love with the New Braunfels Railroad Museum! For starters, it’s FREE but they have a nice old-​fashioned donation box near the guest sign-​in. There are several rooms you can peruse through at your own leisure with several historical documents, ticket stubs, and old train models. Arlene, the fantastic station agent, powered up their old fashioned train set, I felt like a kid again!
After studying the many artifacts in the main museum building, we found ourselves on the red caboose and their lovely dining car. I have memories of my Father taking us to a movie at the Brauntex Theatre then putting all of us on the caboose (back then it was enormous), now they have a fancy gate to prevent this LOL The red caboose is so much fun, you can climb up the ladder and sit and watch the actual train pass by, my sister did this in a skirt (no shame)! The dining cart is transformed into a nice party venue filled with tables and chairs for your next party with a capacity of 48 (air conditioned), consider it!
Please don’t expect up to date technology, everything in the museum is very old-​fashioned as it should be.
I shall return!

I’m assuming these are the guys who run the New Braunfels Railroad Museum, and that’s what I’m reviewing. I love a funky old train museum, and that’s what this is. Run by volunteers, trapped in the past, but with a reasonably decent train layout for adults and kids to peruse.
Like pretty much all train museums, this one needs an overhaul, but the people who volunteer here aren’t the folks likely to do that (I don’t blame them, they probably have no budget). There are lots of yellowing displays and whatnot that nobody under 60 (except me) is going to read. These places need to me more interactive, and use some technology. I mean heck, you can run a train layout from your iPad nowadays. One idea: scan in the pages of the old railroad magazines you have and let people flip through the pages on an iPad. Nobody can look at something locked in a case.
That said, it’s free (donations suggested) and there’s an engine and a couple of cars you can go through. The real highlight for me (scared the daylights out of my kids) is how amazingly close to the actual rail line it is. When an engine goes by, wow, it is fast and loud. Cool.
Don’t miss the German train layout in a different room (with two big mountains) it’s pretty neat. They also have a Thomas the Tank Engine table they bring out some days (and kids find and play with under a display case when it’s not out) which is good and bad. Good because my kid loves it, bad because then he won’t look at anything else.