Places in Idaho: The Northern Pacific Railroad Museum

Basic Information

• Name: Northern Pacific Railroad Museum
• Where: Wallace, Idaho
• Cost: Free
• Hours: Open Seasonly from April-October
• More Information: NPDepot.com

Directions

Wallace is easily accessed off of I-90 as it travels through the Idaho Panhandle.  It is about a 2 hour drive from Spokane. The Northern Pacific Railroad Museum can be found in Wallace at the end of Pine Street.  It is very easy to find.

Narrative

A free attraction that I recommend people visiting Wallace stop by and see, is the Northern Pacific Railroad Museum.  The victorian style building that the museum is housed was once the city’s train station for the Northern Pacific Railroad:

The below picture is a model of what the depot looked liked when it was an operating train station:

The train station was built in 1901 and serviced the city until the last train operated in the area back in 1992.  Since then the train station has been converted into a museum.  Inside the Northern Pacific Railroad Museum are various exhibits that explain the railway past of Wallace:

There is even an old office that has a working old style telephone and typewriter that kids can play with:

Another interesting display was the old map from the station that showed how the borders of Idaho once encompassed parts of Montana and Wyoming:

The museum is also packed with many historical photographs of the area:

My favorite displays were of the highly detailed models that depicted railroad life around the Wallace area:

They even have a working model railroad that kids can operate trains and attempt to find various people and animals on from a list they have posted.  My kids had a blast running the trains and looking for the people and animals on the model train layout:

Conclusion

Touring a railroad museum is not for everyone, but considering that the museum is free I think it worth people visiting Wallace to checkout.  It only takes about 30-60 to go through the Northern Pacific Railroad Museum and who knows you might find something interesting inside. For families that have young kids definitely bring them to the museum.  Young kids will likely have fun running model trains and playing around with the various interactive exhibits.