Railroad museum in Riverhead celebrates 35th Anniversary Railroad Festival

All aboard! The Railroad Museum of Long Island is celebrating its 35th Anniversary Railroad Festival this weekend in Riverhead. 

Kids of all ages (including those of the adult variety) will enjoy a ride on the 1964 World’s Fair LIRRR Pavillion train that loops around the fairgrounds and be awed by the historic Lionel toy train layout. There are displays of historic locomotives to ogle, tours of a LIRR M-1 train, and vendors galore. To round things out, The Brisket Brothers — Bruce MacDonald on guitar and Dan Skabeikis on fiddle — are performing traditional American music. Food is provided by Fat Boys Bar-Be-Que Bus and Restaurant. There’s plenty of seating to enjoy a good meal at picnic tables under a large tent.

A banner on the Railroad Museum’s fence along Griffing Avenue proclaims “Saving Railroad History for 35 years.” That’s the mission of the railroad museum in a nutshell.

The railroad was the engine of the region’s agricultural economy as the principal means by which local farmers got their produce to market in New York City. 

For Railroad Museum of Long Island President Don Fisher, it’s all about the history. His face lights up when he talks about Engine 39, the steam locomotive RMLI hopes to restore to working condition. “There are only three of these in existence, and ours is the only one that may be able to run again,” Fisher said. “It’s such an important piece of industrial history. We can’t afford to lose it.” 

Fisher also grows animated talking about what the RMLI’s grounds just east of the current Riverhead train station was like in the late 19th and early 20th century and the role it played in commerce and communication. The antique locomotives, a caboose and a turntable on the museum site testify to the railroad’s history. The turntable is a massive structure that was once used to turn an eastbound train around so it could return to New York on the single  track then serving the main line. The locomotive would pull into the turntable and the whole structure would then be turned around so the locomotive could exit in the opposite direction. 

RMLI has plans to expand and improve its facility that will allow for indoor storage of the antique trains now stored outdoors on tracks west of Griffing Avenue, where they are exposed to the elements year-round. The plans were first drawn in the early years of this century by Riverhead architect Martin Sendlewski. Fisher is optimistic the museum can still fulfill the plan, even though he’s certain the cost has gone up from the 2001 projection of $7-8 million to about $11 million. 

The 35th Anniversary Railroad Festival continues Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for children 5 and up. Children under 5 admitted free. 

The Railroad Museum of Long Island is located at 416 Griffing Avenue in Riverhead, on the north side the LIRR tracks and just east of the Riverhead train station.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti