The Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum, Wheeling, West Virginia

There are so many things about the U.S. state of West Virginia.? It is a state that has so much natural beauty.? You have the New River Gorge.? You have Dolly Sods, the largest unspoiled natural area east of the Mississippi River.? You have the many mountains and valleys.? Are you thinking about the coal mining industry?? You can visit the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, a once active coal mine in Beckley that is now open for public tours.? What about railroads?? You have the Cass Scenic Railroad in the town of Cass that takes you to the top of the second highest point in the state.? Also in Cass, you can take a ride on the Durbin Rocket.? You have the city of Elkins that was once a major railroad city with only excursion trains today.? Elkins is also the home of the West Virginia Railroad Museum that tells the history of the railroad in the state.? There is so much to the state of West Virginia from small towns to natural beauty to railroads to its cities with the largest city being Charleston, the state capital.? A city that is very often overlooked is the city of Wheeling.? How is it overlooked as Interstate 70 and the National Road (U.S. Route 40) passes through this city which happens to be on the Ohio River and borders Ohio?? Once known as the ‘Gateway to the West’, it was once a big railroad town with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad having a presence here, but it has a great little treasure known as the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum.

What is the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum?

Some of you are saying, “Well, duh, it is a museum of toy and trains that happens to be on Kruger Street.”

You are exactly right.? It is on Kruger Street.? It is about toys and trains.? Well, it is about model trains of which there are plenty here.? Yes, there are plenty of museums about toys and about trains, but what makes this place different?

It all began with a father and son who collected toy trains.? The collection grew, and they decided to display their collection in a museum, but where?

As you arrive at the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum, you notice that it looks like a school.? That is because it was a school.? It was bought through an auction, and the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum was opened in September of 1998.

Before you enter the old school, you notice a yellow caboose.? Yes, there are cabooses everywhere, but this particular caboose is from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a memorial to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s influence to the city of Wheeling.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning.

You enter the museum, the very first thing you see… is a model train, but there is much more.

The museum features rooms dedicated to different toys, and there are rooms dedicated to different model trains.? You have the O Gauge Room.? (O Gauge is a size of the model train.)

Then there is the Ohio Valley History Room which has a model train display of the Ohio River Valley of which Wheeling is a part of, and there is a display in honor of Chuck Yeager, a famous jet pilot from the state who is famous for breaking the sound barrier.

What is a train museum without the Historic Train Room?? The room has a collection of historic model trains from Lionel.

You have the HO Gauge Room.? Yes, it features a HO Gauge model train display, but it also displays locomotives in brass and model trains from all gauges.

Yes this is a museum about toys and trains.? For those who are a fan of Peanuts (the cartoon and not the food item), the museum features a collection of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and other Peanuts characters that was donated by a local doctor named William Mercer so that many would enjoy the collection for years to come.? Yes, it is about Peanuts, but there is also a model train display here as well.

The Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum is a very special museum in a not-so-famous part of West Virginia.? A visit here is a visit you will cherish.? For those of the older generation, it will bring back memories of your childhood.? For the younger ones, they will see the toys that the children played with before them.

The Kruger Toy and Train Museum is located at 144 Kruger Street in Wheeling, West Virginia.? It is less that a miles from Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40, and West Virginia Route 88.? The museum is open year round, but hours do vary due to the time of the year.? Parking is on site.? Due to the age of the structure, the museum is not wheelchair accessible.? You can learn more about the museum and its exhibits, the history of the museum and the building, and get information on hours and admission at https://www.toyandtrain.com/.

They call it wild and wonderful West Virginia, but the state has much to offer.? The city of Wheeling has the Kruger Toy and Train Museum.? When you visit, you will have a wonderful time.