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Seasonal celebrity Easter Bunny holds court in a special railway car at The Danbury Railway Museum weekends from April 10 through April 23, ready to meet families who stop by for a ride on a vintage train through the Museum's railyard. Run by volunteers, the historic railyard and station celebrate spring with special gifts, museum exhibits of memorabilia, restored train cars and model trains in five different scales, including a Lionel layout with Thomas the Tank Engine.
Even without the Easter Bunny's cameo appearance, the Danbury Railway Museum has its own colorful story to tell that will intrigue visitors. Built in 1903, the Danbury station became a thriving transportation hub for the New York, New Haven and Hartford lines. On six acres, it included a constellation of related facilities, an engine house, a freight house and a round house (to service locomotives.) In 1950, renowned film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed "Strangers on a Train" at the station and its environs. But over the following three decades, ridership declined and other economic factors contributed to the railyard's deterioration. The engine house burned and it and the freight house were demolished.
By 1993, Danbury's center had shifted, with a new mall pulling visitors away from the inner city. Luckily, the Mayor, Gene Eriquez, was inspired to propose a plan in which railway supporters and fans would create a railway museum with the yard's facilities. The idea was embraced and by 1994, the Museum was incorporated and had received a $1.5 million grant for restoration. The Museum went about acquiring some classic train cars, including five Housatonic Railroad coaches, an Alco RS-1 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive, a New Haven caboose, ten cars in all. The turntable, which allowed steam locomotives to turn, was fully restored in 1998 and by 2006, the Museum had gathered more than 60 pieces of equipment. It and the turntable are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Danbury Railway Museum admission is $9. For more information, vist the Museum's website.
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