Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama

Written By Kelsey Cecil

Calera, Alabama · Updated October 19, 2026 · 14 min read

Heritage railroad with a museumTrain ridesFree2026 operating season runs March to December 20

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum is the official railroad museum of the State of Alabama, with two restored depots, a yard of locomotives and cars dating from 1890 to 2005, and vintage trains that still carry passengers over a rebuilt stretch of the old L&N Mineral line.

  • Official railroad museum of Alabama
  • Free museum admission
  • 75-minute Saturday train rides
  • Two restored depots
  • North Pole Express each winter
  • Started as an NRHS chapter

Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum at a glance

Hours
Depot, exhibits and gift shop: Saturdays 9 am to 3 pm in season; Tuesday to Friday by appointment
Admission
Museum admission is free; donations welcome. Train rides need a ticket.
Train rides
Calera & Shelby Railroad, Saturdays March to September except event days, about 75 minutes; themed trains through December 20
Seasonal events
Opening Day, Sweetheart Special, Ozan Wine Trains, Easter Eggspress, Mother's Day Special, Rail Safety Day, Father's Day Express, Bourbon and Brisket, Stars & Stripes Special, Wild West Day, Summer Sunset Special, Pumpkin Junction, Fall Foliage Special, North Pole Express, Christmas at the Station, Cheers to Christmas
Plan for
Allow for the 75-minute ride plus time in the depot and yard
Best for
Families wanting a real train ride near Birmingham
Accessibility
The museum posts ADA information on its website; call ahead about boarding specific cars.

Hours and prices as the museum posts them, checked October 19, 2026. Confirm before you go.

Look inside the book

Taking the kids to Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum? Bring Rally along.

In Rally Takes the Train, a corgi's little legs can't manage the big train stairs, so Dad gives him a boost. It takes about five minutes to read, a good fit for the drive to Calera.

Page 1 of 8

Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

Like it so far? See the full book

25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.

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Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.

From a downtown Birmingham rail club to a railroad of its own

The museum began as the Heart of Dixie Railroad Club, a chapter of the NRHS, and it still counts itself an active chapter today. Its first home was a lot at 18th Street South and 1st Avenue South in downtown Birmingham, across from the Alabama Power steam plant. Railroads donated most of the early cars, but the downtown site was hard to protect, and vandals and fires damaged several pieces that are still waiting their turn in the restoration line.

In the early 1980s the club moved south to Calera and set up along 9th Street. It also bought eleven miles of right-of-way from the former L&N Alabama Mineral Railroad, a loop built in 1891 to gather the raw materials for Birmingham's ironworks. That line had been abandoned when a hydroelectric project on the Coosa River meant its river bridge had to come out, and the rails were later pulled up. Volunteers have been putting track back down ever since, and the Calera & Shelby Railroad now runs about 5.5 miles out to Springs Junction, just east of Shelby County Highway 86.

In 2002 the museum opened a second, much smaller railroad. The 2-foot gauge Shelby & Southern uses the former park train of the Birmingham Zoo: members built a station and maintenance shed, sandblasted and repainted the cars, and sent the propane-fired Crown Metal Products 4-4-0 to the Tweetsie Railroad for refurbishment.

Today the nonprofit carries the title of official railroad museum of the State of Alabama, and it describes its mission simply: keep the sights, sounds and artifacts of railroading alive for the next generation.

Two depots, a signal garden and a yard full of rolling stock

Most visits start at the Calera Depot, which once served the Southern Railroad in the small town of Wilton and now carries the Calera name. It sells tickets and holds the indoor exhibits on Alabama railroading: lanterns, locomotive headlights, rail cross sections, and the china and silverware once used in dining cars. Between the depot and the visitor center, a signal garden of working crossing signals and a semaphore is still growing.

Outside, the museum shows more than forty pieces of rolling stock. Three first-generation diesels pull the excursions and switch the shop, six more diesels and two electric shop engines sit on display, and four steam locomotives represent Baldwin, Alco, Lima and Davenport. The passenger roster includes a diner, railway post office cars, a sleeper and a rare dome observation car, along with cranes, derricks, handcars and a velocipede from the maintenance side. The second depot, from Woodlawn, holds the Boone Library. Only cars in excursion service are open to the public, and only during operating hours; the rest are under restoration or on static display.

Don’t miss

  1. Woodward Iron Baldwin 2-8-0 (1924)This steam locomotive no longer runs, but its cab is open to visitors and has wooden stairs so you can climb up and look inside.
  2. Alabama Power fireless locomotive (1953)A cosmetically restored switcher with no firebox at all. It filled up with steam from the power plant's boilers and could work for about four hours on a charge.
  3. Frisco Coach No. 1062The museum's oldest passenger car still in operation. A Frisco coach is also one of the Coach class cars on the North Pole Express.
  4. Calera Depot (former Wilton depot)A depot about a century old that once served the Southern Railroad in Wilton, Alabama, and now holds the ticket office and the main exhibits.
  5. Peacekeeper missile train carsRailcars built for the Air Force Strategic Air Command, meant for a plan to base intercontinental ballistic missiles on trains.
  6. Boone Library in the Woodlawn DepotRailroad books, slides, photographs, maps, track diagrams, timetables and manuals, open for research by appointment.

Riding up front, in the caboose or out in the open air

Train tickets let families choose how to ride: a vintage coach, an open-air car, the caboose, or in some cases the locomotive cab itself. Back on the ground, children can climb the wooden stairs into the 1924 Baldwin's cab and watch the crossing signals in the signal garden. The yard is outdoors, so plan for Alabama sun in summer.

The museum builds much of its calendar around kids. The Easter Eggspress adds a golden egg hunt, crafts and a visit from Peter Cottontail, and the museum describes it as a good Easter option for children with sensory needs. On the North Pole Express, Santa and Mrs. Claus come through every car for photos, and passengers ages 2 and up get a treat.

Plan your visit: tips for Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

  • Buy train tickets ahead on the museum's website, especially for holiday trains.
  • North Pole Express tickets are sold online only, and boarding passes are picked up at Will Call in the depot.
  • Arrive about an hour before a North Pole Express departure.
  • Outside food and drinks are not allowed on board during the North Pole Express; food vendors set up on the grounds.
  • Book the Boone Library by appointment through the main office.

Christmas is the museum's biggest season. The North Pole Express runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from November 13 through December 20, with departures at 5, 6:30 and 8 pm, a Christmas story and carols on the way, and Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves boarding at the brightly lit North Pole. Every family leaves with a collectible ornament featuring one of the museum's historic cars. For a daytime option, Christmas at the Station runs on December 5, 12 and 19, 2026. In October, Pumpkin Junction carries families by train to a pumpkin patch with a hayride and food vendors. See more Christmas train rides in Alabama and fall and Halloween train rides in Alabama.

Kept on track by members and volunteers

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum is a nonprofit that grew out of a rail club and remains an active NRHS chapter. Volunteers relay track, restore cars and run the trains, and the museum's website has a volunteer page for anyone who wants to help. Admission to the museum is free, so donations, gift shop purchases and train tickets are what keep the collection moving.

More rail history within a long day's drive

North of Calera, the Decatur Historic Railroad Depot is about 105 miles away, and the Historic Huntsville Depot is about 113 miles. The North Alabama Railroad Museum, roughly 117 miles away, makes a good pairing for a weekend of rides. See every train museum in Alabama to plan a longer trip.

Every train museum in Alabama

Bring Rally along: a train book for the drive

Watercolor of a dad lifting Rally the corgi up the big stairs of a red train car
From Rally Takes the Train, watercolor by Leslie Dunn.

The old Baldwin steam engine at Heart of Dixie has wooden stairs leading up into its cab so visitors can climb in. That makes me smile. In our book, Rally's short corgi legs can't manage the big train stairs, and Dad gives him a boost. Little kids run into the same problem, and it's nice when someone has thought about them. If your crew wants to keep the train going at home, there are free coloring pages waiting.

Free for train families

Print the Rally coloring pages before you go

Watercolor coloring pages from the book, free to print. Tuck a few in a folder with crayons for the drive or the wait for the next train.

Get the free coloring pages
Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

A train story for the ride homeRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi's first train trip to see his grand-paw-rents. Hand-painted in real watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, for ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

More for train families

Work or volunteer at Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

We want this page to be the best introduction to your museum on the web. Send new hours, event dates, corrections or photos to kelsey@rallytakesthetrain.com and we will update it. You are welcome to share this page with your members.

Sources

Everything on this page comes from the museum’s own website and social pages and, for history, Wikipedia, checked October 19, 2026.

Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum: 20 questions families ask

Where is the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum is at 1919 9th Street in Calera, Alabama 35040, in Shelby County. Calera sits on I-65 about 30 miles south of Birmingham. The mailing address is P.O. Box 727, Calera, AL 35040, but use the 9th Street address for directions. The museum's website also has a directions page.

What are the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum hours?

As of October 2026, the depot, ticket office, exhibits and gift shop are open Saturdays from 9 am to 3 pm, with Tuesday to Friday visits by appointment only. The main office is open Tuesday to Friday 9 am to 2 pm and Saturdays 9 am to 3:30 pm. The 2026 operating season runs from March 1 through December 20.

Is the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum free?

Yes. The museum says admission to the museum itself is free, and donations are welcome. You only need a ticket if you want to ride a train during the operating season. That makes it an easy stop to look at the depot exhibits, the signal garden and the outdoor collection even if you are not riding.

How do I buy Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum train tickets?

Tickets are sold through the Get Tickets links on the museum's website, hodrrm.org. For questions, the ticket line is (205) 668-3435 and the ticket email is tickets@hodrrm.org. Buying ahead is wise, and for the North Pole Express it is required: every ticket for that event must be bought online in advance. The museum does not list regular ride prices in the text we reviewed.

What is the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum train ride like?

The regular ride is the Calera & Shelby Railroad, about 75 minutes through the woods on restored vintage coaches pulled by a first-generation diesel locomotive. It runs on part of the former L&N Alabama Mineral Railroad, built in 1891. As of October 2026, the museum lists it on Saturdays from March to September, except during scheduled events.

Does the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum run a Polar Express train?

No, its Christmas train is called the North Pole Express. Families ride by evening to a lit-up North Pole, hear a Christmas story, sing carols, and get a visit from Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves on board. If you were searching for a Polar Express style ride near Birmingham, this is the museum's version.

When does the Heart of Dixie North Pole Express run?

As of October 2026, the North Pole Express runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from November 13 through December 20, with departures at 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 pm. The whole experience lasts about an hour and a half. Plan to arrive about 60 minutes early and pick up boarding passes at Will Call in the historic depot.

What is included with a North Pole Express ticket at Heart of Dixie?

Every child gets a photo visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus on board, and every family receives a collectible ornament of one of the museum's historic cars. Coach riders ages 2 and up get chocolate milk and a cookie. First Class adds hot chocolate in a souvenir mug and a larger bakery treat, and the Premium table car offers a choice of drinks and treats.

Are there other Christmas events at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

Yes. Christmas at the Station is a daytime holiday event for families who would rather not ride at night, and in 2026 it is scheduled for December 5, 12 and 19. The events list also names Cheers to Christmas. Details and tickets are on the museum's events page, and you can call (205) 668-3435 with questions.

Can I have a birthday party at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

Yes. The museum says it loves hosting birthday parties and offers several ways to celebrate, and parties are held in a restored dining car next to the visitor center. Options and pricing are on the Birthday Parties page of hodrrm.org, or call the main office at (205) 668-3435 or email info@hodrrm.org to check dates.

Can kids go inside the locomotives at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

Partly. The cab of the 1924 Woodward Iron Baldwin 2-8-0 steam locomotive is open to visitors and has wooden stairs for climbing up. On train days, tickets can include riding in a caboose, an open-air car or the locomotive cab. Other pieces in the yard are under restoration or on static display and are not open.

Where can I see photos of the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

The museum posts photos and event updates on its Facebook page (facebook.com/hodrrm) and Instagram (instagram.com/hodrrm), and it has a YouTube channel and a Pinterest page under the same name. The collection pages on hodrrm.org also show the steam locomotives, diesels, passenger cars, freight cars and both depots.

Where can I read reviews of the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

The museum has a listing on Tripadvisor where visitors leave reviews, and comments on its Facebook page are another good read before a holiday trip. The state tourism site, alabama.travel, also lists the museum. Reviews are a helpful check on details like where to park and which car type suits your group.

How do I contact the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

For a quick directory: the main office and ticket line are both (205) 668-3435, the fax is (205) 668-9900, the general email is info@hodrrm.org and the ticket email is tickets@hodrrm.org. Mail goes to P.O. Box 727, Calera, AL 35040. The museum also answers questions through Facebook, Instagram and X.

Does the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum offer group charters and field trips?

Yes. The museum books Thursday charter rides for schools, churches and corporate groups on restored coaches over the Calera & Shelby Railroad during its operating season. Pricing, scheduling and availability are on its Group Charters page, though that page may not always load, so calling (205) 668-3435 is a reliable backup.

What is Pumpkin Junction at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

Pumpkin Junction is the museum's October event: families ride the train to a pumpkin patch that also has outdoor games, food vendors and a hayride. In 2026 it ran on October weekends from the 3rd to the 18th. The Fall Foliage Special is a separate autumn ride for leaf season. Check hodrrm.org for next year's dates.

How did the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum get started?

It began as the Heart of Dixie Railroad Club, a chapter of the NRHS, with a collection in downtown Birmingham. In the early 1980s the club moved to Calera and bought eleven miles of old L&N right-of-way, where volunteers have been relaying track ever since. It is now the official railroad museum of the State of Alabama.

What is in the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum collection?

The collection spans 1890 to 2005 and includes more than forty pieces of rolling stock: steam locomotives from Baldwin, Alco, Lima and Davenport, diesels from EMD, Alco, Baldwin and Fairbanks-Morse, a dome car, a diner, railway post office cars and a sleeper. It also has cranes, handcars, a velocipede and Air Force Peacekeeper missile train cars.

Is the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum accessible for wheelchairs and strollers?

The museum posts an ADA Information page on its website, which is the best place to check before you go. Because only certain cars are in excursion service and boarding varies by car, call the main office at (205) 668-3435 to ask which seating works for a wheelchair or stroller on your ride date.

How can I volunteer at or donate to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum?

The museum has volunteer and donation pages on hodrrm.org. Volunteers help with track work, restoration and running trains, and since museum admission is free, donations go a long way toward keeping the collection in good shape. Call (205) 668-3435 or email info@hodrrm.org to learn where help is needed most.

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