Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota

Written By Kelsey Cecil

St. Paul, Minnesota · Updated October 19, 2026 · 13 min read

Historic rail siteTrain ridesJackson Street Roundhouse open Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm

The Minnesota Transportation Museum makes its home in the Jackson Street Roundhouse, a 1907 Great Northern Railway building in St. Paul where volunteers still turn locomotives on a working turntable and restore the cars that once served the Twin Cities.

  • Roundhouse built in 1907
  • Listed on the National Register
  • Working 115-foot turntable
  • Saturday train rides included
  • Over 50 vintage rail cars
  • Founded in 1962

Minnesota Transportation Museum at a glance

Hours
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm
Admission
Adults (18+) $10.70, students 6 to 15 $8.56, ages 3 to 5 $5.35, infants free; family of four $37.45
Train rides
15-minute train ride included with admission on Saturdays, year round; Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway excursions run seasonally in Wisconsin
Seasonal events
Tots and Trains, Pumpkin Express, Fall Colors Train, Monthly lecture series
Plan for
About 2 to 3 hours
Best for
Families with young kids and Great Northern fans
Best ages
Toddlers to age 12
Accessibility
The museum has an accessibility page for the Jackson Street Roundhouse; check it or call before you go.

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

Look inside the book

Taking the kids to Minnesota Transportation 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 St. Paul.

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 one saved streetcar to James J. Hill's roundhouse

The Minnesota Transportation Museum began in 1962 with a single goal: rescue a streetcar built and run by Twin City Rapid Transit. Many of its first members came out of the Minnesota Railfans Association, which had been organizing rail trips since the 1940s. Once TCRT No. 1300 was restored, the young group looked for its next project and found the Minnehaha Depot, an 1875 Milwaukee Road station nicknamed "The Princess" for its delicate trim. In 1967 it became the first building the museum restored, and MTM still operates it for the Minnesota Historical Society.

Over the decades the museum has worked across streetcars, buses and railroads. In 2004 and 2005 its streetcar operations became the separate Minnesota Streetcar Museum, and in 2019 its collection of 1940s and 1950s buses was donated to a private party. Today the railroad side is the heart of the work, from St. Paul to the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway in Wisconsin, which MTM runs with the Historical Society of Osceola.

Headquarters is the Jackson Street Roundhouse. The Great Northern Railway put it up in 1907 to replace an older roundhouse, on ground that has served rail traffic since the first railroad reached Minnesota in the 1860s. It is one of the last operating roundhouses built by James J. Hill for the Great Northern, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the winter months the stalls turn back into a working shop, with volunteers welding and grinding on the museum's rolling stock just as railroaders did a century ago.

Stalls, sparks and a turntable that still turns

Inside the Jackson Street Roundhouse you can wander among more than 50 vintage train cars, many of them open for kids to walk through, plus hands-on exhibits about rail and surface transportation in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. Restoration work happens in plain view, so you may see volunteers bringing old equipment back to life. The collection runs from Pullman coaches and Northern Pacific mail and baggage cars to a 200-ton lifting crane, an F7A freight locomotive under long-term restoration, a rare Brill car and the Rock Island business car "Gritty Palace," donated by the family of the late Art Pew in 2022.

Outside, the 115-foot turntable is one of the last of its kind still in service, and staff use it to turn locomotives. On Saturdays your admission includes a 15-minute train ride that runs in any weather, with a heated caboose in winter and departures at least every half hour. Behind-the-scenes tours, the Depot Store and a Kids' Zone round out the visit.

Don’t miss

  1. Northern Pacific No. 2156Twin Cities kids of the 1960s and 1970s knew it as Casey Jones's engine from the TV show "Lunch With Casey." It is being stabilized for a planned Steam Bay exhibit showing how steam locomotives work.
  2. Northern Pacific No. 2153The sister engine to No. 2156, cosmetically restored to its original look and slated to sit beside it in the Steam Bay.
  3. The 115-foot turntableOne of the last operating turntables in the country, and still the way locomotives are turned at Jackson Street.
  4. Rock Island business car "Gritty Palace"A private railroad business car that came to the museum in 2022 as a gift from Art Pew's family.
  5. Great Northern X1735 derrick craneA 200-ton wrecking crane, the kind railroads sent out to clear wrecks and lift locomotives.
  6. Northern Pacific No. 30 Russell snow plowA wedge plow built to punch through Minnesota winters, parked among the roundhouse's service equipment.

Climb aboard, ride the caboose, come back for Tots and Trains

Kids can move from one old car to the next, pretending to be passengers, engineers and conductors, then take a real train ride on Saturdays. In winter the ride uses a heated caboose, and trains leave at least every 30 minutes, so short attention spans are not a problem. The Kids' Zone gives little ones a place to burn off energy with train-themed play.

For the youngest fans, Tots and Trains mornings run from 10 am to 12 pm with stories and hands-on crafts, aimed at ages 0 to 6. The museum also hosts two-hour birthday parties in the roundhouse; call to book.

Plan your visit: tips for Minnesota Transportation Museum

  • Come on a Saturday if you want the included train ride.
  • Tickets are will call: give your name at the ticket window when you arrive.
  • All ticket sales are non-refundable.
  • Museums for All tickets are sold only at the ticket window; bring your EBT card and photo ID.
  • Bring a camera for the turntable and the cars kids can walk through.

The museum's fall rides happen across the river on the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway: the Pumpkin Express makes a 50-minute round trip to the festival at Dresser, Wisconsin, and the Fall Colors Train spends about 90 minutes in the St. Croix River Valley. Tickets sell out, so book early, and see our guide to Halloween train rides in Minnesota for more autumn outings.

Volunteers, trade students and members

The museum says its trains may run on diesel, but the place runs on people: volunteers, interns and trade students maintain locomotives, greet guests and help with events, and no train knowledge is needed to start. Memberships begin at $26.75, donations go toward preserving and upgrading train cars, and the Depot Store sells railroad gifts. To volunteer, call (651) 228-0263.

More rail stops around the Twin Cities

The museum's own Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway is the place to take a longer ride. The Twin City Model Railroad Museum is about 4 miles away in St. Paul, and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum, which grew out of MTM's streetcar work, is about 11 miles off. See all of Minnesota's train museums for more.

Every train museum in Minnesota

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.

Kids at Jackson Street get to climb from car to car, and I can picture the little ones hauling themselves up those tall steps. In our book, Rally has the same trouble. His corgi legs are short and the train stairs are big, so Dad gives him a boost while Mom waits at the top. It is the part my own kids, who are learning to read, always point at. You can color that moment from our free coloring pages.

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 Minnesota Transportation 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.

Minnesota Transportation Museum: 20 questions families ask

Where is the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

The museum is at the Jackson Street Roundhouse, 193 Pennsylvania Avenue East, St. Paul, Minnesota 55130. That is the museum's headquarters and the place to go for exhibits and Saturday train rides. Its longer excursion trains leave from a separate depot at 114 Depot Rd in Osceola, Wisconsin, so check which site your ticket is for.

What are the Minnesota Transportation Museum hours?

As of October 2026, the Jackson Street Roundhouse Museum is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. It is closed the other days of the week. Hours for the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway excursions are separate and seasonal, so check trainride.org before you go.

How much are Minnesota Transportation Museum tickets?

As of October 2026, admission is $10.70 for adults 18 and up, $8.56 for students ages 6 to 15, $5.35 for ages 3 to 5, and free for infants. A family bundle for two adults and two children is $37.45. Tickets are will call, and all sales are non-refundable.

Does the Minnesota Transportation Museum offer a train ride?

Yes. On Saturdays, museum admission includes a 15-minute train ride at the Jackson Street Roundhouse. Rides run rain, snow or shine, trains leave at least every half hour, and in winter you ride in a heated caboose. There is no train ride on Wednesdays, so plan a Saturday visit if the ride matters most.

Is the Minnesota Transportation Museum the same as the Jackson Street Roundhouse?

The Jackson Street Roundhouse is the museum's headquarters and its St. Paul exhibit site. The Minnesota Transportation Museum is the nonprofit organization, which also runs the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway in Wisconsin and operates the Minnehaha Depot. Most people searching for the museum in St. Paul mean the roundhouse.

What is the history of the Jackson Street Roundhouse?

The Great Northern Railway built the Jackson Street Roundhouse in 1907, replacing an older roundhouse on a site used by railroads since the 1860s. It is one of the last operating roundhouses built by James J. Hill for the Great Northern and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

When was the Minnesota Transportation Museum founded?

The Minnesota Transportation Museum was formed in 1962 to save a streetcar built and run by Twin City Rapid Transit. Many early members came from the Minnesota Railfans Association. After restoring streetcar No. 1300, the group restored the Minnehaha Depot in 1967, its first building project, and later grew into railroads.

Does the Minnesota Transportation Museum offer tours?

Yes. The museum describes behind-the-scenes tours that show how a historic roundhouse works and let you see restoration projects in progress. Schools and community groups can also book field trips. For tour times or a group visit, call (651) 228-0263 or email office@trainride.org.

What is on the Minnesota Transportation Museum roster?

The museum's equipment includes Northern Pacific steam engines No. 2156 and No. 2153, an F7A freight locomotive, Pullman coaches, a Brill car, the Rock Island business car Gritty Palace, a 200-ton derrick crane and a Russell snow plow. Cabooses include Soo Line No. 31 and Great Northern X71. An online collection guide is still being built.

Can I have a birthday party at the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

Yes. Birthday parties at the Jackson Street Roundhouse start at $267.50 as of October 2026 and last two hours. Parties are booked by phone rather than online, so call (651) 228-0263 to check dates and what is included. A Saturday party lets guests take the included train ride.

Does the Minnesota Transportation Museum have a Christmas event?

The museum does not list a Christmas train or holiday event on its site right now. The roundhouse stays open on Wednesdays and Saturdays in winter, and the Saturday ride uses a heated caboose. Check trainride.org or the museum's Facebook page in November for any holiday plans.

Where do you park at the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

The museum does not post parking details online. Head to 193 Pennsylvania Avenue East in St. Paul and follow signs for the Jackson Street Roundhouse. If you are bringing a group or a party, call (651) 228-0263 ahead to ask where to park.

Is the Minnesota Transportation Museum good for toddlers?

Yes. Little kids can walk through vintage cars, play in the Kids' Zone and ride the Saturday train. The museum also runs Tots and Trains mornings from 10 am to 12 pm with stories and crafts for ages 0 to 6, with admission starting at $10.70 as of October 2026.

How long should I spend at the Jackson Street Roundhouse?

Most families can see the roundhouse, walk through the cars and take the Saturday train ride in about two to three hours. Since admission is all day, you can stay longer for repeat rides, which leave at least every half hour, or to watch restoration work.

Is the Minnesota Transportation Museum wheelchair accessible?

The museum keeps a page on accessibility at the Jackson Street Roundhouse on its website. Because the building is a working 1907 roundhouse with vintage cars, call (651) 228-0263 before your visit to ask about access to specific exhibits and the Saturday train ride.

Does the Minnesota Transportation Museum take part in Museums for All?

Yes. Museums for All tickets are available, but they must be bought at the ticket window at the Jackson Street Roundhouse rather than online. Bring your EBT card and a photo ID. Questions about the program can go to office@trainride.org.

What train rides does the Minnesota Transportation Museum run in Wisconsin?

The museum operates the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway from 114 Depot Rd in Osceola, Wisconsin. As of October 2026, the Fall Colors Train runs about 1.5 hours and the Pumpkin Express is a 50-minute round trip to a festival at Dresser, both from $42.80. Rides sell out in fall.

Is there a gift shop at the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

Yes. The Depot Store at the Jackson Street Roundhouse sells railway memorabilia, toys and gifts. The museum also sells gift cards in any amount through its website, which can go toward admission, train rides or other activities.

How can I volunteer at or support the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

The museum welcomes volunteers of every skill level, from locomotive maintenance to greeting guests and helping at events, and no train knowledge is required. Call (651) 228-0263 to get started. You can also buy a membership, which starts at $26.75, or donate online to help restore and upgrade train cars.

What other train museums are near the Minnesota Transportation Museum?

The Twin City Model Railroad Museum is about 4 miles away in St. Paul, and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum is about 11 miles away. The Ironhorse Central Railroad Museum in Chisago City is about 30 miles north, and the Gopher State Railway Museum in New Prague is about 36 miles south.

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Kelsey Cecil
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