Railway CU Makes $500 Donation to Railroad Museum of North Dakota

Mandan, ND - Railway Credit Union (RCU) became the first business inducted into the North Dakota Railroad Museum’s Hall of Fame on Sunday, August 25th 2019. Shown in the photo below, Museum President Bill Engelter presented the award to RCU Chairman Doug Erhart, along with a delegation of credit union volunteers and staff. Railway in turn presented the museum with a $500 donation to continue their work of preserving railroad history for future generations in North Dakota.

The museum and the credit union have maintained close ties through the years; the museum even contributed some items back to RCU during the remodel of their office located in the BNSF terminal building earlier this year. One of the current RCU directors, Ken Clouston, was a founding museum member. Also inducted into the ND Railroad Museum Hall of Fame on Sunday was Mike Knoll, the lone surviving charter member of RCU.

RCU began as a railroad credit union in 1954, and has been a strong supporter of the museum as both of the organizations have expanded over the years. The museum is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and recently added a new building with a kids’ corner for them to learn more about trains and the railroad history. The museum holds a variety of events for the public to attend during the months of operation, and the credit union displays the event information at all of their offices in Bismarck and Mandan.

The Mandan railroad museum was designated the official state railroad museum of North Dakota in 1989. Large and small railroad artifacts fill all corners of the museum, displaying items designed and made specifically for the operation of the railroads. Established in 1972 to maintain the history of railroading in North Dakota and operated by the Railroad Museum Historical Society of Morton County, the Mandan railroad museum features a unique display of more than 200 HO model “hopper cars” from the collection of Dr. Kenneth J. Johnson of Bismarck, ND. There is also an extensive collection of photographs from the camera of Ron V. Nixon, a longtime Northern Pacific dispatcher.