SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Conrail Historical Society is opening a museum inside a boxcar. On July 20, CRHS announced it had acquired an 86-foot-long auto parts boxcar, formally Conrail 295633, that will be moved to Shippensburg, Pa. and be transformed into the Conrail Museum & Archive. The car was donated by CSX and is temporarily being stored on the Pennsylvania & Southern Railway in Chambersburg. The boxcar will be trucked to its new home later this year. 

“The new Conrail Museum & Archive will be a great asset to Shippensburg, and we are extremely appreciative of the local support we’re receiving,” said CRHS President Rudy Garbely. “We can’t wait to build further strategic partnerships with the community as we take one of our largest steps forward in the preservation of Conrail history. We are especially grateful for the donation from CSX Transportation and the grant from the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau that make this whole project possible.” 

The Conrail Museum will be placed next to the Cumberland Valley Railroad Museum, which is housed in a Penn Central boxcar, and the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail. The project is expected to cost $134,000, much of which will be covered by a $100,000 tourism grant from the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau.

“The Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau has played a crucial role in making The CRHS’s long-term museum goal a reality,” says Jim Stanton, Vice President of The Conrail Historical Society. “Our museum will grow regional tourism, and we wouldn’t be able to undertake this project without their generous assistance.” 

For more information, visit CRHS.org. 

A drawing of the proposed Conrail Museum & Archive.