Medina Railroad Museum occupies a building whose history connects trains, pickles, furniture and an unusually determined firefighter. The long freight house was constructed for the New York Central in 1905 after local businesses pressed for facilities capable of serving a growing manufacturing village. Its approximately 300-foot length and repeated freight doors reflect a building designed for handling goods, not the ceremonial arrival of passengers. The structure is itself one of the museum’s most informative exhibits.
The Heinz pickle factory nearby was a major customer. Four of the original twenty-two freight doors were allocated to shipping Medina-made pickles, a detail that makes the connection between railway infrastructure and ordinary consumer products memorable. Even after Heinz developed its own loading facilities, the freight house continued serving regional distribution. Look at the doors as a record of repeated work: goods arrived, were sorted and transferred, then continued toward customers far beyond the village.
The building later changed careers. After railway use declined, Thomas and Helen Hickey acquired it in the 1960s for their furniture business. It became storage space and then the Village Square Furniture Store. In 1991, Martin Phelps purchased the property with a different ambition. Known as Fireman Marty, he had worked as a Batavia firefighter and was deeply involved in fire-prevention education. His dream of a railway museum gave the old freight building another public purpose.
The museum opened in 1997 with Phelps’ railway memorabilia and firefighting material. Its railroad collections interpret several kinds of work, including track maintenance, locomotive operation and passenger and freight service. The emphasis on the New York Central reflects the line outside the building. Smaller artifacts can be especially rewarding here because they connect the imposing freight house with the decisions and routines of individual employees.
A useful way to explore is to follow the building’s changing uses, from a railway distribution center to a furniture store and finally a museum. That sequence explains why this industrial structure survived when many similar freight houses disappeared.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in New York
- Delaware & Ulster Railroad — Heritage Collection — Arkville: Operating heritage railway collection
- Empire State Railway Museum — Phoenicia: Depot and railroad history museum
- Railroad Museum of Long Island — Riverhead and Greenport: Railroad museum with two visitor sites
- Railroad Museum of the Niagara Frontier — North Tonawanda: Railroad museum and archives
- Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum — Rush: Railroad museum and operating collection
- Salamanca Rail Museum — Salamanca: Depot and railroad history museum
- All 7 railroad museums and sites in New York
Keep exploring
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- Northeast — the trains you can ride in the region