The Fennimore Railroad Historical Society Museum celebrates a small railway with an affectionate name: the Dinky. The narrow-gauge line operated between Fennimore and Woodman from 1878 to 1926, giving local communities a connection with a wider transport network. Its modest scale is the point of the story. Railway history was not made only by transcontinental expresses and giant freight engines; smaller lines could be essential to the farms, businesses and families they served.
There is a particularly useful surprise in the locomotive display. The engine at the museum is a 1907 Davenport 2-6-0 acquired because it resembled the original Dinky in appearance and size. The museum’s own account explains that the original locomotive is preserved in Pioche, Nevada. The Fennimore display therefore represents the local train rather than claiming to be that exact surviving machine. Knowing the distinction adds interest: it shows how a museum can explain a lost local railway through a carefully chosen historical comparison.
The museum building also has a different origin from its present appearance. It was a city powerhouse and utility building before being adapted to resemble a turn-of-the-century depot. The replica loading platform incorporates bricks from the original station, giving the recreated setting an authentic material connection. Inside, railway features include a ticket-window area, telegraph equipment, a potbellied stove and photographs tracing the narrow-gauge line’s history. These objects help suggest how information, waiting passengers and practical station work once occupied the same compact space.
The collection extends into the community behind the railroad. Farm tools, household equipment, military material and objects donated by local families help explain the lives of the people who used the line. That broader history prevents the Dinky from becoming an isolated curiosity. Look for the relationship between the railway pictures and the everyday objects: what work needed transport, what goods might travel, and what connections mattered to a rural household? The historical society depends on donations and volunteer effort.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in Wisconsin
- National Railroad Museum — Ashwaubenon / Green Bay: Major railroad museum and research collection
- Colfax Railroad Museum — Colfax: Railroad museum and equipment collection
- La Crosse Short Line Railroad Display — 4000 Foundation — La Crosse: Outdoor railroad equipment and signal-tower collection
- Mid-Continent Railway Museum — North Freedom: Railroad museum and operating collection
- Railroad Memories Museum — Spooner: Depot and railroad artifact museum
- All 6 railroad museums and sites in Wisconsin
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Midwest — the trains you can ride in the region