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RISING RAILROAD PROFESSIONALS OVERNIGHT CAMP

Quick Details

RRP Overnight Camp
$1400

Launched in 2023, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is pleased to offer our Rising Railroad Professionals Rail Camp experience.  Since its founding in 1961, TVRM has continued its mission to collect for preservation, operation, interpretation, and display railroad artifacts in an authentic setting to educate the public concerning the role of railroads in the history and development of our region.

In continuing our tradition of education both in our operational and static collections, the Rising Railroad Professionals program is an overnight experience for aspiring railroaders and aspiring museum professionals and historians to better understand and gain hands-on experience with a wide array of museum operations to include: safety and rules lectures, historical thinking, organizational management, budgeting, restorations, interpretation, the role of historic railroading in tourism development, and the regional context of our important mission.

The TVRM Rising Railroad Professionals Rail Camp program is an overnight week-long experience designed to provide real-world career experience for those with a determined interest to be involved in the railroad preservation industry specifically.  We aim to offer a diverse array of focus areas in the program including curatorial considerations, historic interpretation, outbound trips for historic context, museum operations, railroad operations, equipment maintenance and restoration, and above all, safety!  In addition to daily rides, campers will experience the following:

 

  • GCOR (General Code of Regulations) classroom sessions and rules tests
  • Authentic railroad sleeping accommodations in a 1920 Pullman sleeping car “Clover Colony”
  • Hands-on safety training with TVRM operations staff
  • Cab rides to learn locomotive operations
  • Assisting TVRM staff with artifacts for restoration and museum interpretation and exhibition, and approaches to exhibit creation and design
  • Offsite opportunities to observe real-world TVRM switching operations, other museum/historic railroad displays, and regional Chattanooga history
  • “In the field” exploration and analysis of our historic property, including Civil War bridge sites and pre-Civil War Missionary Ridge Tunnel
  • In-depth backshop tours in typically inaccessible areas for equipment maintenance
  • Blacksmithing course onsite
  • Go Pullman: Care and maintenance training for restoration and preservation of historic Pullman cars in TVRM’s collection and historic Pullman care for bunking space
  • Viewing regionally-significant historic railroad films and handling related artifacts, such as “The Great Locomotive Chase”
  • Proper methods of locomotive and car cleaning for museum display
  • Many more opportunities throughout the week!

Please contact Charles Googe, Camp Director, for any other questions or concerns at [email protected].

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Amazing railroad I’ve been to many times Kevin T

Amazing railroad I’ve been to many times, I’ve gone since I was a little kid; Parents your kids will love it! Great for kids and adults, friendly staff, many different excursion packages and much more; so much I could make this review a mile long if I wanted. I highly recommend as a former rail camper, rider, and life long customer.

– Google Review
My Child Attended Their Summer Railroad Camp and Thoroughly Enjoyed Himself FloridaBelle16

my child attended their summer railroad camp and thoroughly enjoyed himself - all of the staff were wonderful and the camp ended with their great train ride out to Chickamauga. The train ride was quite lovely and we really enjoyed ourselves

– TripAdvisor