Northern Ohio Railway Museum

Northern Ohio Railway Museum The Museum will be open every Saturday, 10 - 4, through September 26th. Cars will operate on the 2nd & 4th Saturday of every month. We will reopen in May 2023.

We always welcome new volunteers. Check our Website if interested. NORM was founded in 1965 and incorporated in 1976 as a not-for-profit education and historical organization. Located at 5515 Buffham Road in Medina County, Ohio (near Chippewa Lake), the museum is working towards its goals to collect, preserve, restore, display and operate streetcars and other railway equipment for use by the publi

c. Members of the Northern Ohio Railway Museum have collected over thirty Streetcars and Interurbans. From a simple beginning we have constructed a carhouse and restoration facility as well as a preservation barn. In the future our collection, restored to it original, elegant condition, will carry visitors on a two mile section of former Cleveland and Southwestern Interurban right-of-way into a fading, bygone era - The Trolley Era. We have closed for the 2022 season. Dates will be announced soon. Please visit our web site for additional information.

New railcars for RTA will eventually mean new railcars for the Museum. Your support is needed for the second part of th...
09/02/2026

New railcars for RTA will eventually mean new railcars for the Museum. Your support is needed for the second part of that sentence to come true.

RTA just received the first of 54 new rapid transit cars. Enjoy these images of the first rapid transit car delivery since 1985 in Cleveland.

We have been asked often if the Museum will be getting examples of the cars being retired. The answer is the Northern Ohio Railway Museum does desire to acquire retired cars for historic preservation. RTA also has told us they support the idea of the Museum preserving examples of their current rapid fleet. Under terms of the Ohio Revised Code, scrap and surplus materials can be made available for historic preservation by RTA. So RTA can give us cars to preserve, but it is our responsibility to pay for moving the cars from RTA to the Museum. We also have to prepare the Museum to accept them.

If this era of transit is one that interests you, now is the time to join the Museum to begin your support of us acquiring examples of these cars when they are retired.

https://www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org/membership/

That support can go to the next level and you can also begin volunteering at the Museum to prepare the Museum for additional cars. Another way to support this endeavor is to donate to the Museum. The last time we moved cars, it was several thousand dollars per car to move them, and they were smaller than the cars being retired. With larger cars and inflation over a dozen plus years, we are expecting much increased moving costs. When the time comes, we ask that people be generous so we can preserve this chapter of Ohio's electric railway heritage.

In the mean time come and visit the Museum. Ride our former CTS and Shaker Rapid cars at the Museum. Visit the Discovery Track tent for Kids and see all of our historical and educational displays.

https://www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org/

Our next operating day is Saturday, September 12th. See you on the trolley.

Check this out!
09/01/2026

Check this out!

External Car Finish: On horse cars, and the early electrics, cars were finished according to the standards of the horse...
08/30/2026

External Car Finish: On horse cars, and the early electrics, cars were finished according to the standards of the horse drawn carriages of the time. The carefully constructed and fitted wooden panels and moldings were given as many as 15 hand rubbed coats of paint and varnish, providing both a beautiful appearance and resistance to the weather. Furthermore, this finish often included lettering showing not just the name of the company but the route on which the car operated and the destinations (picture 1). Some companies even went so far as to paint cars different colors for different routes. In some cases, elaborately painted pictures might be added. But even when such elaboration was not included, panels usually were outlined with gold leaf, often with elaborated geometric figures in the middle or at corners (picture 2).

However, with the new century and changing tastes – and also with reduction of profitability of trolley operation – finish gradually became simpler. The need to be able to use cars on different routes ended special colors, and route designations painted on cars were replaced by removable route signs (picture 3). Outlining of sides remained common for another 20 years, but the geometric figures were simplified or eliminated (picture 4)

With the coming of steel cars the painting process became much simples because steel did not receive – or need -- the careful finishing used on wood Picture 5.

Pictures, all Columbus Metropolitan Library: 1) Cincinnati horse car. 2) Columbus Railway, Power & Light Company #521. 3) Southeastern Ohio Public Service Company, car #586. 3) Southeastern Ohio Public Service Company, car #586, 4) Akron Street Railroad Company car #67, 5)Cincinnati Car Company experimental car, 1926.

Southwestern Station update.Not long ago we shared that our reproduction Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Station wa...
08/30/2026

Southwestern Station update.

Not long ago we shared that our reproduction Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Station was missing and then found. It had moved out to our front field to a nice site ripe for transit orientated development. It located between existing neighbors.

One existing property was a set of stairs and a high platform for our CTS rapid transit car. This property was not extravagant. Call it basic, but in good repair and decent appearance.

The other neighbor, was a low level platform for our Shaker Rapid car. This property could at best be called a slum. It was in poor condition and frankly not worth investing into. Only the property it was on, due to its proximity to rail public transit, was worth anything. The HOA came down on it and it was demolished. To date. a foundation for a new low level platform was installed.

What is to go on that foundation is being built indoors on a nice level concrete floor, shaded from the undesirable effects of the sun on the build crew. We see that new low level platform paused during construction. You can see short posts that will support bench seating away from the track platform for waiting passengers. This is shaping up to be a much better facility that the worn out facility it is replacing.

These new facilities will go into service on our next operating day, Saturday, September 12th. Be at the Museum to be among the first to utilize these new museum improvements. See you at the new station and platform!

If you like the progress happening at the Museum, please consider joining us to volunteer or donate financially. Visit our web site for more info on how YOU can help support us and keep work like this happening.

https://www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org/support/

Thank You.

THE ARCHIVE REPORT!The Museum has in its archive a fantastic collection of technical papers, books, films, photos, artwo...
08/27/2026

THE ARCHIVE REPORT!

The Museum has in its archive a fantastic collection of technical papers, books, films, photos, artwork, and many other diverse items related to Ohio's rich electric railway heritage. These items need to be curated in a climate controlled environment. We don't have a climate controlled space at the museum campus (YET!), so we have it housed in a staffed, premium climate controlled facility nearby.

The main unit, not pictured, contains most of our holdings and is a generous size. A couple years ago we needed more space, so we rented a small second unit to hold additional materials. Well we have outgrowth the capacity of this small 5ft by 5ft unit. It was time to get something much larger. We rented a second larger unit at the beginning of this month. During that time we outfitted it with proper shelving to accept our growing holdings. Today was moving day and several museum members descended on the archive facility to move into our new larger digs. Additional materials stored in several diverse spaces will be moving in soon. Then we will be organized for further archive work to take place in the off season (Winter).

If you like the progress happening at the Museum, please consider joining us to volunteer or donate financially. Visit our web site for more info on how YOU can help support us and keep work like this happening.

https://www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org/support/

Thank You.

GOOD NEWS! Recently we posted an image of a missing interurban station on a carton of milk. Thankfully the station has ...
08/26/2026

GOOD NEWS!

Recently we posted an image of a missing interurban station on a carton of milk. Thankfully the station has been located and it is quite fine. In fact it has found a new home and is happy in its new location.

Its new home is in our front field facing Buffham Road, where a permanent visitors center will go someday (needs lots of $$$). The reproduction Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus interurban station will begin earning its keep on September 12th. That is our next operating day. So mark your calendars and save that date; Saturday, September 12th. Be among the first passengers to get your ticket in our new station.

If you like the progress happening at the Museum, please consider joining us to volunteer or donate financially. Visit our web site for more info on how YOU can help support us and keep work like this happening.

https://www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org/support/

Thank You.

Doors: We've discussed the changing style of streetcar bodies and of roofs -- or, should it be rooves? 😁 Another way i...
08/23/2026

Doors: We've discussed the changing style of streetcar bodies and of roofs -- or, should it be rooves? 😁 Another way in which streetcars changed over time was in the doors. The early electric cars developed from horse cars and were influenced by steam railroad cars of the period. Thus, they had open platforms with fixed steps, and doors through the bulkhead between platform and car (picture 1) . Because the cars were small, clearances were close and sliding doors were used. Open platform cars often had waist-high iron gates at the platform steps (picture 2).

When platforms were at first enclosed, platform gates continued to be used (picture 3). Soon, however, both the gates and the bulkhead doors were replaced by doors at the steps. In some cases, these also were sliding doors, but often they were hinged to swing inward, some single and some double (picture 4).

The "accordion" folding doors, either single of double, as still found on most buses, took up less space and were easier to handle, so they became mostly standard (Picture 5) . To allow the enclosed platform to be of maximum width, fixed steps were eliminated, and replaced by a folding step, mechanically linked so as to drop down as the door folded open (picture 6). Originally hand operated, in time compressed air was used to control the doors.

Pictures, all Columbus Metropolitan Library: 1) Cincinnati Street Railway horse car, 2) Covington & Cincinnati car #19,3) Akron Street Railroad Company car #67, 4) Cleveland and Chagrin Falls Electric Railway car #7, 5)Columbus Railway and Light Company car #702, 6) Columbus Newark & Zanesville Electric Railway car #67

A little rain couldn't stop the fun at NORM today! It's always a great time to ride the rails, explore history, and make...
08/22/2026

A little rain couldn't stop the fun at NORM today! It's always a great time to ride the rails, explore history, and make memories with the whole family.

Check out this fantastic trolley model one of our young visitors built at the Discovery Track!

Have you taken a ride with us yet? Drop your favorite photo in the comments below! 📷

For the past few months, this authentic replica of a Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Interurban station has been in...
08/21/2026

For the past few months, this authentic replica of a Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Interurban station has been in our parking lot getting painted. It is our first picture. But look at the same spot today. The building is missing. OH, NO! Do we call missing persons, I mean buildings? Do we put its picture on a milk carton?

Maybe you can help locate the building. So are you looking for something fun to do with the family this Saturday? Join us and see if you can spot our missing building.

Join us at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum in Seville from 10 AM–4 PM and take a ride on our vintage trolleys! Ride equipment that once carried passengers throughout the region and experience the sights and sounds of historic electric railways. You will never know what you may see beside the tracks also. Hummm!!!!!!

While you’re here, be sure to stop by Discovery Track, our new kids’ area where children can build with toy trains, color, and enjoy time playing and imagining. Shaded seating nearby gives grown-ups a chance to relax while the kids play.

Don’t miss Hands-on History, where visitors can discover the story of a popular toy and see how it connects with the electric railways represented throughout the museum.

We’re located just off I-71/I-76 at 5515 Buffham Road, Seville, OH 44273. We hope to see you this Saturday!

Come spend a few hours with us and see what’s on the tracks and along the tracks!

Address

5515 Buffham Road
Seville, OH
44273

Opening Hours

10am - 4pm

Telephone

(330) 769-5501

Website

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