Sperry Rail Car Day

– Ride An Unusual Rail Flaw Detector

DANBURY — Saturday, July 29, will be Sperry Rail Car Day at Danbury Railway Museum.

From 10 am to 5 pm, attendees will have the opportunity to ride on an unusual piece of railroad equipment: a Sperry Rail Flaw Detection Car. Admission is $6 for adults, and $4 for ages 3 to 12.

A Sperry Rail Flaw Detection Car is a specialized piece of railroad equipment, operated by the Sperry Rail Service Company, to detect potentially unsafe track on operating railroads across the country, thus ensuring the safety of people and goods traveling over the rails. Riders will learn how this sophisticated detector works and see how the operators worked and lived on the car.

In addition to the Sperry car, the museum’s Rail Yard Local will be operating, offering short trips on a vintage train in a restored 1953 Rail Diesel Car (RDC), or pulled by one of the museum’s vintage diesel locomotives.

Caboose rides and locomotive cab rides may also be available; choice of equipment is subject to availability.

Train ride tickets are $3 and include a ride on the only operating turntable in Connecticut. Other activities and displays include the 1907 B&M steam locomotive #1455 where visitors can learn all about how a steam locomotive works, a number of walk-through railroad equipment, the under-construction N-scale display of the Danbury railyard circa 1955, a new HO-scale model layout being built, the new G-scale mountain layout, and a well-stocked gift shop.

A special photographic exhibit, “Changing Tracks (The Penn Central Years),” organized by Pete McLachlan, is

currently being shown in the museum.

Danbury Railway Museum is a non-profit organization, staffed solely by volunteers, dedicated to the preservation of, and education about, railroad history. The museum is located in the restored 1903 Danbury station and rail yard at 120 White Street.

For further information, visit danbury.org/DRM or call 778-8337.