(The Daily Nonpareil published the following story by Tim Johnson on its website on September 4.)
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The Union Pacific Railroad Museum will now preserve the story of its own development, as well as the history of the railroad.
Friends of the Museum representatives placed a time capsule containing materials about the museum’s renovation and grand opening in a brick archway Wednesday at the museum at 200 Pearl St.
The milestone came exactly 99 years after the cornerstone of the former Carnegie Library was laid on Sept. 3, 1904, said Kate Cutler, president of the group.
“We’re pretty excited about this,” she said. “We’re especially excited about this because we know, 100 years from now, this building will still be here.”
Items placed in the capsule include:
– A letter from Dick Davidson, chairman and CEO of Union Pacific.
– A letter from Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan.
– A copy of the book “Nothing Like It in the World,” by the late author Stephen E. Ambrose, which chronicles the construction of the Union Pacific’s original transcontinental line from Council Bluffs to Sacramento, Calif.
– A rail spike replica like those presented to major donors for the project.
– A brass model of a Union Pacific SD-70M flag locomotive.
– Materials from the fund-raising campaign conducted by Friends of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.
– A copy of the renovation plans.
– Commemorative postcards and cancellation stamp from the grand opening.
– A list of museum volunteers and donors.
– The 2003 Council Bluffs guide published by the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.
– Photographs of the building during its decades of use as a library.
– Photographs of the museum grand opening.
– The first two issues of the Friends of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum “Golden Spike” newsletter.
Documents were reproduced on acid-free paper and encased in plastic. Other items were individually wrapped in packing material. The entire collection was sealed in a stainless steel box, which was then screwed shut and inserted into the wall.
The museum was the result of a collaborative effort between the community and Union Pacific Railroad.
After the new Council Bluffs Public Library opened in 1998, a group of citizens known then as Friends of the Carnegie Cultural Museum, campaigned to have a museum created in the Carnegie building, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The group, now called Friends of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, raised $3.5 million for renovation and exhibits at the building, including $1.4 million from the Iowa West Foundation and $800,000 from the Lied Foundation.
Union Pacific, which was then storing artifacts from its former museum, decided the building would make a nice home for them. It took on the renovation project and provided the expertise needed and the rest of the funding.
The railroad’s first museum opened in 1921 in Union Pacific’s headquarters building. In 1996, the collection was placed in storage at the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, where it remained until the present museum opened on May 10.
More than 16,000 visitors have already been to the museum, displays Union Pacific’s history from the early 1800s to today’s technologically advanced railroad. It received a preservation award from the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance in the large public building category.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.