The National Railroad Museum’s 2024 exhibit, Railroad Tools: Building for our Future, explores tools that were used for building the railroads and investigates how new technology is used. The exhibit will be showcased inside the Museum’s Fuller Hall Gallery. It opens Feb. 3 and continues through Dec. 31. The exhibit is included with daily admission.

Many railroad tools will look familiar to the casual viewer. Mauls, picks, and adzes have been used for centuries for anything from wood, mining, and general construction. Much of the difference is when we move from hand tools to automated mechanical devices. Early railroads were all built by hand. Draft animals were employed to move rail ties and rails to various locations, but the process of laying track was all done by hand.

Visitors to the Railroad Tools: Building for our Future, are invited to explore the many tools used to construct the railroads that built America.