The grant will help the museum pay for eligible facility expenses such as utilities, information technology, security, insurance and cleaning. It will help cover those eligible expenses incurred by the museum between March 1 and Dec. 30, 2020.

“We weren’t able to run trains for several months, but we still have certain unavoidable expenses like utilities and insurance to be paid,” said Robert Barcus, treasurer at the museum. “Combine that with all of the extra measures we had to take after re-opening and our expenses really started to add up.”

The funds were made possible by the CARES Act to provide organizations with assistance for eligible expenses during this difficult time. The museum was one of 479 organizations across the state of Indiana that received funding.

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation of railroad history in northwest Indiana. Formally organized in North Judson in 1988, the museum educates the public through interpretive displays and its tourist railroad that operates over several miles of former Chesapeake & Ohio track saved from abandonment in 2004.

Additional information about the museum can be found online at hoosiervalley.org or on the museum’s Facebook page at @hoosiervalley.