I can't believe I didn't know this museum was there. We intended to go to the Rock Island Depot museum but it was still closed for covid. We had a good time and they have a lot of interesting activities but they could have a little more for our 3 year old. Overall a good visit and the price was right! Free!

Wonderful Museum, Great Displays and artifacts. Highly recommend for all generations!!

Great museum with plenty to learn about. They have a lot of stuff that you can interact with. It's located inside an old library building that is beautiful. There's no fee but they do accept donations. I enjoyed the history of the rail roads and what they're doing now.

That's good place to learn how railroad dedicated to America.

Housed in a Carnegie Library built in 1904, the Union Pacific Museum has all the information and interactive activities to keep kids and adults of all ages happy and ready to explore all three floors. The first floor is your entry, gift shop and screening room. Second floor is a major dose of history including exhibits of President Lincoln, Surveyor and Civil Engineer (and Council Bluff resident) Grenville Dodge and misc yet extensive info relevant to the period. The third floor explores the UP where it is today. Highly informative, friendly staff, All aboard for some fun with the Union Pacific! Protip: Street parking only with meters free on the weekend, large clean restrooms, Donations are encouraged but Museum admission is free. Cards accepted. Penny Press machine!

Very cool museum to enjoy on the cheap. Looks at the history of railroads in the Omaha area. Has a few interactive exhibits and a model train. Cool information and layout in an awesome historic building. Definitely recommend a visit.

This was such a FUN experience with my children! The history and displays were so descriptive and interesting, thank you to the Staff for a good time.

We love coming here. The kids spend soooo much time in each room. 14, 8, 2 and an infant and they all love looking at things here. So many hands on items. Things to pick up and play. They love the room with train books.

Great place to visit. Really gives you an in depth history tour of the railroad. Great displays, pics and information to take in. Definitely worth the visit.

I wish I had known about this places sooner. Lifelong Iowan and only learned about it 8 years ago or so. Free admission. Lots of good exhibits and things for people to look at.

Fun and free (donations recommended) museum. The volunteers were super knowledgeable and friendly. Tons of information and interactive. We spent approximately an hour and half here.

Really great place to experience what Omaha was like in the 1800s. Beautiful place with great friendly knowledge staff! Just look at the picture’s and go there for your self really worth the stop and it’s free! But stop a small 5$ donation for them is what we did

Cool and informational museum on the history of the railroad. Had some fun interactive activities for children (or the adults who are always young at heart) throughout. Fun picture spots with a staged train car at the start, fun displays, and a train engineer's chair. Small gift shop that was mostly toys over souvenirs, but great postcard selection and some nifty trinkets. Fun activity that can be a quick walk through or a long, educational time.

This former Carnegie Library has been beautifully converted to a museum format. The exhibits are different enough to hold everyone's interest. It might be best enjoyed by those 10 years and older. There is an elevator once inside but not sure where a handicap accessible entrance is located. Parking meters on the street require $.50 per hour or the parking app on your phone. If reading most of the explanations is your thing, expect to stay longer than one hour.

It is a great museum about the history of one of the most influential companies that helped create the transcontinental railroad. There are lots of interesting exhibits about the beginnings of the travel in the area, construction of the railroad and early technologies used for railroad operations. The newly renovated upstairs area has a great deal of information about modern Union Pacific operation as well as an extensive exhibit about the railroads past as a passenger railroad. There are also quite a few interactive exhibits that everyone can enjoy. The only downside is that it isnt open all week but if you pair going to the General Dodge house and the nearby train depot that has fullsized trains as well as some exhibits of its own, you could have a good railroad history experience. It features a small gifts hop with some trinkets and shirts you can buy as gifts.

I went there in June 2018 and it's a nice railroad museum and it had a lot of interesting stuff. It has a lot of history about the Union Pacific Railroad.

Fairly small deapite it being a total of 3 stories. However you didnt feel like it was lacking much. First floor has a small room with a historical video playing and a small gift shop. 2nd floor has a train to climb on and a great photo opp as well as lots of machinery, horns and displays. 2nd floor which was our fave has a simulator so you feel like you're driving a train. With a push of a button you can start the toy train that goes around near the ceiling. And has lots of displays from way back when. Very nice history and lota of fun!!

So MUCH to learn and observe. Interactive displays that are especially fun for children. Lots of history in a building that built in 1904 to be a library so the architecture is nice also. Entry is free but there is a suggested donation requested.

Very impressive museum, especially given the fact that it's on a Donation Only basis. It's in what was once the original public library, which is a beautiful turn-of-the-century brick building. The donation box (or window, if docent is available) is on the basement level along with the gift shop/souvenir items. 2 levels upstairs have been turned into audio-guided tours, with a mostly chronological path through the history of Union Pacific RR Co. & the transcontinental railroad. There are interactive stations that kids would really enjoy, & a lot of great facts, details, & artifacts for everyone to enjoy. Great experience, & well worth the stop! FYI- Make sure to bring loose change for the parking meters!

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is an excellent place to see the vast and storied history of the railroad. This beautiful building was the public library built in 1904 before the UP took it over. This museum has everything one would want to see about railroad work in the past. There's a really cool simulator that gives one an engineer's eye view driving the big engines. There's photos, re-creations, and equipment that was in use on the railroad. Appropriately, this museum is about a mile away from 'mile zero' where the Union Pacific starts it's way West.

This place was surprisingly cool! Tons of information and artifacts from railroad and CB history. Being in the old library brought back so many memories of my childhood. Its a good way to spend an afternoon. And its free! I recommend going.

So much fun for the kids. The volunteers made it so memorable. My daughter walked away so proud to be a "real life engineer" They had many interactive exhibits for them to enjoy and learn about 🚂🚃 trains. Great for an affordable few hours of fun. Note: Bring quarters to save a tad on parking!

Very interesting and very hands on museum. The kids loved it!

Closed due to covid-19

Union Pacific Railroad Museum is a wonderful display of railroad history located in downtown Council Bluffs. Our community is proud of our railroad history, and the Union Pacific Railroad Museum brings this history to life with their interactive exhibits and historical artifacts on display. This is a must see for visitors and local residents alike!

They say you need a reservation to see this place due to covid. Booo. Thankfully a kind lady at the front desk said they had room and could slip us in. The self guided tour was delightful. We were in a hurry so we did it in 45 minutes. I think 2 hours here would be the ideal time to budget. Tons of hidden treasures that you have to slow down to read and see. So many authentic items from the golden era of rail travel.

Very cool place. If you are a fan of Hell on Wheels you must check it out

The building is beautiful.

The museum is quite impressive with lots of hands-on displays. The history is interesting as well.

Gorgeous antique collections. I really appreciate all of those.

Free museum, but please donate! Actually has really cool stuff inside. Probably only take an hour for your family to get through, but informative with really nice volunteers which Union Pacific should pay and I'm sure can pay with the 24 billion dollar profit they have in 2022, at a 15 percent increase from last year. No way this should just be a volunteer operation like UP is poor.

Closed due to covid19

The last time I was in Council Bluffs, a number of years ago, the museum was closed. However, last night I attended a Zoom Program that was excellent. I am about to sign up for another presentation. Highly recommend!

Wonderful little museum. Worth the stop

In an old Carnegie Library that houses some real deal Union Pacific history. The staff is friendly as can be.

I enjoyed traveling through the displays with my 3 and a half year old grandson. While much of the collection was, of course, not geared to that age, his interest in train related action prompted a much greater focus on displays than I expected! The surrounding of the historic library was a wonderful bonus!

Great museum and we really learned a lot about the expansion of the trains and impact they had on our country.

This was a wonderful museum, they had very interactive and interesting exhibits.

Great for kids and adults. 1-2 hours of information and entertainment. It's free, but there is a suggested donation amount when entering. If you live in the area is worth a visit.

Touch history here. Eastern beginning of the great transcontinental train project. Ramp and stairs access. Enter beneath the stone stairs to old library main doors. Good elevator serves three floors. Building built by Carnegie and his special glass to permit outside light to shine in.

Absolutely loved it. Entry is free and there are tons of interactive things for kids to explore and play with. The museum people encouraged the kids to play and explore which I really appreciated. They have very clean bathrooms and even a gift shop. I highly recommend going with ot without kids!!

Fun attraction for railroad buffs. Many historical artifacts and displays. Well stoked gift shop and very helpful volunteer staff. Located downtown. On street parking only, though.

Fabulous! We are so glad we stopped at this beautiful building filled with fascinating bits of history. They work hard at making this a destination for all ages, so don't hesitate to take the kids. The admission fee is just whatever donation you can afford.

Very informative. Lot's of information and history. Interactive displays. Old movies. Meters only good for 2 hours. Plan on spending that much time.

Great place to take the kids. We learned a lot and had a fun time drawing pictures and using the train simulator.

Great museum. Very informative and interesting.

A good historical figure

Amazing history here. And a dinosaur footprint to boot! Worth a look!!! Free will donations. Check the hours first!

Liked it alot and it was free

Great place for kids with a free will donation.

Great history of the UP. Lots of neat exhibits. A must stop for railroad buffs.

Such a great place to visit with family from out of town or with the kids on a relaxing afternoon. The museum is always clean, well staffed and has interactive exhibits.

Even the slightest UP fan must visit at least once.

Great experience

great history, very clean

Great Railroad history center.

Great museum, lots of interesting and interactive exhibits

Great place to visit and get history of the area

We stopped to use their penny smashing machine.

Good

Very clean museum and is really interactive

Great place for children to learn about the Union Pacific. My dad worked there for 34 years.

Great way to spend an afternoon

It was great. Thank you

This museum’s is great and the last time I was there was when my Grandpa take me there and he was a volunteer and he did work for Union Pacific railroad, his name was Gene Waldmann

Great historical displays

Nice museum with interactive activities for children. Very clean. Volunteers nice and knowledgeable.

very nice. Fun quick trip.

Very nice museum. No charge. Exhibits were interesting.

Great place with lots of information and kid friendly.

Awesome place!!

So much information in one place! Family activity night was pretty exciting too!

Very well done! Exhibition set up to entertain and inform all ages.