Tomball tribute marks NASA’s railroad past
The Tomball Railroad Depot Museum’s tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing includes the space agency’s railroad heritage.
“We found out that there was actually a NASA Railroad that was part of the space program from 1963 until 2015,” said Mike Baxter, Tomball’s director of marketing and tourism. And there officials found the hook for the new exhibit.
In a display case at the Tomball Railroad Depot Museum stands a NASA space shuttle replica surrounded by miniature train cars, part of a new exhibit honoring the lunar landing.
Tomball’s railroad heritage is embedded into its name. The city was called Tomball after Thomas Ball, who was credited with routing the railroad track through the community.
“We wanted some sort of a railroad hook,” Baxter said. So the coordinators of Tomball’s Apollo 11 exhibit were inspired when they learned that NASA’s history also included a railroad.
NASA used its railroad to deliver equipment for shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A representation of the NASA Railroad seemed a natural fit for Tomball’s lunar landing exhibit.
The NASA Railroad display is one of two dioramas Baxter created for the exhibit. The other diorama features a replica of Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20, 1969. In addition to the dioramas, photographs and videos are part of the exhibit.
“It was seriously a three-month process of collecting information and visuals and items for the exhibits,” Baxter said.
Tomball and several other member communities of the group Visit Houston & Beyond, part of Houston First, agreed to participate in observing Apollo 11’s anniversary as part of a regional celebration. The Woodlands, Conroe, Sugarland, Deer Park, Baytown, Brazosport, Galveston, Alvin, Bay Area Communities Sea brook and River Oaks District also planned ways to celebrate the occasion within their communities.
“This event, it’s not just about Tomball,” Baxter said. “It’s about us taking part in a fully regional celebration.”
The exhibit will endure, however, long past the Apollo 11 anniversary.
“Once the regional Apollo 11 celebration is done, the NASA Railroad exhibit will become a permanent fixture in the Depot museum because of its railroad theme and Houston’s ties to NASA,” Baxter said.