Support Us!

As regular operating fares only cover a small portion of our annual operating budget, donations in any amount are greatly appreciated! Here are some ways you can help:
make a donation
Donate using PayPal
IRA Contributions:
You may be looking for a way to make a big difference to help further our mission. If you are 70½ or older you may also be interested in a way to lower the income and taxes from your IRA withdrawals. An IRA charitable rollover is a way you can help continue our work and benefit this year.

Benefits of an IRA charitable rollover
  • Avoid taxes on transfers of up to $100,000 from your IRA to our organization
  • Satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year
  • Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions
  • Make a gift that is not subject to the 50% deduction limits on charitable gifts
  • Help further the work and mission of our organization
How an IRA charitable rollover gift works
  1. Contact your IRA plan administrator to make a gift from your IRA to us.
  2. Your IRA funds will be directly transferred to our organization to help continue our important work.
  3. Please note that IRA charitable rollover gifts do not qualify for a charitable deduction.
  4. Please contact us if you wish for your gift to be used for a specific purpose.
How to make an IRA rollover gift to benefit the Museum
To make an IRA charitable rollover gift to the Museum, simply contact your IRA custodian and request that an amount be transferred directly to the East Troy Railroad Museum. Your gift can be cash or stock in any amount up to $100,000.
  • If you are gifting cash, direct your custodian to make your gift to
East Troy Railroad Museum, Inc.
PO Box 943
East Troy, WI 53120
Federal Tax ID # 51-0174355
  • If you are gifting stock, direct your custodian to transfer your stock to our account at:
Our Broker: Edward Jones
262-642-5717
2098 Church Street, East Troy, WI 53120
Our Account Name: East Troy Railroad Museum, Inc
Our Account #: 14421109
Our DTC #: 0057
membership
Become a member of the East Troy Railroad Museum! We invite you to participate in our activities through membership. There are several membership options to choose from.

A $50 Individual membership includes:
• Free rides aboard the regularly-scheduled trains
• The Trackside electronic newsletter
• 10% discount in the gift shop

A $120 Family of Four membership includes: 
• All the individual benefits, plus a NARM* Reciprocity Membership. Additional child $20.

A $250+ Conductor’s Club membership includes:
• All of the above benefits
• 6 general admission passes
• A members only train event

A $2500+ Motorman’s Club membership includes:
 All of the above benefits
• 12 general admission passes
• 4 special event tickets
• A donor cocktail reception with the Museum Board

*The North American Reciprocal Museum network has over 1,100 art museums, galleries, historical museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, and zoos.
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Volunteer
Like almost any other museum, the East Troy Railroad Museum exists because of its volunteers. The variety of tasks in the operation of a museum is amazingly wide. From answering the telephone to operating trains, many different kinds of people using many different kinds of skills come into play.

What all of them have in common, though, is a desire to see things happen. This is the basis of the motivation that brings them out to the line and keeps them coming back regularly. They all know that whatever their time contribution, it’s needed to keep the line alive and growing.

Some view their volunteer time as an opportunity to expand their skills and life experience. Many arrive with a skillset that they expect to use, and instead wind up assisting less-experienced workers while broadening their own skills in other fields.

Everyone knows that they are doing important work, keeping this valuable piece of history alive. All have time constraints, of course; not every volunteer can put in 150 days a year (as some of the retired ones may). Some can only find time for one day a month.  But all like the work. It is involving, challenging, and very satisfying. There are ways individuals are singled out for recognition in the volunteer events throughout the year, but any one of the honorees would quickly tell you that they don’t do it for the cheers of their peers. They get all the gratification they need by simply accomplishing something they know is important.

That’s how it is. People can see the need, and find it interesting, even fun, to answer the call. On just about any weekend, stop on out and visit the museum. Talk to one of the volunteers. You too have a skill that can be put to good use, and some interesting, involving, and rewarding task awaits you. Or, call us at 262-642-3263 and ask about getting involved.

See you out there!


Click here to download our Volunteer Application
Click here to view our Non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies
Active resToration projects
Please see our Projects page for more detailed information about how you can help with our South Shore Car 6 & North Shore Car 761 restoration projects.