Steel & Wheels Car Show At Danbury Railway Museum

DANBURY, CT — The Danbury Railway Museum will host the Steel & Wheels benefit car show on Saturday, Sept. 13, with proceeds supporting HomeBridge Ventures, a group that works with formerly incarcerated people through trauma-responsive job training and placement. A rain date is set for Sunday, Sept. 14.

The event runs 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with the museum closing at 4 p.m. General admission is $15 for ages 2 and older; children under 24 months are free. Admission includes access to the museum, train rides, tours of vintage railroad equipment and the car show. Trains will run hourly beginning at 11 a.m., with the final departure at 2 p.m.

Show cars may arrive starting at 9 a.m. Exhibitors should enter at the gate; registration is $20 and will be collected by car show staff. Organizers expect a wide mix of classic and unusual vehicles. The first 100 entries will receive goodie bags; all participants receive a dash plaque. Special awards, including a People’s Choice trophy, are planned. Food will be provided by the Dining Car Society, and the day will feature music, railyard tours, raffles and other activities.

The museum’s Rail Yard Local will operate with a short trip in a 100-year-old passenger coach pulled by a 75-year-old locomotive. Riders will traverse the recently restored historic turntable, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and tour the steam-era water tower pump house.

Inside the 1903 station building, visitors can view railroad history exhibits, operating electric train layouts, static models of the station and yard, one-of-a-kind rail artifacts and a gift shop. The adjacent historic railyard offers walk-through exhibits and an assortment of rail cars and locomotives, many of which once operated in Danbury.

The Danbury Railway Museum is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving and interpreting railroad history. It is located at the restored 1903 Danbury Union Station and rail yard, 120 White St., Danbury.