Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum
Some of the old stations shown off at the museum
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 Location within Connecticut
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| Established | 1995 |
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| Location | Willimantic, Connecticut |
| Coordinates | 41°42′54″N 72°14′08″W / 41.7149°N 72.2356°WCoordinates: 41°42′54″N 72°14′08″W / 41.7149°N 72.2356°W |
| Type | Railroad museum |
| Accreditation | National Railway Historical Society |
| Key holdings | EMD FL9 from New Haven Railroad |
| Collections | Steam locomotive, diesel-electric trains, 2 train stations, and a replica roundhouse |
| Collection size | 28 |
| Visitors | 1,000 (2015) |
| Public transit access | Windham Region Transit District |
| Nearest parking | Nearby Bridge St. (CT 32) |
| Website | www |
The Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located on Route 32 in Willimantic, Connecticut. It was founded by members of the Connecticut Eastern Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
The museum is home to a replica Columbia Roundhouse built in 2000. It holds many exhibits, including the former train station for Chaplin, twelve diesel-electric trains, and four steam locomotives. The Air Line Trail runs along the edge of the property, as did the Connecticut Eastern railroad for which the museum is named. The roundhouse contains a 60-foot Armstrong Turntable.
The original Columbia Junction roundhouse was constructed in 1892 and was torn down in the 1930s. The site was cleared of trees and debris in 1991, and the museum was established in 1995. The museum was able to reconstruct the roundhouse as part of a $400,000 grant package secured by Senator Donald Williams in 1998, as well as to complete site improvements and bring utilities to the property. The exterior walls were reconstructed in 2000, using the original foundation as a base. A special ceremony was held on June 10, 2001 to lay the cornerstone. Exterior doors were hung the following year.
The roundhouse is now home to some of the museum's historic collection of trains. A replacement 60-foot, manually operated turntable was purchased from Edaville Railroad in 1994, moved to the site, and installed by museum volunteers.
A section house was used to store tools and equipment used by maintainers who were in charge of a "section" of track as their territory. This former New Haven Railroad section house was located in Willimantic, and moved to the museum site in 1992. It was restored the following year and is used by museum volunteers to store tools.
This former New Haven freight house was once located in Groton, Connecticut along the main line opposite Groton tower, on property belonging to Amtrak and no longer needed. Amtrak donated the structure to the museum in 1998; it was moved there in 1999 and restored by volunteers.
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