JACKSON -- A group of local train enthusiasts is headed down the tracks of setting up a railroad museum in Jackson.

The Friends of Steam Railroading formed in 1989 as a support group for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway tourist train plans to open a museum by the end of May. The non-profit group has about 75 members ranging in age from the teens to the 90s.

The museum would be housed in one or two cabooses, which would be permanently stationed on track near the Iron Mountain railroad station in Jackson. It would operate year round.

"Our goal when we formed in 1989 was that we were going to promote and preserve the legend, lure and equipment of railroading," said Mary Strong of Jackson, a member of the Friends of Steam Railroading who is heading the project.

Strong said the caboose or cabooses will be owned and operated by the Friends of Steam Railroading and not by the railroad itself.

Visitors to the museum would be asked to make a small donation, said Strong. Revenue generated by the museum would be used for various railroad projects.

"There won't be that much space in the caboose. We are hoping to add a (second) caboose to it," she said Monday.

Strong said some items now on display in the train station may be moved to the museum. In addition, the museum will house railroad equipment and memorabilia donated or loaned by Friends of Steam Railroading members and others.

"We have lanterns and a conductor's hat. We have a conductor's punch. We have some china from dining cars. We have a switch stand. We have a signal light. We have some railroad maps, work orders, and books," she said.

One item currently on display in the train station is a large brass engine bell.

Historic preservation students in Southeast Missouri State University's museum studies class will assist in organizing some of the memorabilia and setting up a display for the railroad museum.

"They are going to make a display and they will interpret what items they have in there," explained Strong.

"They will set up that part of the museum and get the items catalogued, so they will be actually starting the museum for us," she pointed out.

The museum studies class is taught by Bob White of Southeast's history department.

"Normally, I let the students survey the situation and determine what kinds of artifacts are available, and then the students will select what theme they wish to develop," he explained.

"It won't be a complete history of railroading. You can only put so much in a caboose," he added.

"In fact, what we are doing is doing a display, not actually developing a full-fledged museum that would tell the complete story of railroading," said White.

He suggested that because of the limited space, the railroad group would be advised to display exhibits on a rotating basis, with a different exhibit every three or six months.

Strong believes there's a market for a railroad museum in this area. The only other train museums in the region are in St. Louis and Poplar Bluff, she said.

Strong said persons interested in assisting with the museum or donating railroad memorabilia should call her at 243-0326 or the train station office at 243-1688.