Harlansburg Station Transportation Museum Closes After 34 Years, Collection Auctioned Online

The Harlansburg Station Transportation Museum has closed after 34 years of operation, with its comprehensive collection of transportation memorabilia now available through an online auction conducted by Central Mass Auctions, ending September 9, 2025. Founded in 1991 by Donald Barnes, a commercial airline pilot whose layovers inspired his collecting passion, the museum housed a diverse array of items spanning multiple transportation sectors, making its dispersal significant for historical preservation and collectors alike.

The collection includes four railroad passenger cars, nautical artifacts such as a brass ship's binnacle and wheel, and handcrafted ship models, alongside a California Highway Patrol marked motorcycle, vintage gas pumps, and a telephone booth with advertising signs. Many pieces have strong local connections, including a Pittsburgh bronze airport sign, an airport beacon, and a large-scale electric steam engine from the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Headquarters at Station Square, highlighting the regional historical value that risks being scattered through the auction process.

Barnes described how his collecting began during layovers, stating, "I would go searching. I didn't know where I was going to end up, I could be at a bus station, a train station, I could be at another airport and it all dealt with people who worked in each transportation industry." This personal connection emphasizes the collection's role in preserving stories and artifacts from various transportation workers, now accessible to the public through the auction platform.

Auctioneer Wayne Tuiskula of Central Mass Auctions expressed honor in handling the sale, noting the impressiveness of Barnes' collection. The auction provides a rare opportunity for public acquisition of these historically significant items, which attracted visitors from beyond the local area for over three decades. A preview is scheduled for September 6-7, 2025, at the museum location, with complete bidding details available through the auction house's website.

The closure and dispersal of this collection represent a significant moment for transportation history preservation, particularly affecting regional historical assets from Western Pennsylvania. For business and technology leaders, this event underscores the importance of institutional support for preserving industrial and transportation heritage, while demonstrating how online auction platforms enable wider access to historically significant collections that might otherwise be lost or inaccessible to the public.