After 34 years in business, the Harlansburg Station Transportation Museum has closed, and Central Mass Auctions is offering its collection in an online auction ending on September 9, 2025.

Donald Barnes opened the museum in 1991 with a wide variety of transportation memorabilia he obtained from many years of collecting. The museum houses a large collection of railroad memorabilia, including four railroad passenger cars. The collection also includes nautical pieces like a brass ship’s binnacle, brass ship’s wheel, and many handcrafted ship models. A California Highway Patrol marked motorcycle, Greyhound Bus ticket window, post office ticket window, and vintage gas pumps are also among the items being offered. Other pieces include a vintage telephone booth with a telephone and advertising signs.

“As a commercial airline pilot I used to have an overnight in different cities,” Mr. Barnes said of how his collecting began. “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. I enjoyed talking to the bus drivers, people who worked on the rivers, other pilots, everyone had an interesting story that I wanted to learn more about.”

Many of the items have connections to the local area. Local memorabilia includes a Pittsburgh bronze airport sign and airport beacon. A large-scale electric steam engine with working driving wheels from the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Headquarters at Station Square in Pittsburgh is also among the offerings. Additional highlights include a ship’s bell from a Pennsylvania riverboat and hand-built models of local riverboats of the past, along with over 1,000 other items.

Auctioneer Wayne Tuiskula of Central Mass Auctions said, “I am very impressed with the collection that Mr. Barnes put together and honored that Central Mass Auctions was chosen to handle the sale of these amazing items.”

The public now has the opportunity to purchase mementoes from the museum that attracted visitors from well beyond the local region for over 30 years. A preview will take place at the museum on Saturday, September 6, 2025, and Sunday, September 7, 2025, from 9 am to 3 pm. Online bidding ends Tuesday, September 9, 2025, beginning at 10 am.

For more information on this auction, upcoming auctions, and to join our email list, please visit https://centralmassauctions.com

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