Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society

If you’re into trains at all, this is a must stop destination. A museum in a railroad car on the railroad tracks — free and run by volunteers. They have a large library on rail related materials, especially pertaining to the Northwest. You can’t leave with any of the items but if you were researching any of number of subjects — early mail delivery, tourism, the lumber industry, military operations, treatment of Native Americans — they all relate to or were shaped by the building of the railroad to the Oregon coast.
The presentation of materials is nice but I wish there were more things for kids to do. If this were funded and in a metropolitan area, there would be interactive exhibits. As it is, you’ll have to make do with the location (it’s adjacent a beautiful park and tiny harbor on the Yaquina River), the rail crossing (costs 50 cents to get the lights and sound and arms coming down with the sound of a train approaching), and the eagle’s nest (a perch in one of the cars where the conductor sits and kids can climb up).
There’s a cute little gift shop at the end and in my experience, you can spend an hour here with kids before they’re utterly bored. Head over to Pig Feathers BBQ for lunch — they have a big sandbox outside to entertain them while you have an extra beer!

Very interesting place. Really nice people, and very knowledgeable, also they have all the time to spend with you that you could want.