LANDRUM — The Landrum Interim Museum Board met Tuesday night to begin planning the new rail car museum.

Landrum City Administrator Rich Caplan said they have found someone to move the rail car from Nashville to Landrum.

“It will cost $48,700 to move the car,” Caplan said. “The mover is Willett’s Rail Car Services in Spencer, North Carolina.”

Caplan said the Municipal Association of South Carolina Hometown Economic Development Grant that Landrum qualified for last fall will cover $25,000 of the moving cost. The remaining balance of the moving cost will come from the hospitality fund.

In the April Landrum City Council meeting, the council members voiced support for the location behind the depot. One tree will have to be removed and a sculpture that is not easily seen.

The council members discussed a sidewalk, signs and informational kiosks to help guide people to the museum entrance.

The city is now waiting for designs from Erik Horton, of Blue Line Consulting, for the platform on which the railcar will sit. Once they receive the plans, they will be able to request bids for the construction of the platform.

Caplan anticipates delivery of the rail car sometime this summer.

Tuesday was the first meeting for the interim museum board. Landrum Mayor Pro Tem Billy Inman said the board got to know one another, and considered some ideas about outfitting the railcar museum.

“We didn’t come to any concrete decisions,” Inman said. “I think we might need to wait until the car is here and we can look at it to decide what will work inside. We only have 850 square feet to work with.

“We talked about possibly getting a professional in to help with layout. We want to leave one of the sleeper births in the car so people can see what those were like.”

The board also discussed the board’s role and tasks, the mission statement for the museum and plans to apply for grant opportunities. Inman said they also talked about visiting similar museums on their own to gain ideas.

According to Caplan, the interim board is also contacting a museum history expert from the University of South Carolina.

“[The board] is an outstanding group of people,” he said. “It was a very productive meeting.”

During the Landrum Area Business Association meeting this week, Capaln said the city is also talking with the Palmetto Trail Foundation about putting a mini visitor’s center for the trail in the museum.

“This will bring in a different audience that might not otherwise visit the museum,” he said.

“We haven’t determined a name for the museum yet,” Caplan said. “We want to emphasize the transformative impact rail had on Landrum and the Dark Corner.”

The next meeting for the interim board will be June 5. Caplan said they hope to determine the right themes for the museum in the June meeting.

“We want to find the right niche so we have our own identity and not duplicating other similar, but very good, museums,” he said. “We want to make it as meaningful as possible to residents and visitors.”