Great Railroad Museums of the USA is a guide for the devoted railfan. It details the sixty-seven largest, most interesting and most important railroad museums in the country, which are classified into good, really good, great and really great groups. Individually the museums are discussed and highlights of their collections are listed. All are rated on their size, the rarity and antiquity of their collections, the quality of their work, the scope of their collections and their presentation to the public. The book is indexed and a map shows the museum's geographic locations. A special index lists more than a hundred-sixty especially interesting cars and locomotives and describes where they can be found, ninety photographs provide illustration.

Bonus chapters list and describe the six best museum rail rides in the country and nineteen instances of significant rail preservation outside of traditional railroad museums.