Both facilities contain active model railroad displays and gift shops.

It was used as a lumber yard as far back as 1885, (The Corwin & Vail Lumber Company), and from 1891 to 1969 contained a turntable, water tower, and pump house, (the Long Island Railroad - Riverhead Yard).

The location contains numerous rare passenger and freight cars as well as locomotives in various stages of restoration, some of which are the last of their kind.

Located in the Freeman North Exhibit Hall, a renovated warehouse on the property, is the Historic Lionel Layout, an "O" Gauge model train layout donated to the Museum by Lionel L.L.C.

Throughout its history, the freight house served as a branch of the United States Post Office, Railway Express Agency, and a storage facility for LIRR Road 'n' Rail buses.