Museum of Transportation

Museum of Transportation

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A Burlington Zephyr and a Frisco 2-10-0 on display at the Museum of Transportation.
Reporting mark	MOTX
Locale	Greater St. Louis
Dates of operation	1944 (1944)–Present
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters	Kirkwood, Missouri

The Museum of Transportation (initialised MOT, reporting mark MOTX) is a transport museum in western St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The museum is owned by the St. Louis County parks department. Founded in 1944, it has a wide variety of vehicles: antique cars, boats, planes, and a sizable collection of locomotives and railroad equipment from around the United States. A miniature train operates around a loop of track near the parking lot, and occasionally a full-size trolley is operated.

Vehicles and equipment

Railroad

The museum's grounds include Barrets Tunnel, one of the first railroad tunnels west of the Mississippi River. It is often used to store railroad equipment awaiting restoration.

The museum has its own railway spur to an active Union Pacific Railroad main line (formerly Missouri Pacific Railroad). This has allowed the museum to take possession of large and unusual pieces of railroad equipment. Among them are:

• Aerotrain No. 3
• The only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 Bi-Polar Electric
• Union Pacific Big Boy #4006
• Norfolk & Western Y6a class 2-8-8-2 No. 2156 (Moved to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia, on a 5-year loan in May 2015. Will return to St. Louis in 2020)
• Union Pacific Centennial #6944 (sent to Altoona in 2014 for restoration and has returned)
• Southern Pacific class GS-6 "War Baby"" #4460
• The only surviving EMC 1800 hp B-B locomotive, the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad #50
• EMD FT #103, the first F-unit built, a National Engineering Landmark
• Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western 4-4-0C #952, one of two DL&W steam locomotives and one of five Camelbacks in existence.
• Erie Lackawanna EMD SD45 #3607
• Missouri-Kansas-Texas 4-4-0 #311, the sole surviving M-K-T steam locomotive
• Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2 #551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive
• FDS (ITALIAN STATE RAILROAD) E550.025 electric locomotive
• New York Central 4-8-2 #2933, one of two surviving examples of large NYC steam power
• Wabash EMD GP35 547, awaiting cosmetic restoration
• Wabash 2-6-0 #573, one of only two Wabash steam locomotives in existence
• Conrail GP7 5677 with dual controls for commuter operation, built for the Jersey Central
• Union Pacific 900081, a rotary snowplow
• The Whale, largest tank car ever built
• a PRR P5 electric locomotive #4700
• Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad #9908 Silver Charger, the locomotive of the General Pershing Zephyr
• Frisco 1522, used in excursions from 1988-2002.
• Frisco 1621, a sister to 1630 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois
• a PRR GG1 electric locomotive #4918

At the corner of the property is Barrets Tunnel. Built in 1853, it was the first railroad tunnel built west of the Mississippi River and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The museum also operates a miniature railroad and a full-size trolley on a seasonal schedule.

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  A 1950s GM Aerotrain from the Rock Island railroad.

• B+O 173 camelback locomotive.jpg

  A 4-6-0 Camelback locomotive built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1873.

• E-2 Bi-polar.jpg

  Only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 electric locomotive.

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  An Erie Lackawanna Railway EMD SD45 restored to its original condition.

• Gas turbine locomotive 1149.jpg

  United States Army gas turbine locomotive 1149d.

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  The 9908 Silver Charger, which drew the General Pershing Zephyr train.

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  Norfolk & Western 2156, the strongest-pulling steam locomotive in existence.

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  USRA Light Mikado steam locomotive with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement.

• Burlington Zephyr dining car Museum of Transportation St. Louis.jpg

  Budd-built CB&Q Zephyr diner Silver Spoon.

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  Frisco Number 1621.

• C&IM551.jpg

  Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2, Number 551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive.

• Big Boy 4006.jpg

  Union Pacific Big Boy Number 4006.

Automobiles

File:ChryslerTurbineEngine01 crop1.jpg

The engine compartment of a 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car displayed inside the museum.

The recently remodeled Earl C. Lindburg Automotive Center contains some unusual pieces:

• 1908 Galloway Express truck
• 1959 Ford gas turbine truck
• 1901 St. Louis Motor Carriage Company car
• 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car
• 1964½ Ford Mustang
• 1915 Ford Model T
• Bobby Darin's Dream Car a DiDia 150

Boats and Planes

There is a Missouri River towboat and two airplanes on display, a C-47 Skytrain at the main gate and a T-33 Shooting Star near the scale model railroad.

See also

• List of United States railroads
  • List of Missouri railroads
• List of railway museums
• City of Kirkwood, Missouri

External links

• Museum of Transportation – Official Website
• RailPictures.Net Photographs from the Museum of Transportation