National Museum of Transportation
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The National Museum of Transportation (TNMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944,[1] it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of American history: cars, boats, aircraft, and in particular, locomotives and railroad equipment from around the United States. The museum is also home to a research library of transportation-related memorabilia and documents.
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S. |
| Reporting mark | MOTX |
| Locale | Greater St. Louis, U.S. |
| Dates of operation | 1944–Present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
At the southwest corner of the property is West Barretts Tunnel. Built in 1853, it is one of a pair of tunnels that were the first to operate west of the Mississippi River.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The museum has its own railway spur to an active main line formerly owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, now by the Union Pacific Railroad. This has allowed the museum to take possession of large and unusual pieces of railroad equipment. A miniature railroad operates around a loop of track near the parking lot and a full-sized restored trolley operates Thursday–Sunday from March through December.
Vehicles and equipment
Summarize
Perspective
Trolleys
The Neil F. Norkaitis Demonstration Trolley Line was originally established in the 1990s. After the museum acquired SLPS #1743 from the San Francisco Municipal Railway, a group of volunteers installed approximately 1,000 feet of overhead wire above a section of the former Union Pacific mainline near the Abbott Building, allowing restored historical trolleys to operate.[3] In 1998, PTC #2740 was fully restored by Museum of Transportation Trolley Volunteers(MTTV) and added to the operating fleet, while #1743 was placed in storage.[4]
In 1997, MTTV began renovating Water Works #10.[5] Although the project was initially intended to be cosmetic, the group decided to undertake a full operational rebuild due to the trolley’s relatively good condition despite decades of inactivity.[6] After three and a half years of work, #10 became operational once again.[5] On Memorial Day 2001, it ran for the first time in 46 years;[7] by the summer of 2002, it had joined MTTV’s active fleet.[6]
Originally, the demonstration trolley line was a straight route, requiring trolleys to travel back and forth. When MTTV acquired some tracks from a streetcar loop in Boston, volunteers opted to add a loop at the east end.[3] Construction began in spring 2002 and was completed in March 2003.[8] As a result, all trolleys except #2740 can run around the loop and back from the direction it came. Around the same time, a high-level platform was built in front of the Roberts Pavilion to accommodate the newly acquired CTA rapid transit car #44 for passenger loading and unloading.
In 2011, MTTV initiated a track extension project intended to connect the line to the Lindburg Automobile Center. As of 2025, this extension remains under construction, but once completed, visitors will be able to travel by trolley between the Roberts building and the automobile building.[9] On May 21, 2016, SLPS #1743 returned to service on the 50th anniversary of the end of streetcar operations in St. Louis.[10] In 2024, the line was officially named the Neil F. Norkaitis Demonstration Trolley Line in honor of the former trolley operations director.[11]
operational trolleys
| No. | Image | Type | Builder | Built | Former Operator | Acquired | Restored | Current Status | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1743 |  | PCC streetcar | St. Louis Car Company | 1946 | St. Louis Public Service Company, MUNI | 1990 | 1990's | Under repair | [12] |
| 2740 |  | PCC streetcar | St. Louis Car Company | 1947 | Philadelphia Transportation Company | 1995 | 1998 | Under repair | [13] |
| 10 | .jpg) | suburban trolley | St. Louis Car Company | 1914 | St. Louis Waterworks | 1957 | 2001 | Under repair | [6] |
| 44 |  | CTA 1-50 series | St. Louis Car Company | 1960 | Chicago Transit Authority | 1998 | 2000 | In operation | [14] |
| 1533 |  | Birney Safety Car | American Car Company | 1919 | Kansas City Public Service Company | 1949 | - | Under restoration | [15] |
nonoperational trolleys
- Bi-State Development Agency No. 165
- Bi-State Development Agency No. 1664
- Bi-State Development Agency No. 215
- Bi-State Development Agency No. 60
- Illinois Terminal Railroad No. 104
- Illinois Terminal Railroad No. 410
- Illinois Traction System No. 241
- Purdue University No. 2611
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 1001
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 1005
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 215
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 2250
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 426
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 615
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 850
- St. Louis Public Service Company No. 894
- St. Louis Waterworks Railway No. #17
Railroad
Among its railroad items are:[16]
- Aerotrain No. 3
- The only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 Bi-Polar Electric.
- Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4006. The largest steam locomotive of the museum's collection.
- Norfolk & Western Y6a class 2-8-8-2 No. 2156. The only surviving Norfolk & Western Y6a and the second largest steam locomotive in the collection.
- Union Pacific Centennial No. 6944. One of the final Centennial locomotives built.
- Southern Pacific class GS-6 "War Baby" No. 4460, the sole surviving GS-6.
- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 2-10-4 No. 5011.
- Chesapeake & Ohio K-4 No. 2727
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad No. 50. The only surviving EMC 1800 hp B-B locomotive
- EMD FT No. 103, the first F-unit built, a National Engineering Landmark.
- Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western 4-4-0C No. 952, one of two DL&W steam locomotives and one of five Camelbacks in existence.
- Erie Lackawanna EMD SD45 No. 3607.
- Missouri-Kansas-Texas 4-4-0 No. 311, the sole surviving M-K-T steam locomotive.
- Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2 No. 551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive.
- Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railroad) E550.025 electric locomotive. The only locomotive brought from outside the United States of America.
- New York Central 4-8-2 No. 2933, one of two surviving examples of large NYC steam power.
- Wabash 2-6-0 No. 573, one of only two Wabash steam locomotives in existence.
- Union Pacific No. 900081, a rotary snowplow.
- The Whale, largest tank car ever built.
- A PRR P5 electric locomotive No. 4700. The sole surviving P5.
- Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad No. 9908 "The Silver Charger", the locomotive of the General Pershing Zephyr.
- St Louis - San Francisco No. 1522, used in excursion service from 1988 to 2002.
- St. Louis - San Francisco 1621, a sibling to 1630 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
- A PRR GG1 electric locomotive No. 4918.
- Chicago and Northwestern 4-4-2 No. 1015, the only surviving Chicago and North Western class D Atlantic.
- New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad 4-6-4 No. 170, the only surviving Nickel Plate L1a Hudson.
- Hyperloop One ∞ XP-2[17]
A 1950s GM Aerotrain from the Rock Island railroad.
A 4-6-0 Camelback locomotive built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1873.
Only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 electric locomotive.
An Erie Lackawanna Railway EMD SD45 restored to its original condition.
The 9908 Silver Charger, which drew the General Pershing Zephyr train.
Norfolk & Western 2156, the strongest-pulling steam locomotive in existence.
USRA Light Mikado steam locomotive with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement.
A Southern Pacific GS-6 War Baby steam locomotive 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.
Budd-built CB&Q Zephyr diner Silver Spoon.
Frisco Number 1621.
Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2, Number 551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive.
Automobiles
The Earl C. Lindburg Automotive Center contains 25 vehicles,[18] including:
- 1908 Galloway Express truck
- 1901 St. Louis Motor Carriage Company car
- 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car[19]
- 1964½ Ford Mustang
- 1915 Ford Model T
- Bobby Darin's Dream Car a DiDia 150[20]
- St. Louis-built Automobile Gallery.
- 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood Fleetwood Series 60 Special Sedan (featured in front of a rescued and restored unit from the nearby Coral Court Motel
Boats and aircraft
On display are a Missouri River towboat and two airplanes: a C-47 Skytrain at the main gate and a T-33 Shooting Star.
In 2021, the museum opened a permanent exhibition of some 100 model airplanes donated by Sanford McDonnell, each with a connection to the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.[21]
Beginning in June 2024, employees from Boeing volunteered to restore an F/A-18 Super Hornet that will eventually be displayed at the museum. This particular fighter is the F/A-18 E1, the first F/A-18 Super Hornet ever made.
See also
References
External links
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