National Museum of Transportation explained

Railroad Name:	National Museum of Transportation
Marks:	MOTX
Locale:	Greater St. Louis, U.S.
End Year:	Present
Hq City:	Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S.

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.

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 April through October.

Vehicles and equipment

Railroad

Among its railroad items are:^[3]

• 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^[4]

Automobiles

The Earl C. Lindburg Automotive Center contains 25 vehicles,^[5] including:

• 1908 Galloway Express truck
• 1901 St. Louis Motor Carriage Company car
• 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car^[6]
• 1964½ Ford Mustang
• 1915 Ford Model T
• Bobby Darin's Dream Car a DiDia 150^[7]
• 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.^[8]

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

• List of United States railroads
  • List of Missouri railroads
• List of railway museums

External links

• National Museum of Transportation  - Official Website
• HawkinsRails photographs

38.572°N -90.462°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 24 Jul 1994, page Page 33 . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com . en.
2. Web site: Barretts Tunnels . Abandoned Rails . 2022-06-22.
3. Web site: Railway Equipment . The National Museum of Transportation . National Transport Museum Association . 2022-06-22.
4. Web site: Hughes 2 . Renee . Virgin Hyperloop Pegasus Pod at TNMOT! . National Museum of Transportation . 18 February 2023 . 4 October 2022.
5. Web site: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 17 Jun 2018, page H01 . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com . en.
6. News: Road Test: 1964 Chrysler Turbine Car . Lassa . Todd . July 21, 2006 . Motor Trend . September 4, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170905052509/http://www.motortrend.com/news/c12-0603-1964-chrysler-turbine-car/ . September 5, 2017 . live . mdy-all .
7. Web site: Vaughan . Daniel . 1960 Di Dia 150 - Overview . Conceptcarz.com . March 2010 . 2022-06-22.
8. Web site: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 25 Jun 2021, page G10 . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com . en.