TrainDad

We vis­ited the NC Trans­porta­tion Museum this week­end, and were delighted with the spec­tac­u­lar facil­ity, impres­sive col­lec­tion, and the low cost to expe­ri­ence it all.

Nes­tled on main street in this lit­tle town out­side of Char­lotte, the NC Trans­porta­tion Museum is a hid­den gem with the goal of becom­ing a pre­mier des­ti­na­tion. It is located in the for­mer South­ern Rail­way loco­mo­tive repair facil­i­ties, and their dis­plays are cen­tered around a won­der­ful round­house and turntable. The first happy sur­prise is that there is no cost to enter the museum: it is free. Yup, F-R-double-E. Gotta like that.

Most peo­ple start their visit with a ride on the train. Prices are bet­ter than rea­son­able: $6 for adults, $5 for kids and seniors, and kids under three are free. Their col­lec­tion of loco­mo­tives is large enough that they rotate their motive power monthly; check their web site to see what will be dri­ving at the time of your visit. Of par­tic­u­lar note is that you can take a ride in the cab for only $10, first come-first served. That sin­gle thing might be the most impres­sive ele­ment of the whole place.

The train departs from their (beau­ti­ful) depot to the round­house. It stops to let peo­ple unload, then heads back. Tick­ets are needed for this out­go­ing leg of the ride, but not for the trip back. Thus, clever plan­ning can get you sev­eral rides for one low cost. I’d sug­gest rid­ing out, tour­ing the round­house, then rid­ing back; then, take a walk­ing tour through the gift shop and var­i­ous dis­plays in mechanic’s build­ings, which will drop you out right back at the round­house; hop on the train again for a free ride back.

The round­house is home to an impres­sive col­lec­tion of heavy metal. On the steam side there is a Shay, two 2–8-0 Con­sol­i­da­tions, a 4–6-0 “ten-wheeler,” a 2–10-0 deca­pod, a cou­ple Porters, a saddle-tanker, and a fire­less. All are in good con­di­tion, and sev­eral are (more or less) oper­a­tional. The diesel side has too many to list, includ­ing an E-3, E-8, FP-7, Amtrak F-40, GP-9, GP-30, Fairbanks-Morse H-12–44, and a Bald­win AS-416. Notable inclu­sions are three major pas­sen­ger engines: two of the clas­sic South­ern green-and-white E– and F– series, and the unmis­tak­able pur­ple and white of the Atlantic Coast Line. The South­ern engines are reg­u­larly used to run the pas­sen­ger routes, along with sev­eral other diesels. Sadly, no steam is cur­rently used.

Also inside the round­house are the museum work­shops. At any given time there will be a dozen engines and cars in the shop being worked on. Easy access lets you watch the work happen.

While at the round­house, hop onto the turntable for a ride. It does cost an extra buck, but they give you quite a few spins.

Between the round­house and the sta­tion are long work­shop build­ings that house nice col­lec­tions of auto­mo­biles, a few planes, and a gift shop. We ran out of time to see more than a glimpse of the main auto collection.

A major devel­op­ment is in the works as they con­vert the enor­mous back­shop into a new dis­play space. It looks good so far, but has a long way to go.

There is much more to see and expe­ri­ence. The entire col­lec­tion of equip­ment is enor­mous: 13 pages long, in the lat­est list. Much of it is in fine cos­metic con­di­tion. There are many nor­mal pieces — box­cars and the like — but there are also some unique items. One par­tic­u­larly fas­ci­nat­ing exam­ple is a one-of-a-kind mon­ster machine built by the Nor­folk South­ern to drive the tracks while scoop­ing up bal­last, clean­ing it, and spread­ing it back out.

Across the street is a great model rail­road shop and a small restau­rant with good burg­ers, dogs, and ice cream.

Give it a try. This is a museum that won’t disappoint!