I know there are transportation museums all over the country and some of them are really spectacular but there is something really special about the transportation museum in Spencer NC that makes it legendary. A major piece of history was forged here as America was first being connected by railways. The museum is located in the place where the Southern Railway’s steam engine shop was originally located. The place that is mentioned in the legendary country song “Wreck of the old 97” that was sung by Johnny Cash and many other country artists. It was the first country song to cross the line of making over 1 million dollars. The song was based on an actual event that happened in 1903 when a young engineer was really testing the limits of the new steam engine called 97 in order to get to Spencer NC on time.(The place where the museum is now located.) He was doing fine until he got to a bridge in Danville VA. The bridge or trestle had a bit of a curve in in and was preceded with signs warning to slow down to 5 MPH while crossing. Well he took the curve way too fast and the train crashed to the ground. The news spread and all the talk later turned into a song.
For many years the constant flow of steam engines coming into Spencer Shops provided a steady economy for the town of Spencer until the day that the Southern Railway converted to Diesel engines and decided to close the Spencer Shops for good. Southern Railway later donated the property to the town to create the Transportation Museum of NC that we enjoy today. A place that was once filled with tools toil and sweat is now filled with Classic trains, cars, bicycles, planes and the story of the development of transportation in America.
The museum now covers a 60 acre site that consists of many different buildings and exhibits. This is a great place to go on a nice sunny day for some family fun. The fun starts in the old train depot where you purchase your ticket to ride the big classic train around the site and admission into the museum. Depending on the departure time you can enjoy the train ride first or enjoy the museum while waiting for your time to ride the train. There are some exhibits right near the train depot to enjoy while waiting for your departure time. One being a locomotive simulator that is set up in an old box car sitting on the yard. Kids love pushing buttons and there is a place where they can do just that to make lights and bells come on at the railroad crossing demonstration. It may be hard to pull them away when the time comes. The train whistle blows to let you know it is time to board the train. As a conductor takes your ticket and welcomes you aboard you step into the classic train and seat yourself. The museum uses different trains at different times throughout the year. You could even find yourself riding Thomas the Train or the Polar Express ™ depending on what time of year your go. The train we rode was an old classic Southern RR passenger train. There were huge windows on both sides to enjoy the view as we passed by the train yard and parts of downtown Spencer. A guide comes over the speaker to explain what you are seeing as you pass by. You learn about the train business and the crazy rigorous rules they had to follow. Such as when transporting animals the train would have to stop after a period of time to let all the animals out to graze. Once you are done with your little train ride you are free to roam the yard and the many converted buildings as long as you want until closing time. The museum is filled with so many stories you may want to stick around for a while to soak in as much as you can.
The first place we went into was the new bicycle exhibit, which is in the same building as the gift shop. Not everything on display was considered a bicycle but everything in this section was man powered whether it be from pedals or pumps or whatever. Some of the contraptions looked interesting and some looked downright dangerous to ride. A wreck on some of these could result in a lot more than a skinned knee. One that I found interesting was the geared wheel chair. It had two handles that came up on each side. One you would move back and the other was used to steer however the one thing they forgot to add to this invention was brakes.
Since the gift shop was right there we decided to go in and take a look. There was a lot of really neat stuff in there and I know we looked around for at least half an hour but we didn’t buy anything. Most of the stuff in the kid section was geared toward the really small children and so the kids lost interest long before we did. So we got back to looking at the exhibits again.
The next section we went to really caught the kids attention. The automobile section. They had all kinds cars from old Model T fords to what looked like a cross between a van and a truck. With every car there was a story. I didn’t have time to read them all but I did read the one about the Melvile Dairy milk truck and carriage. During a time in the effort to conserve fuel the Melvile dairy used horses to pull a carriage around to deliver the milk. These horses were so well trained and familiar with the route that they would often walk themselves to the next stop on their own and wait while the driver was delivering the milk to the door. Many of the cars are set in displays that reflect the time period they are from. Standing next to them you get the sense you have stepped back in time.
The next section was the biggest of them all. The train section. Right at the entrance there is a small theater that shows a short movie about the history of the Specner Shops. I strongly encourage you to watch it if you can because it is through this movie that I found out how legendary the place really is and why the Engineer of the Old 97 was in such a hurry to get to Spencer in the first place. Once you leave the theater most of the rest of this section is outdoors so no heat or air conditioning though you are under shelter. We went on a day when the weather was quite pleasant so it didn’t bother us at all. It is worth it anyway to be able to stand beside these massive powerful locomotives from different time periods. Some of the engines we saw were still in the process of being restored so we got a sense of all the banging and clanging that had filled the air when the place was still a working shop. Though the engines were tremendously impressive I was more awed by the various types of train cars that they had on display. Like the hospital train from WW2, the luxury cars that some people lived in as they traveled and the mail train like the one that 97 was pulling when the wreck happened. I would have to say that this section is the one that impressed me the most.
Behind the trains you enter through a set of double doors to a room where a display is set up that is dedicated to the subject of flight. Inside there is a replica of the original plane built by the Wright Brothers and a space capsule along with a story of how the inventions of aircraft took us from that first flight at Kitty Hawk to landing on the moon in just 66 years. In a display case you will see miniature replicas of jets and planes from the past and from airlines that are not around anymore. We hung out in this room for quite a while to cool off but soon the time came to venture back outside.
The last thing we came to was also one of the most thrilling parts of the museum. In the center of the front of the roundhouse where all the engines are kept is the turntable that was originally used to place engines into various docks to be worked on. Now that turntable has been turned into a ride. You walk out on the platform and then it spins you around. The ride only costs $1.00 per person and can be a lot of fun.
There are special events all throughout the year such as the romantic Valentine dinner train, or the Legends by lantern tour. Be sure to check out their website at www.nctrans.org and see what events are going on when you visit.
At select times it can be Thomas the Train or The Polar Express.
See how transportation has changed over the years.
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