The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much of its space to the state's railroad history. The museum has the largest collection of rail relics in the Carolinas. Its Back Shop building of nearly three stories high is most notable for its size of two football fields long.
History[]
The museum was founded in 1977, when the Southern Railway deeded 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land to North Carolina for a transportation museum. Two years later, another 53 acres (210,000 m2) was added to the original donation; the entirety of the railway's largest former steam locomotive repair shops. The museum's first exhibit called People, Places and Time opened in 1983. The museum grew over the years, most notably in 1996, with the opening of Barber Junction, a relocated railroad depot from some 30 miles away, and the newly renovated Bob Julian Roundhouse. Barber Junction serves as the museum's Visitor's Center and departure point for the on-site train ride. The Bob Julian Roundhouse serves as the hub for most of the museum's railroad exhibits, but also includes aviation exhibits and site history.
Several bays of the Spencer Shops roundhouse, built in 1924, are devoted to locomotives and rolling stock in the museum collection restored by volunteers. It was here that steam locomotives from 1924-1953 were repaired.
In the first 16 stalls, visitors can walk among the massive locomotives and rail cars on display in an open-air setting. Moving into the enclosed Elmer Lam gallery in stalls 17 through 20, aviation exhibits dominate, with a full size replica Wright Flyer, Piedmont Airlines exhibits, and more. Moving into the restoration shop occupying stalls 21 through 32, visitors may also see volunteers working on various railroad pieces, and even manufacturing parts. The remaining five stalls are dedicated to additional enclosed exhibits.
The museum is the largest repository of rail relics in North and South Carolina and averages 80,000 visitors annually. About three-thousand people were employed to repair the trains at the Spencer Shops in the first half of the twentieth century. The Flue Shop, where all the flues for steam engines were formerly produced, has become the Bumper To Bumper exhibit, featuring vintage and antique cars. These include: several Model Ts, a Model A, and even a Ford Model R (the 1907 predecessor to the Model T). A Highway Patrol car from 1935, a Divco Milk Truck, a Lincoln Continental and others are also part of the museum's collection.
In 2005, the museum's Back Shop underwent a massive renovation, which included repairs to the roof, re-pointing of the brick, and a stabilization of the building's floor. This building, where the full overhaul of steam locomotives once took place, is most notable for its size. It is two football fields long and nearly three stories tall.
However, it may be most notable for the words "Be Careful," standing some three feet tall, visible from nearly anywhere on the north end of the site. In 2009, the museum opened the Back Shop to the public for the first time, with an access ramp on the south end.
Locomotive Roster[]
- Current Locomotives:
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Built | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 
|
Graham County Railroad Company | Shay locomotive | Lima Locomotive Works | 1925 | Static display | |
| 544 | 
|
Seaboard Air Line Railroad | 2-10-0 | American Locomotive Company | 1918 | Static Display | |
| 542 | 
|
Southern Railway | 2-8-0 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 1903 | Static Display | |
| 111 | 
|
Duke Power Co. | 0-4-0 | American Locomotive Company | 1922 | Static Display | |
| 6900 | 
|
Southern Railway | EMD E8 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |||
| 1031 | 
|
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad | 4-6-0 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 1913 | Static Display | |
| 5103 | 
|
Piedmont & Northern Railroad | GE 63 ton Boxcab | General Electric | Static Display | ||
| 2601 | 
|
Southern Railway | EMD GP30 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |||
| 1616 | 
|
Norfolk Southern | Baldwin AS-416 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | Static display | ||
| 307 | 
|
Amtrak | EMD F40PH | Electro-Motive Diesel | |||
| 6133 | 
|
Southern Railway | EMD FP7A | Electro-Motive Diesel | 1950 | ||
| Raleigh | 
|
Raleigh & Gaston Railroad | 0-4-0 | Seaboard Air Line shops (Replica) | 1927 | Static Display | |
| 501 | 
|
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad | EMC E3 | Electro-Motive Corporation | 1939 | ||
| L3 | 
|
NC Port Authority | GE 45 ton switcher | General Electric | |||
| 620 | Norfolk & Western | EMD GP9 | Electro-Motive Diesel | ||||
| 7 | W.R. Bonsal Company | 0-6-0T | |||||
| 3 | Carolina Power & Light Company | 0-4-0F | |||||
| 5159 | 
|
Buck Steam Station | GE 25 Ton switcher | General Electric | |||
| 65-00556 | US Navy | GE 44-ton switcher | General Electric | ||||
| 1860 | USA/Beaufort & Morehead | FM H-12-44 | Fairbanks-Morse | ||||
| 960604 | Southern Railway | EMD FTB | Electro-Motive Diesel |
Former Locomotives:[]
| Number | Images | Heritage | Type | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 
|
Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad | Steam | Baldwin Locomotive Works | It is currently being restored to operational status at the Durbin and Greenbrier Railroad in Cass, WV. |
Visiting Locomotives:[]
| Photograph | Locomotive | Build date | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Central Pacific No. 63 "Leviathan" | 2009 | Dave Kloke (Kloke Locomotive Works) (Replica) |
|
Flagg Coal Company No. 75 | December 1930 | Vulcan Iron Works |
|
Lehigh Valley Coal Company No. 126 | May 1931 | Vulcan Iron Works |
|
Jeddo Coal Company No. 85 | 1928 | Vulcan Iron Works |
|
Norfolk and Western No. 611 | May 1950 | N&W's Roanoke Shops |
|
Southern Railway No. 630 | February 1904 | American Locomotive Company (ALCO) |
|
Soo Line No. 2500 | 1949 | Electro-Motive Division |
|
Nickel Plate Road No. 170 | December 1948 | American Locomotive Company (ALCO) |
|
CB&Q No. 9911A | 1940 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
|
Chicago and North Western No. 411 | 1949 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
|
Wabash No. 1009 | April 1953 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
|
Wabash No. 1189 | 1953 | General Motor Diesel Division |
|
Union Pacific No. 949 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Norfolk Southern No. 4270 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Norfolk Southern No. 4271 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Pennsylvania Railroad No. 5711 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Pennsylvania Railroad No. 5809 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Erie Lackawanna No. 663 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Erie Lackawanna No. 664 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
New Haven No. 2019 | ||
|
Canadian National No. 6789 | 1959 | American Locomotive Company (ALCO) |
|
Reading No. 284 | 1949 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
| Pan Am Railway No. 1 | |||
| Iowa Pacific No. 515 | |||
|
B&O No. 722 | 1952 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
|
C&O No. 8016 | Electro-Motive Diesel | |
|
Erie No. 833 | 1951 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
|
FT No. 103 | 1939 | Electro-Motive Diesel |
Trivia[]
- Annual events include Day Out With Thomas, the Polar Express, Fire Truck Show, Automobile shows, A Tractor Show, the Harvest Festival, the Easter Bunny Express, Valentine Wine and Dine trains, and the new Brew and Choo Beer Train.
- The NCTM is also host to Boy Scout Rail Camp, which allows for Boy Scouts and Leaders to camp out on the historic facility and earn the railroading merit badge.
- It is the largest railroad related scouting event in the nation.
- In 2012, the Bob Julian Roundhouse was the stage for all 20 of Norfolk Southern's Heritage locomotives during a two-day photographic event.
- In 2015, the American 4-4-0 "Leviathan" locomotive visited the museum for the Lincoln Funeral Train event, commemorating 150 years since that event took place.
- In 2014, the museum hosted Streamliners at Spencer, with notable 1930s - 1950s era locomotives gathered around the Bob Julian Roundhouse turntable for a four-day event.
- Streamliners at Spencer included the No. 611 steam locomotive, visiting from the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
- In 2017 the back shop was opened completely, allowing more exhibits.
- In 2012 and 2013, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's Southern Railway No. 630 visited the museum offering employee and public excursions to Barber Junction and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
- The museum was briefly featured in the 2015 DW Documentary "A train ride through American history – New Orleans to New York".