North Carolina Transportation Museum

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 	150x150px	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".
==External Links==
* Official Website
Category:North Carolina Transportation Museum engines
Category:Museums
Category:Locations
Category:Rail museums