Museum of Transportion - St Louis

 Decades ago I visited the National Museum of Transportation outside of St Louis with my Dad. It has been on the bucket list to once again visit the museum and see what all has been added over the years. 

This is the upper parking lot and is the easier one for access to the train displays

There are some massive steam locomotives on display, but I am a fan of these tea kettle sized units 

The water tank wraps over the boiler and steps are in place to allow the switchmen a place to stand

Lots of valves to figure out what they all do

Quit the history for a small tank engine supporting the fire brick industry

While the museum is primarily a train museum they do have an aircraft on display. This is a WWII vintage transport aircraft painted with invasion stripes

This Tow boat is an example of what is used on the Mississippi to push barges around

They do have a model RR on display with some interesting figures that must have interesting stories

What story must go with this skeleton?

This C&IM light Mikado was a treat to see

Julie is checking out historic tank cars

Lots of changes to tank cars since these were in service

This was the last of the early streamliners and a revolution in its day

These were all trend setters in their time period

When last here decades ago this Box Cab had been vandalized by having its overhead radiators cut away by vandals hoping to sell the copper for cash 

It is still in the same location as I last saw it

I hope this is on the museums list for restoration

The historic tunnel that used to be on the mainline is still in place

Nicely restored street cars are on display

It is nice to see one of the units that revolutionized railroad transportation

The Rio Grande Southern railroad created rail buses called Galloping Geese. Other railroads also used these cost savings units. Several are on display. 

Nice scene on a model railroad display

Art work on advertising posters of the day is quite nice

Custom cars are found in the auto museum

Nice displays of vintage autos

Restoration staff is experienced volunteers

One of their latest successes. From a time when milk was delivered to your door.

A very nice example of a Chrysler turbine car

This sure has a lot of style

These were popular when I was in high school

The reflections of a Cadillac grille into its chrome bumper make for a fun image

Stan Musial was a Cardinal Baseball team legend. He carried baseballs around to sign for his fans.

The original horse drawn street car that started the museum.

Outside the maintenance building are examples of railroad truck design. This is a cast truck frame used for high speed service

It was equipped with roller bearings

This is an example of an arch bar truck made of formed steel pieces bolted together. The wheel axles rode on bearings that were lubricated by grease. The doors at the axle ends lifted up for lubrication. This overall design had numerous areas that could fail and was eventually outlawed from service.  

This particular railbus was actually a highway bus converted to ride the rails

You can see the metal patch that was used to cover where the front tire/wheel assembly would have been on highway models of the bus

This highly styled GM Aero train is undergoing restoration

The rail cars that went with the Aero Train are open for inspection

Steam powered road rollers must have been something to see operate

This was a great museum to see once again. Lots of great transportation items on display. Of particular interest was the large numbers of young families and children that were exploring the displays. Good to see new generations are exploring history.