2006-11-04

St. Louis 03: Museum of Transportation

I had a couple spare hours in the middle of the day, so I asked the NeverLost lady where I should go. She suggested the Museum of Transportation.

Huh?

It turns out St. Louis has a Museum of Transportation. I saw that and thought, "Ooh. Cool. Infrastructure. I like infrastructure."

Does that surprise anyone?

I thought it would be focused on shipping an aircraft. It actually focused on railroads and cars. That actually made more sense, since St. Louis isn't known as a Mecca for large ocean going container ships. I suppose that's my Seattle-centric attitude influencing my expectations.

Most of the museum is outdoors, and it was lightly raining. That kept most of the tourists away and meant I had those monstrous collections of steel to myself.

The scale of the locomotives is amazing. I don't even want to think about how they got these monsters to the museum.


6597 gallon railroad tanker car, Museum of Transportation


This locomotive began service in 1876 and continued hauling cars until (presumably) 1951. In Seattle, I don't often see equipment that's 130 years old, let alone large mechanical equipment.


From the Museum Placard: Marmora Boston and Albany -- 1876 4-4-0 American type passenger locomotive, #39 was christened the Marmora when it was built in 1876 at the Boston & Albany's Springfield, Mass. shops. Designed by Master Mechanic Wilson Eddy #39 was one of one hundred Eddy Clocks known for their precise running and clock like dependability and is the only surviving example. It features a link-and-oin coupler, an oil headlight and two steam cannons rather than a steam dome. Donated in 1951 by Purdue University.


This is the most unusual train I saw.


From the Museum Placard: Aerotrain Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific -- 1955 One of two experimental demonstrator Aerotrains (#2 and #3) built by GM with a new light weight construction and low center of gravity concept, powered by 1,200 hp futuristic locomotives. Initially in mainline service, they rode poorly at high speeds and had very high noise levels. Purchased by the Rock Island Railroad, they were in suburban Chicago passenger service until 1965. The locomotive and two cars were donated in 1966 by the Rock Island Railroad.

From the Museum Placard: Aerotrain Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific -- 1955 One of two experimental demonstrator Aerotrains (#2 and #3) built by GM with a new light weight construction and low center of gravity concept, powered by 1,200 hp futuristic locomotives. Initially in mainline service, they rode poorly at high speeds and had very high noise levels. Purchased by the Rock Island Railroad, they were in suburban Chicago passenger service until 1965. The locomotive and two cars were donated in 1966 by the Rock Island Railroad.


The coolest trains I saw were the snow plows.

This one is a more traditional wedge plow. It's pushed by another locomotive. Or several. It forces the snow off the tracks and to the side so freight can get through.


Museum Placard: St Louis Southwestern Maintenance of Way -- Wedge Snow Plow Made from a steam locomotive's whale back tender by removing the fuel tank and placing the plow on the water tank which was filled wiht rock to weigh it down. The plow would be coupled to one or more locomotives which would push it through the snow. Donated in 1995 by the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Museum Placard:  St Louis Southwestern Maintenance of Way -- Wedge Snow Plow Made from a steam locomotive's whale back tender by removing the fuel tank and placing the plow on the water tank which was filled wiht rock to weigh it down. The plow would be coupled to one or more locomotives which would push it through the snow. Donated in 1995 by the Southern Pacific Railroad.


And here's a more modern snow plow.


From the Museum Placard: 900081 Union Pacific 1966 Designed and built by the Union Pacific Railroad in the Omaha Shop, the rotart snowplow is the heaviest ever built weighing 367,400 lbs. Its cutting wheel could throw snow far to either side of the track as it was pushed forward at four to six mph. It is not self propelled and must be pushed by 3 or 4 locomotives. Number 900081 is powered by a GM/EMD 16 cylinder 3,000 hp.turbocharged diesel engine that drives an electric generator which provides power to turn the 12' rotary blades at up to 150 rpm. A steam generator heats the cab, prevents the fuel and water pipes from freezing and can thaw our the cutting wheel if it gets stuck. The plow engineer controls both the plow and the trailing locomotives. This snowplow is 52' 2inches long, 17' high, and was last used in Green River, WY in the mid 19080s. The circular windows in the front of the plow revolve to keep them clear of snow. Sonated in 1994 by the Union Pacific Railroad.


They have small car museum as well. They tell the story of the rise of the Motel, including the Coral Court Motel.


Coral Court Motel rebuilt at Museum of Transportation

Coral Court Motel rebuilt at Museum of Transportation


And what car museum would be complete without a classic Model T?


Ford Model T at Museum of Transportation


If you like trains and appreciate cars, the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis is worth several hours. Visit early in the day, when it's rainy, and you'll have the place to yourself.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish Cookie Monster had that plow train. He wouldn't have had to eat through all that snow.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxB2HFwrwqs