National Museum of Transportation

The National Museum of Transportation (TNMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944,^[1] it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of American history: cars, boats, aircraft, and in particular, locomotives and railroad equipment from around the United States. The museum is also home to a research library of transportation-related memorabilia and documents.

At the southwest corner of the property is West Barretts Tunnel. Built in 1853, it is one of a pair of tunnels that were the first to operate west of the Mississippi River.^[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The museum has its own railway spur to an active main line formerly owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, now by the Union Pacific Railroad. This has allowed the museum to take possession of large and unusual pieces of railroad equipment. A miniature railroad operates around a loop of track near the parking lot and a full-sized restored trolley operates Thursday–Sunday from April through October.

Vehicles and equipment

Railroad

Among its railroad items are:^[3]

• Aerotrain No. 3
• The only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 Bi-Polar Electric.
• Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4006. The largest steam locomotive of the museum's collection.
• Norfolk & Western Y6a class 2-8-8-2 No. 2156. The only surviving Norfolk & Western Y6a and the second largest steam locomotive in the collection.
• Union Pacific Centennial No. 6944. One of the final Centennial locomotives built.
• Southern Pacific class GS-6 "War Baby" No. 4460, the sole surviving GS-6.
• Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 2-10-4 No. 5011.
• Chesapeake & Ohio K-4 No. 2727
• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad No. 50. The only surviving EMC 1800 hp B-B locomotive
• EMD FT No. 103, the first F-unit built, a National Engineering Landmark.
• Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western 4-4-0C No. 952, one of two DL&W steam locomotives and one of five Camelbacks in existence.
• Erie Lackawanna EMD SD45 No. 3607.
• Missouri-Kansas-Texas 4-4-0 No. 311, the sole surviving M-K-T steam locomotive.
• Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2 No. 551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive.
• Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railroad) E550.025 electric locomotive. The only locomotive brought from outside the United States of America.
• New York Central 4-8-2 No. 2933, one of two surviving examples of large NYC steam power.
• Wabash 2-6-0 No. 573, one of only two Wabash steam locomotives in existence.
• Union Pacific No. 900081, a rotary snowplow.
• The Whale, largest tank car ever built.
• A PRR P5 electric locomotive No. 4700. The sole surviving P5.
• Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad No. 9908 "The Silver Charger", the locomotive of the General Pershing Zephyr.
• St Louis - San Francisco No. 1522, used in excursion service from 1988 to 2002.
• St. Louis - San Francisco 1621, a sibling to 1630 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
• A PRR GG1 electric locomotive No. 4918.
• Chicago and Northwestern 4-4-2 No. 1015, the only surviving Chicago and North Western class D Atlantic.
• New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad 4-6-4 No. 170, the only surviving Nickel Plate L1a Hudson.
• Hyperloop One ∞ XP-2^[4]

• 
  A 1950s GM Aerotrain from the Rock Island railroad.
• 
  A 4-6-0 Camelback locomotive built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1873.
• 
  Only surviving Milwaukee Road class EP-2 electric locomotive.
• 
  An Erie Lackawanna Railway EMD SD45 restored to its original condition.
• 
  United States Army gas turbine locomotive 1149d.
• 
  The 9908 Silver Charger, which drew the General Pershing Zephyr train.
• 
  Norfolk & Western 2156, the strongest-pulling steam locomotive in existence.
• 
  USRA Light Mikado steam locomotive with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement.
• 
  A Southern Pacific GS-6 War Baby steam locomotive 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.
• 
  Budd-built CB&Q Zephyr diner Silver Spoon.
• 
  Frisco Number 1621.
• 
  Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2, Number 551, the sole surviving C&IM steam locomotive.
• 
  Union Pacific Big Boy Number 4006.

Automobiles

The Earl C. Lindburg Automotive Center contains 25 vehicles,^[5] including:

• 1908 Galloway Express truck
• 1901 St. Louis Motor Carriage Company car
• 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car^[6]
• 1964½ Ford Mustang
• 1915 Ford Model T
• Bobby Darin's Dream Car a DiDia 150^[7]
• St. Louis-built Automobile Gallery.
• 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood Fleetwood Series 60 Special Sedan (featured in front of a rescued and restored unit from the nearby Coral Court Motel

Boats and aircraft

On display are a Missouri River towboat and two airplanes: a C-47 Skytrain at the main gate and a T-33 Shooting Star.

In 2021, the museum opened a permanent exhibition of some 100 model airplanes donated by Sanford McDonnell, each with a connection to the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.^[8]

See also

• List of United States railroads
  • List of Missouri railroads
• List of railway museums

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Museum of Transportation (St. Louis County, Missouri).