Virginia Museum of Transportation
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Museum of Transportation is a museum
devoted to the topic of transportation located in Downtown
Roanoke
, Virginia
, U.S.A..
on the banks of the Roanoke River
. The earliest components of the museum's collection included a United States Army
Jupiter rocket
and the famous N&W J Class Locomotive #611, donated by Norfolk & Western Railway to the city of Roanoke where many of its engines were constructed. The museum expanded its collection to include other pieces of rail equipment such as a former DC Transit PCC streetcar
, and a number of horse-drawn vehicles including a hearse
, a covered wagon
, and a Studebaker
wagon.
In November 1985, a flood nearly destroyed the museum, and much of its collection. It forced the shutdown of the facility and the refurbishment of #611. In April 1986, the museum re-opened in Norfolk & Western's freight stations in downtown Roanoke as the Virginia Museum of Transportation. The museum has earned that title, being recognized by the General Assembly of Virginia as the Commonwealth's official transportation museum.
signs, billboards, and a video history of the department. Many of the museum's antique automobiles are on display here as well. The museum also features occasional special exhibits such as the "Hollywood Star Cars" exhibit which showcased famous cars from the history of television and movies.
"Working the High Iron - A pictorial history of the N & W Railway"
"The Claytor Brothers - Virginians Building America's Railroad"
"African American Heritage on the Norfolk and Western Railroad - 1930-1970"
"Big Lick"
Other pieces include automobiles such as a 1913 Metz, a 1920 Buick touring car, a Highway Post Office Bus, and an armored car used to showcase the Bill of Rights in 1991.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
devoted to the topic of transportation located in Downtown
Downtown Roanoke
Downtown is the central business district of Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Located geographically at the center of the city, Downtown began its development with the completion of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1882...
Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, U.S.A..
History
The Virginia Museum of Transportation began its life in 1963 as the Roanoke Transportation Museum located in Wasena Park in Roanoke, Virginia. The museum at that time was housed in an old Norfolk & Western Railway freight depotTrain station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
on the banks of the Roanoke River
Roanoke River
The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...
. The earliest components of the museum's collection included a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Jupiter rocket
Jupiter (missile)
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first medium-range ballistic missile of the United States Air Force . It was a liquid-fueled rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR70-NA rocket engine producing 667 kN of thrust...
and the famous N&W J Class Locomotive #611, donated by Norfolk & Western Railway to the city of Roanoke where many of its engines were constructed. The museum expanded its collection to include other pieces of rail equipment such as a former DC Transit PCC streetcar
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
, and a number of horse-drawn vehicles including a hearse
Hearse
A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
, a covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
, and a Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
wagon.
In November 1985, a flood nearly destroyed the museum, and much of its collection. It forced the shutdown of the facility and the refurbishment of #611. In April 1986, the museum re-opened in Norfolk & Western's freight stations in downtown Roanoke as the Virginia Museum of Transportation. The museum has earned that title, being recognized by the General Assembly of Virginia as the Commonwealth's official transportation museum.
Automobile Gallery
The first exhibit to be featured in the Automobile Gallery is the "From Mud to Mobility: A History of the Virginia Department of Transportation." The gallery's floor has been painted to reproduce the theme of this exhibit, beginning with a dirt road and graduating to a full-fledged interstate highway. The Virginia Department of Transportation will sponsor this exhibit, featuring motorized dioramas, Burma-ShaveBurma-Shave
Burma-Shave was an American brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small, sequential, highway-billboard signs.-History:...
signs, billboards, and a video history of the department. Many of the museum's antique automobiles are on display here as well. The museum also features occasional special exhibits such as the "Hollywood Star Cars" exhibit which showcased famous cars from the history of television and movies.
Railroad exhibits
Five on-going exhibits cover sundry aspects of railroad life in America, especially Virginia. In addition to these on-going exhibits, the museum maintains an O-Gauge train layout modeled after Roanoke, Salem, and Lynchburg, Virginia."Working the High Iron - A pictorial history of the N & W Railway"
- This exhibit features many photos of the men and women who worked for Norfolk & Western throughout the years.
"The Claytor Brothers - Virginians Building America's Railroad"
- Detailing the lives of Graham and Robert Claytor, this exhibit explores their past and their relationship that led to the merger of the Norfolk & Western and Southern Railways.
"African American Heritage on the Norfolk and Western Railroad - 1930-1970"
- This exhibit is the result of an oral history project sponsored in part by Roanoke area businesses and individuals to document the often-ignored roles played by African-Americans on the rails. The exhibit includes pictures, artifacts, and recorded interviews with African-Americans who worked for the railroad.
"Big Lick"
- This exhibit reproduces a 1930s rural train depot, featuring freight scales, a telegrapher's office, time tables, and a velocipede hand car used for servicing track.
Aviation Gallery (Future)
This area will showcase aircraft past and present. Artifacts include a hot air balloon, a gyrocopter, as well as two experimental planes, and a hang glider. Various models and photographs flesh out this exhibit. In the works are plans to add an interactive cockpit model with flight simulators, and a U.S. Army Cobra helicopter.Collection
For several months in 2011, the museum will be home to Chesapeake and Ohio 614 as part of the museum's "Thoroughbreds of Steam" exhibit.Other pieces include automobiles such as a 1913 Metz, a 1920 Buick touring car, a Highway Post Office Bus, and an armored car used to showcase the Bill of Rights in 1991.
Rolling stock (partial)
Though the most prominent pieces of the museum's collection are the two Norfolk & Western engines, there are more than fifty pieces of rolling stock in the collection.Steam
- Chesapeake and Ohio 614 J3A 4-8-4, was moved to the museum MayMayMay is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.May is a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere...
9th. - Norfolk and Western J-ClassJ-classThe term J class may refer to:Locomotives* NZR J class , steam locomotives operating in New Zealand from 1874 until 1935* NZR J class , steam locomotives operating in New Zealand from 1939...
#611Norfolk and Western 611Norfolk and Western Railway's J class steam locomotives were a class of 4-8-4 locomotives built by the Norfolk and Western Railway's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, between 1941 and 1950 Norfolk and Western Railway. The first batch, numbered 600 to 604, were built in 1941–42 and were delivered...
, where it was placed after its retirement from steam excursion service in 1995 - A class #1218Norfolk & Western 1218Norfolk & Western 1218 is a steam locomotive that at one time was the strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive in the world. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated locomotive with a 2-6-6-4 wheel arrangement. The Norfolk & Western Railway built it in 1943 at its Roanoke Shops in Roanoke,...
. - Virginian Railway SA class steam locomotive, the last remaining steam engine from the Virginian Railway.
Electric
- Virginian RailwayVirginian RailwayThe Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
EL-CVGN EL-CThe Virginian EL-C was a type of electric locomotive built for the Virginian Railway by General Electric in August of 1955. They were the first successful production locomotives to use Ignitron rectifier technology... - Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
GG1PRR GG1The PRR GG1 is a class of electric locomotives that was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad for use in the northeastern United States. A total of 140 GG1s were constructed by its designer General Electric and the Pennsylvania's Altoona Works from 1934 to 1943.... - D.C. Transit Company PCC Streetcar