Trip Report - Museum of Transportation

Over the weekend I drove down to St. Louis for a visit to David's home turf, the Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, MO. Formerly the National Museum of Transport, MOT has an unrivaled collection of steam locomotives including several from the mid-1800's as well as the only surviving 0-4-4T "Forney" off the Lake Street Elevated in Chicago. At right is a line-up of steam on display in the Robertson building: Lake Street 8, DL&W "Camelback" 952, and Boston & Providence 17 "Daniel Nason," a 4-4-0 dating to 1863.

MOT isn't just steam engines, though - they also have a sizable collection of diesels and historic passenger and freight cars, plus a variety of other transportation modes. There is a hall with antique autos on display, a Mississippi River towboat plinthed in the parking lot and a couple of airplanes, as well as steam rollers and other assorted oddities. I was particularly interested, though, in the traction collection. The museum has a large collection of St. Louis street railway equipment as well as some very historic items from around the country, including the very first GE steeplecab ever built and the only surviving P5 boxcab off the PRR. One of their shop projects at the moment is a St. Louis Public Service PCC car, 1743, shown at left. This car has been stripped down to the frame and is having a significant amount of welding done to repair corrosion; other work including wiring replacement and backdating to SLPS condition (it ran in San Francisco for decades after its days in St. Louis were through) is also being performed.

Much of the electric collection is in storage and is not accessible to the public; some of the equipment was stored outside for years during the 1960's and 1970's and deteriorated. Much of the electric collection is in decent shape and at least a few pieces are likely to be put on public display within the next few years. Already accessible to the public is one of the museum's restored and operational electric cars, St. Louis Waterworks 10. This car was built for a line that ran out to the Waterworks Department's facility north of St. Louis and was eventually acquired by MOT, which restored it to operation during the 1990's.

If you're ever in St. Louis, MOT is a must-see for any railfans - a tremendous collection of historic equipment in good repair, and even an operating streetcar line! What more could you want?