Friday, October 1, 2021

Visit to MOT

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to visit the St. Louis Museum of Transportation once again, after an absence of six years.  Looking back at the report from 2015, though, many of these pictures will be familiar.


The displays in the main entrance building have been rearranged, and it is well set up and presented.



Who am I to argue with John H. White, Jr.?



Maintenance continues on the many outdoor artifacts, such as the Aerotrain:


I met several volunteers, all of whom were very friendly and helpful.



Inside the old entrance building, displays of railroad china and model trains.



Volunteers were working on the waterworks car, so we got a tour of the interior, which is nicely restored.



The Class C is now under the roof of the Abbott shelter.







The N&W Y6 recently returned from its trip to Virginia, but there was this streetcar in the way.




The point here is that underneath Muni green the original SLPS red is still there.



In the shop, Carl proudly points out details of the complete restoration of a SEPTA PCC.


And this is the Kansas City Birney.  They're doing a very careful job on its restoration.



In the other half of the building, steam locomotive guys are working on the B&O camelback.





In the main display shed, lots of interesting equipment:






MOT is, like IRM, a member of the Rotary Club:




The lower display yard has been modified somewhat, and now consists of four disconnected display tracks.  It doesn't look like any of this equipment will ever move again.






They have some very good explanatory signs.




There's a lot more to see, in particular the automobile building, but this is just a selection.  If you haven't been there before, MOT is well worth a visit.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

You missed the Rapid Transit steam engine!

Randall Hicks said...

Yes, and I mentioned at the end that there's a lot more to see. It's not my job to post a complete photographic roster!

Anonymous said...

Out of curiosity, what trip did the NW Y-6 make to Virginia?
C Kronenwetter

Randall Hicks said...

It was loaned to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke for the last six years or so; I have a picture of it in Roanoke here:

https://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2015/10/visit-to-roanoke.html

Frankly I was surprised that the loan of a large articulated like this went off so well. So both MOT's should be congratulated.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that they were able to move such a load on any railroad these days (UP excepted :) ). Does the Y-6 have non-friction bearings on everything?
C Kronenwetter

Randall Hicks said...

Yes, that's what my books seem to say, although it's not always clear whether that applies to all axles. But nowadays I doubt the railroads would even think about moving a steam locomotive with solid driver bearings. So our Y3 probably isn't going anywhere.