by The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C., is dedicated to all forms of transportation. Located in former railyard of Southern Railway that dates to the 1890s, the museum now includes automobiles and aircraft in its collection, along with railway vehicles of all sorts.
Much of the collection is in the former railroad roundhouse as well as the Back Shop building which is nearly three stories high and two football fields long, and notably for its “Be Careful” admonition painted at the top (see the cover photo of this post).
Many of the exhibits are targeted at kids, with interactive elements and hands-on opportunities.
For us, it was a chance to look at some shiny restored bits of history and some rusty artifacts of history. Only one of the train engines or cars was open to allow visitors to step inside, and there were lots of areas “off limits,” the downside of repurposing an industrial facility.
I enjoyed seeing some of the antique and vintage automobiles and other vehicles in the collection, such as the restored Edsel (my father owned an Edsel as one of his first cars; I imagine it was because it was a cheap purchase since no one wanted them!), a cutaway semi-trailer sleeper cab (not quite as much living space as a converted van, but it looked fairly comfortable for one person!); a vintage circus wagon; and an early 20th century electric car.
The aircraft exhibits included a reproduction of the Wright Flyer, as well as an extensive collection of Piedmont Airlines memorabilia.
The Brew & Choo Festival beer festival looked like it would have been fun, but it was scheduled to occur a few days after we were out of the area.
