Trains and more can be had at St. Louis Museum of Transportation

The St. Louis Museum of Transportation should be called “Trains and more.” The museum is heavy on its train collection. It also offers a cool car collection, as well as a couple of vintage airplanes and a boat.

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with having tons of trains to check out. Lisa’s uncle Brad loves trains. He was with us during our recent visit to St. Louis. So, the three of us and Lisa’s dad visited the museum. It was a beautiful day for a visit. The museum has a lot of outdoor exhibits on its 129 acres.

The museum opened almost 70 years ago and is staffed by volunteers. Throughout the compound, you’ll run into train and car enthusiasts, who’d rather be around the vehicles than at home, as one told us “Why play with models, when you can play with the real thing?”

I liked how the museum compound is designed. You can see a vintage plane, tractor, train engine and caboose on your way through the parking lot.

The visitors center has a few vintage Ford Model Ts on display.

A section highlights transportation and fire department vehicle history in the area.

A mule-drawn street car – Bellenfontaine Railway #33 – from the city’s early days can be viewed at the center.

Visitors can purchase a ride on the miniature train, in addition to their entrance ticket. With Uncle Brad, it’s a given you’re taking the train ride. He and Lisa enjoyed a couple of laps around the track.

After that (and the pretty flowers – hey, it was early spring), we were off to check out some of the 190 train cars and engines on display. If Brad had his way, we’d still be there. He loves trains, have I mentioned that?

We saw some unique-looking engines and cars. One was a dual-facing engine. “Bi-polar” engines used a special motor to operate electrically. They were designed to pull passenger cars.

A US Army train that was developed for the Korean Conflict was built to use two jet engines as a gas-powered vehicle.

Another cool display was a Union Pacific engine with a giant snow plow attached. The snow plow allowed the train to clear the tracks along the mountains.

We enjoyed checking out the trains with Brad and Lisa’s dad, Ken. We walked through some of the train cars, including a milk tank and caboose.

The museum is home to a renovated El train car from Chicago. We jumped on for a ride. The interior has ads and maps, just like the trains in the city’s public transit cars. It was fun. The volunteer leading the ride loves his “job.”

On our Chicago car ride, we saw an engine sticking out of a train tunnel. The West Barretts Tunnel was once a major spot along the rail system in the area.

Moving from trains to cars, we loved the automobile collection. The vehicles are displayed in a climate-controlled building.

The vehicles on display are impressive. A vehicle once owned by famous singer Bobby Darin is on exhibit. The handmade vehicle was created in 1953 by a clothing designer. Built by hand and completed in 1960, the vehicle had unique features, including backseat-mounted speakers (a first then) and hidden windshield wipers. The car had 30 coats of translucent paint with crushed diamond to give it a sparkle.

The museum does an excellent job of displaying the vehicles with interesting backdrops. A Chevy Corvette looks like it’s being pulled out of the garage.

A drive-in theater is used as background for a beautiful Ford Thunderbird convertible.

St. Louis had its own auto manufacturer in the early 1900s. Dorris Motor Company produced several vehicles, including a panel truck. Dorris was in business from about 1906-1923, when production drastically dropped.

The museum has a C-47A twin-engine plane on display, next to a HT Potts Tugboat. The plane was used to fly several dignitaries over the years, including former President Harry Truman. The tugboat operated out of Kansas City. Visitors can walk the deck of the boat.

The museum is a “must” for anyone who loves trains, or just is interested in the history of transportation. You can see a lot of unique items on display. Car enthusiasts will like the museum, as well.

We suggest putting the St. Louis Museum of Transportation on any St. Louis visiting list. We plan to return and check out even more of the trains.

For more information on the museum and its collections, please see www.transportmuseumassociation.org.