We’re taking a short break from our usual focus on freight trains and instead turning our attention to train rides – but this video features some very cool freight trains too, as we visit the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Museum of Transportation offers patrons a chance to enjoy narrow-gauge passenger train and historic streetcar rides, both of which show off some of the museum’s impressive collection of nearly 200 large exhibit items. The museum has over 50 automobiles, plus a limited number of aircraft and other transportation displays. But the “main event” is the massive array of railroad locomotives and equipment, which the museum claims is among the largest collections on display in the world.
At 0:30, we watch the museum’s miniature train pass through a pedestrian crossing, which includes working gates and signals. At 1:20, we’re riding aboard the train, watching inside the loop track as we pass by a few of the museum’s signature displays…
• 1:37 – Rock Island Railroad’s AeroTrain #3, one of two such futuristic engines built by General Motors in 1955, was initially used in mainline passenger service in an effort to lure people back to the rails in opposition to growing auto and air travel. Unfortunately, the AeroTrain rode poorly at high speeds and was quite noisy as well, so its mainline tenure was short-lived. This AeroTrain was then used in suburban service between Chicago and Joliet until 1965, when it was retired. The iconic silhouette of the AeroTrain is prominently featured in the museum’s logo.
• 1:52 – Missouri Pacific 13546 is a caboose that was built in 1972.
• 3:13 – A Lockheed T-33 training aircraft that was built in 1948 is one of many that were used by the United States Air Force.
• 4:57 – Wabash Railroad 2847 is a caboose that was built in 1952.
At 6:10, we watch one of the museum’s historic streetcars pass by; it’s St. Louis Public Service Co. 1743, which was built in 1946. At 6:44, we’re riding inside the streetcar, capturing a first-person view of several more of the museum’s incredible displays…
• 6:50 – New York Central 29331, built in 1929, is one of two surviving “Mohawk” steam locomotives.
• 6:57 – Wabash Railroad 573, built in 1899 and rebuilt in 1915, is one of two surviving Wabash steam engines.
• 7:34 – SSWMW 95589, a St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (“Cotton Belt”) maintenance-of-way wedge snow plow, was originally built in 1913 as a Rock Island Railroad steam locomotive’s tender. The tender was partially dismantled and converted to a snow plow in 1957.
• 7:36 – Union Pacific 6944, built in 1971, is one of 47 DD40AX “Centennial” diesel-electric engines produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the largest diesel-electric engines ever built. UP 6944 is 98’5″ long, weighs over 270 tons, and could reach a top speed of more than 80 MPH.
• 7:46 – Union Pacific 900081, built in 1966, is the heaviest rotary snow plow ever built. Tipping the scales at 367,400 pounds, UP 900081 was not self-propelled and had to be pushed by three or four locomotives. Its circular plow could spin at 150 RPM.
• 8:01 – Union Pacific 4006, built in 1941, is one of 25 “Big Boy” steam engines produced with a unique 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement for Union Pacific. With a length of 132’9″ and a weight of over 600 tons, the “Big Boy” was considered to be the largest successful steam locomotive ever built.
• 9:18 – Our ride ends as we approach West Barretts Tunnel, the first railroad tunnel built west of the Mississippi River. Built by the Pacific Railroad of Missouri (later the Missouri Pacific Railroad) from 1851 to 1853, the tunnel was originally 450 feet long before it was shortened to 410 feet in 1929. The tunnel was removed from service in 1944 when it was replaced by a new cut-through double-track configuration about 100 feet further south. Now part of the museum’s grounds, the tunnel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The tunnel was designed by the railroad’s chief engineer, James Kirkwood, after whom the nearby city of Kirkwood is named.
All clips were recorded in September 2017, with occasional commentary from our fellow passengers.
source
0 Comments