North Carolina Transportation Museum ~

If you are looking for a little weekend excursion, or if you love planes, trains, and cars, then you should check out the North Carolina Transportation Museum located in Spencer, NC. Our family recently took a trip down to Spencer, NC to check out the museum, and it was well worth the trip!

North Carolina Transportation Museum

The North Carolina Transportation Museum is easy to find. It is located about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte off of Interstate 85. Just take I-85 North to Spencer, take exit 79 and turn left off of the ramp. Go to the intersection with S. Salisbury Street and turn left. The museum entrance will be on the left less than 1/4 of a mile from the intersection.

The North Carolina Transportation Museum is located in historic Spencer, NC, a town that once prided itself on being one of the most important stops along the Southern Railway Lines. The Spencer Shop, as it was called in its heyday, was approximately halfway between the cities of Richmond, Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia, two of the most prominent railway cities in the South back when railroads were the major mode of transportation, and the shop was a place where all the trains could get inspected and repaired before continuing on their journey. The town was named for Samuel Spencer, the first president of the Southern Railway Corporation. Unfortunately, when the railway system became obsolete, the Spencer Shop became less and less important and the town suffered as a result.

The old Spencer Shop, with its 34-bay roundhouse and multiple buildings originally used for train repairs, is now the home of the North Carolina Transportation Museum.  This 57-acre site houses automobiles from several decades of North Carolina’s transportation history as well as a history of the old Piedmont Airlines that was based in North Carolina and offered passenger airline service around the country.

The North Carolina Transportation Museum also houses several different train cars from several different eras of the American railway system. And they offer train rides as well! An authentic diesel engine locomotive offers 25-minute narrated tours of the site for $12 (this cost includes the price of admission to the museum) for adults, $8 for children ages 3-12 and $10 for seniors and active-duty military personnel from Memorial Day through Labor Day!

We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed our ride aboard the Easter Egg Express (it was Easter weekend). We especially enjoyed the roundhouse and looking at all the trains and train cars. Dawn and Amber both enjoyed the military hospital car, which included a video that talked about how the car was used during World War I and World War II to transport the wounded from the front lines to a more stable hospital for treatment. I, personally, enjoyed climbing in and out of the cabooses in the roundhouse and seeing how they each were designed differently, some for comfort, some for affordability.

The North Carolina Transportation Museum also includes transportation that was not motorized, such as horse-drawn carriages and wooden canoes! Each has their place in North Carolina’s history. And just beyond the carriage exhibit is a gift shop with many different wonderful souvenirs for you to purchase!

Whatever your favorite exhibit might be, I am sure that you and your family will enjoy discovering several pieces of America’s (especially North Carolina’s) transportation history! The North Carolina Transportation Museum provided my family tickets to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed are completely our own. Visit the North Carolina Transportation Museum‘s web site for more information.

What Kind Of Antique Transportation Would You Be Most Interested In Looking At?