The National Museum of Transportation, Saint Louis, Missouri

The city of Saint Louis in the U.S. state of Missouri, a city located on the Mississippi River, is commonly known as the ‘Gateway to the West’.  The city’s most famous landmark, the Gateway Arch, is a monument to those who went west to seek opportunities.  It is here in this city that you will find the National Museum of Transportation.

What is the National Museum of Transportation?  Well, of course, it is a museum of transportation from automobiles to planes to boats, but the majority of what you will see here is trains.  As you enter the museum parking lot, you must cross a set of railroad tracks.  This is just the beginning.

You park your car and walk to the Visitor Center where a Wabash Railroad Caboose sits outside.  You enter the museum, and you see automobiles on display.  Yes, it is a transportation museum.  As you walk around, you see a model train display, and you see model trains encased in glass.

Be warned.  You have not seen anything yet.

Remember when you crossed the railroad tracks as you entered the parking lot?  Well, you can take a ride on the miniature train that circles that parking lot.  You see aircraft on display and a tanker truck.  As you take a ride, the narrator tells you of each locomotive, mining equipment, and rolling stock you pass by.

In case you are wondering, there is much more to see.

You walk through the Earl C. Lindberg Automotive Center seeing the old cars, and then you see an old train station.  On the outside, you see a model train display.  On the inside, you see models of locomotives and rolling stock to include a model of the ‘General’, a steam locomotive that was part of a chase in the U.S. state of Georgia during the American Civil War.

Now you think that you have seen a lot of trains so far.  At this point, you have not seen much.

Why should you visit the National Museum of Transportation?  Ladies and gentlemen, this museum boasts a large collection of railroad rolling stock.  No, it is not just from the railroads that are particulate to the Saint Louis region.  You have rolling stock from the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Georgia Railroad, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Burlington Route, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Norfolk and Western Railway to include Locomotive Number 2156, a locomotive that was originally at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia, and the Santa Fe Railroad just to name a few.  The collection includes locomotives, boxcars, passenger cars, trolleys, and other rolling stock.

The National Museum of Transportation is located at 2933 Barrett Station Road in Saint Louis, Missouri.  It is open year round, but the miniature train only runs seasonally.  The entire museum is wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information about admission, hours, and events at https://tnmot.org/.

The city of Saint Louis, Missouri is the Gateway to the West, and it is the home of a great museum known as the National Museum of Transportation.  Let us say that it is a gateway to transportation in the nation.