Museum exhibits are housed in three buildings spread out over 1/4 mile.
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Barber Junction Visitor Center
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The first stop is the Barber Junction Visitor center, an authentic train depot built in 1898 that was moved to the museum in 1980 from the nearby town of Barber, NC. |
This is the gateway to fun and excitement at the N.C. Transportation Museum. Get your tickets here for train rides around the site, and pick up information about tours and exhibits. |
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Click here for images and information about the museum's Rolling Stock Collection.
View a video gallery of museum equipment in motion.
View more than 25 restored-locomotives and rail cars along with extensive exhibits tracing the history of railroads in the state. Videos and interactive exhibits, along with restoration shop areas at which locomotives are still worked on today, are highlights of this unique building.
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Visit the Flue Shop, built in 1924, to stroll down memory lane through the history of the automobile in period settings.
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In the Master Mechanic's Office, built in 1911, you'll see a history of North Carolina transportation, including a dugout canoe and a 1922 fire engine.
This building is also home to the Gift Station.
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The museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum and often showcases traveling Smithsonian exhibits. We also design our own permanent and semi-permanent exhibits on transportation related to North Carolina.
View the Temporary and Traveling Exhibits page for the latest information. |
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Several other buildings, including the mammoth Back Shop built in 1905, are awaiting restoration and are currently closed for visitor safety.
The Back Shop is the length of two football fields, 150 feet wide and 60 feet tall.The immense Back Shop structure was built in 1905 and served as the major overhaul facility for steam locomotives. The largest structure on the site, and once the largest industrial building in North Carolina, the Back Shop served as an enormous machine shop where locomotives were disassembled with the aid of a crane. Lathes and milling machines were used to re-machine the parts before everything was reassembled. At the peak of activity, two to three locomotives per week emerged as new from the Back Shop. |
Today, in the context of the N.C. Transportation Museum, the Back Shop is seen as an ideal location to tell the story of North Carolina's transportation history. This building is large enough to house trains, trucks, automobiles and aircraft in a protected, enclosed environment. Classrooms and meeting spaces will provide opportunities for community outreach and engagement. More than 150,000 visitors per year are expected to pass through the Back Shop after its renovation.
Donations to this worthwhile project can be made online or by contacting the Foundation office at 704-636-2889, ext. 236 or 228. |
