North Carolina Transportation Museum
Spencer, NC
I think a common topic I have been getting familiar with since starting to explore North Carolina is how things change over the years and how much we truly leave behind. Belongings I have currently and what seemed like a special feature or upgrade to these items are considered standard or obsolete now. Some of the cars located within the transportation museum still have the intact velveteen fabric in the seats with wood trim accents that I’m sure were a true treasure when they were fabricated. Today, what we feel is luxury is completely envisioned differently.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum is located at Southern Railway Spencer shops in Spencer NC. The Shops were built in 1986 with the intent to provide a place halfway (160 miles) along the rails between Atlanta, GA, and Washington, D.C to pull locomotives off the rails for repairs and prepare for the next train. The Spencer Shops employed over 3,000 people for the town of Spencer and surrounding areas.
The Spencer Shop served as the largest maintenance and repair facility in the Southern Railway system -LOC
Just like all of my other stops at historic places, I was in awe. We started the trip on a transportation car, taking us just outside the yard, through and passed the round table, and continued back to the station. The pathways don’t clearly tell you where to head so you pretty much wander on your own.
| Carolina Thread Trail | https://www.carolinathreadtrailmap.org/trails/trail/mountain-island-park-trail |
| My trail bag | https://amzn.to/3h8lb0v |
| Geocaches near this stop | https://www.geocaching.com/play/map?lat=35.1362&lng=-80.6515&zoom=14&asc=true&sort=distance&st=35.136150%2C-80.651520&ct=2%2C9 |
| My Trail sandals | https://amzn.to/2UTH5Ny |