Big Boy UP #4014’s came to St. Louis on Monday, August 30, 2021. Watch these videos from the inaugural run of #4014 after its restoration was completed in 2019 to stoke your train flames!
Here’s the Union Pacific video of “Bringing the Big Boy Back to Life” in commemoration of the Gold Spike anniversary, with the restoration of #4014 and the start of its journey.
And here is an ardent fan’s video of the #4014’s touring locations in California in 2019. Have we kindled your interest now?
BIG BOY – Big Day!
The Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 passed by-and stopped at!–The Museum of Transportation on Monday, August 30, 2021, at approximately 9:30 am. The Museum has its own UP Big Boy, #4006, and guests visiting St. Louis will want to visit the #4006 and see inside the cab and get up close and experience that “Big Boy” is a well-earned moniker.
Special thanks to Sherwood’s Forest Nursery for their generous donation of native and perennial plants to the many gardens at the Museum!
Here is the Museum miniature train crew debating with the Hotdoggers over who drives the better vehicle! The train was still running on Friday, June 25, 2021, after the Weinermobile left on Thursday and hightailed it to Illinois, so we can surmise who won. In all seriousness, our guests were thrilled to have the Weinermobile visit TNMOT–they love vehicles of all sorts!
This year’s Pumpers & Pistons/Community Helper’s Day (on Armed Forces Day, 5/15/2021) at the Museum was our best show yet! A special thanks to Ace Eaton who went above-and-beyond working on the show. Ace worked closely with Renee Hughes and Jessica Hood. Thank you! A good time was had by all! Our Executive Director met a family at the show who had four generations in their group – a child (6), his dad (38), his grandfather (63), and his great-granddad (84). They said the Museum is the one location they can come and all see something they enjoy and learn from. ‘It’s our go-to place to spend time together where we are all happy,’ the grandfather said.
Above all, a supreme thank you goes out to our military veterans and active service personnel, EMS, fire department personnel, police, hospital and medical staff, and all who keep our communities and country safe. Your service is greatly appreciated and you deserve to be honored for your dedication and commitment!
| We are grateful to The Saigh Foundation for its generous gift of $5,000.00 for the ‘All Aboard Program.’ The ‘ALL Aboard Program‘ enables all children to visit the Museum regardless of their ability to pay. The Saigh Foundation generously supported this program in 2020 and 2021. Sponsored tickets are donated to underserved populations, children in foster care, or those children receiving medical attention. For $10.00 you can sponsor a child’s visit to the Museum. Go here and click down to ALL Aboard. |
The Baltimore & Ohio No. 50 at The National Museum of Transportation was recently mentioned in Classic Trains Magazine’s Photo of the Day.
“Baltimore & Ohio No. 50 was one of five early Electro-Motive Corp. twin-engine, four-axle passenger diesels built in 1935. EMC had no factory of its own yet, so this one was assembled at General Electric’s plant at Erie, PA. The Winton-engined pioneer is preserved at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. Photo by General Electric.”
This original 1920’s horse-drawn milk wagon was originally owned by Pevely Dairy. Pevely Dairy started in 1887 in Pevely, Missouri. The family started the business with a butter route but later added milk to the product line.
The family business boomed when Daniel Kerckhoff son of the original owner won the dairy concession at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Before supermarkets and electric refrigerators were in widespread usage, fresh milk in glass bottles was home-delivered on a daily basis. Milk had cream on top and a round piece of cardboard as a stopper.
Horses were so well trained on their route that they knew when to stop for a delivery. Pevely used zebras in a promotion to deliver milk in St. Louis. See zebra video here.
Who are the “primary” pollinators most likely to visit the LIFE Exhibit at Pollinator Junction Park? Let’s meet them and nine groups of “primary pollinators,” and their most recognizable ambassadors.
Our pollinator “ambassadors” are good representatives of a group of pollinators. They are the most familiar, most efficient, most common, least aggressive, sometimes truly unique or just the easiest to recognize “pollen transporters.” These pollinators are nature’s original transporters and are involved in transportation not unlike our trains.
These pollinators are also the easiest to attract to our flowers. They need a place to eat and “bee” safe in our landscape. These all can “bee” fun to watch and “bee”come a welcomed part of our neighborhoods!
These “pollination pros” also do most of the work of pollinating! These are our Pollinator Junction’s Pollinator Pantry Ambassadors:
1) Butterflies and Skippers, the ambassadors:
Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Silver-spotted Skipper ( Epargyreus clarus)
2) Nectar Moths ambassadors:
The Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis)
The Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe)
The White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)
3) Hummingbird ambassador (representing only themselves):
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
4) The “too busy to care about us” Bumble bee ambassador:
Eastern Bumble bee (Bombus impatiens)
She represents the six most common and very subtly different species of bumble bees in Missouri (Bombus spp.). We’ve also grouped the “he’s got nothing but moves” Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) with the bumbly bumble bees!
5) “No bother” bunny-hole bees (Andrenid) represent the many type of very docile mining bees.
6) The gentle orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) represent the mason bees and leaf cutter bees (Osmia spp. and Megachile spp.).
7) The busiest bee of all is the Honey bee.
8) The bee mimic, the most varied group includes all insects that pollinate and have the warning markings of a bee. Most are flies. They do NOT have stingers!
9) Last but not least is the ladybug beetle “ambassador” representing the many flower beetles that do NO harm to plants OR blossoms. These pollen-powered, sometimes nectar-sipping, beetles tumble, tromp and transfer pollen in the process of eating the grains. Some also eat other insects and so are very beneficial and provide natural pest control!
The National Museum of Transportation has heard our guests’ repeated requests for more plane-related exhibits over the years. They adore our training jet and our World War II “Gooney” with invasion stripes, but they have craved additional aircraft artifacts.
Thanks to the McDonnell family and their generous support, the Museum now has an exquisite Sanford N. McDonnell Tribute Exhibit wing with bountiful amounts of beautiful plane models and history. The exhibit’s presentation is top notch and well worth a visit by any ardent aircraft enthusiast. Hear more here.
