Author: Renee Hughes

Union Pacific Snow Plow

Posted on by Renee Hughes

Union Pacific Snow Plow Owned by and Displayed at The National Museum of Transportation

On a hot summer day, we thought it would be cool to feature the Union Pacific Snow Plow. Designed and built by the Union Pacific Railroad in its Omaha Shop, the Museum rotary snow plow is the heaviest ever built weighing 367,400 pounds. (That’s the same as 62 African Elephants!)


Its cutting wheel could throw snow far to either side of the track as it was pushed forward at four to six mph. It is not self propelled and must be pushed by three or four locomotives.


A steam generator heats the carburetor, prevents the fuel and water pipes from freezing and thaws out the cutting wheel if it gets stuck. The plow engineer controls both the plow and the trailing locomotives.  The circular windows in the front of this plow revolve to keep them clear from snow.

Rotary Snow Plow in Action (not owned by TNMOT)

Bee-Witched Hazel

Posted on by Renee Hughes

What better way to celebrate the sporadic temperature shifts and “what’s next weather” of St. Louis, than enjoying the tiny but lovely first flowers of the season at the National Museum of Transportation’s Pollinator Junction. These beauties are on our Ozark Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis).

The petite strappy flower petals can be a range of colors from shades of yellow to dark purple-red. The coiled ribbons of color remain rolled tight on cold cloudy days and gently unfurl on sunny days as temperatures peak. Each extended petal “bee”comes a tiny royal carpet welcoming our earliest pollinators. There is some question as to who all that might be but it obvious that these flowers are naturally intended for some tiny hungry creature as they are sweetly fragrant! No doubt some warm sunny day flower flies are hungry-and maybe honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Witch hazel is a sweet prequel to the season. Blooming from as early as January into March and sometimes is still carrying on ’til April. This unseemly long flowering period is a natural bloom period for our Missouri native Ozark witch hazel shrub. This is hardly a trick but rather a great treat to jump start the spring season.

Selecting between a cultivar (a selection that has been discovered and propagated to retain consistency of attributes) or the straight species (found and collected) was the only “which” part. There is some awareness of this shrub’s natural durability and deer resistance so growers and nurseries are helping her find her way to the home landscape.

For our purposes, ensuring the plant is attractive to pollinators is the top priority. Variation in color, elevated bloom count on an individual shrub and significant fragrance are all desirable traits that may attract and feed more pollinators. These traits vary sometimes significantly between individuals plants and yet are still within a normal range of variation. Who wants a shrub that barely blooms? We made sure to locate her in the landscape where her sweet fragrance can be appreciated!

My decision for which witch was also based on cost and to some extent maturity (size) because the larger the shrub the more branches hence more possibility for flowers and leaves. This is also a larva host plant for our small blue butterfly the Spring Azure, a very early pollinator. Her babies are tiny caterpillars that have the munchies for the foliage. We have a pollinator food producing mission!

Witch hazels live naturally in sun to part shade creating a lovely screen and are good at erosion control. I have seen great ones along the crest of stream banks where drainage is adequate. I have only seen a few poor looking ones where the ground stays wet and swampy.

WITCH HAZEL CARE

While most varieties reach 10-20 feet high and wide at maturity, witch hazels can be kept smaller with pruning once they are finished blooming. Prune in April or early May so that the following year’s buds can develop. Suckering twigs that form around the base should be removed.

Norfolk & Western #2156 on Track!

Posted on by Renee Hughes

After being loaned out for five years to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the #2156 steam locomotive was returned to The National Museum of Transportation (TNMOT) on June 15, 2020. Oh the joy and excitement about having the Y6a back on track at TNMOT in St. Louis MO!

Built in 1942, the #2156 is a massive freight hauler used until 1960 to haul heavy coal trains through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia. This compound “articulated” locomotive was among the hardest working steam locomotives ever built. The articulated design allowed the locomotive to operate on tracks with tighter curves by allowing the two sets of drive wheels to split and turn independently. 

The Norfolk & Western weighs 961,500 pounds; the engine and tender are 113’1/4″ long and have have 58″ drivers. The #2156 is the only compound locomotive in Museum’s collection. A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The main benefits sought from compounding are reduced fuel and water consumption plus higher power/weight ratio due to more expansion in the cylinder before the exhaust valve opens, which gives a higher efficiency.

Button Up – It’s Fun Outside!

Posted on by Renee Hughes

She’s a beauty! Her full name is Cephalanthus occidentalis, and yes I know, it’s a mouthful.

My friend just calls her “Button” when we see her in the woods along the creek.  But, If that’s too casual, you can call her Buttonbush (but write down her full two-word botanical name because someday,  you might need it).

She’s a local gal, a true Missouri native through and through. She likes it hot or, cold, and humid and every combination of them but she’s not real fond of extended dry period. (It’s hard on her appearance and it’s tough on her roots as well and believe me, we all need our roots.)

If you let her show her pretty leggy bark you get more than year round interest from the people lookers, you may also get oversize creamy white  flowers just in time for wedding pictures, graduation parties and all that is fun in June!

Those sweet soft round globes are enjoyed by many major pollinators including big and little butterflies, nectar moths and “too busy to care about you” Bumble bees. Even a passing hummingbird will take a power shot of nectar juice while on wing.

After her prime she still manages to look good in Autumn. Sometimes she even shows a little fall color. Come winter, songbirds flock to her for her seeds are quite tasty treat.

Buttonbush, also known as honeyball, is pretty common throughout Missouri and fairly recognizable even in winter as she develops a lovely rounded silhouette with maturity.

The flowers are sweetly scented. Blooming sometimes for as long as four weeks in early summer, she offers both food and drink for many pollinators from Missouri’s nine primary categories of pollinators. Her seeds are also a food source for many song birds. In the Museum’s pollinary park we have a couple buttonbushes.

Although a buttonbush likes wet sloppy clay soil, she grows fine in average soil and even can grow in drier places as long as she is watered during extended dry periods. She likes sun or light shade.

Zebra-Drawn Milk Wagon

Posted on by Renee Hughes

Pevely Dairy, founded in the 1880s, was one of four large dairies that evolved from a group of small dairies located in St. Louis at the turn of the twentieth century.  Delivery of milk was made by horse-drawn wagons.  Milk was delivered in bottles with 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. 

As a publicity stunt the dairy purchased two trained zebras named Hans and Tanta from a circus and had them pull a dairy wagon. The museum has an original horse-drawn milk wagon that was originally owned by Pevely Dairy.

This zebra-drawn Pevely Milk Wagon delivered milk through the streets of St. Louis in the 1930’s.   The zebras were from Southwest Africa and taken to the Hagenback Circus at Altona-Stellingen  in Germany for training.   They were brought to the Pevely Dairy Co. in St. Louis in July 1929, at which time they were three-years-old.   Hans and Tanta proved to be exceedingly gentle and well-trained.  The zebras delivered milk in St. Louis for years.  So, you could say, they really earned their stripes!

Here is a video of a zebra-drawn milk delivery.

Burlington Aleutian Train Car

Posted on by Renee Hughes

Pullman built the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad “Aleutian” heavyweight office car in 1923. That railroad’s vice president and general manager of the eastern lines used the car in 1940. Tagged the “office car,” railroad officials used cars like the Aleutian to entertain customers and guests of the company, usually shippers, bankers, or politicians.  Wealthy families also owned private cars for travel in privacy and comfort, just as they use private jets today.

Fun fact: HBO’s Emmy award-winning film “Truman,” shot in spring 1995, featured the Aleutian car as a stand-in for the Ferdinand Magellan car. We have a star on our museum grounds!

Featuring “all the comforts of home,” the car contains:

  • An observation lounge with open rear platform,
  • Four staterooms,
  • Galley,
  • Dining room likely with fine china–Spode Copeland’s china from England was sometimes used in private cars,
  • Two bathrooms and two showers, and
  • Crew’s quarters for the cook and porter.

In 1952, Burlington rebuilt and modernized the car, installing air conditioning, self-contained electrical and hot water systems, and roller bearings, giving it a rebuilt weight of over 102 tons.

The National Museum of Transportation received the car in 1970.

Golden Alexander and Columbine

Posted on by Renee Hughes

Here is a preview of the off-the-rails blooming occurring on The National Museum of Transportation’s grounds Spring 2020. Golden Alexander and Columbine are on full display. We know we cannot be together with our cherished guests just yet, but hope you will be able to locate some of these plants in your neighborhood, park, or other green space you visit.

Golden Alexander – Zizia aurea

The yellow-flowered Golden Alexander hosts larvae of several Swallowtails and also attracts Mining bees, Azure butterflies and various beetles.

Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

Columbine produces showy pink-red blossoms. Native American Omaha and Ponca men rubbed pulverized seeds on their palms as a love potion before shaking hands with a loved one. This practice also was supposed to make them more persuasive when speaking to a council.

The root was chewed or taken as a weak tea for diarrhea, stomach troubles, uterine bleeding, and as a diuretic. The root, seeds, and probably the leaves of some species are acrid and may be used raw for a stimulating poultice.

Columbine is pollinated by hummingbirds, moths, and butterflies which all have long tongues in order to reach the nectar. It serves as larval food for Dusky wing butterflies.

Turbine Car for the Jet Age

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·       The Chrysler Turbine car was produced in the early 1960s by an Italian design studio, and assembly was completed in Detroit. There were only 55 produced, and the Turbine Car at The National Museum of Transportation (TNMOT) is the only operational turbine car on public display. The turbine car is notable because it has, you guessed it, a turbine engine. There are reports of the car running on everything from tequila and perfume, to peanut and soybean oils.

·       Chrysler planned to disperse 50 cars to 203 households, in which the families would drive them, take notes about their thoughts of the car, and then pass it onto the next family.

·       After the trial test-runs were finished, the cars were returned to Chrysler, and ultimately, most of them were destroyed. Chrysler decided not to move forward with widespread production due to manufacturing costs and difficulty with emissions regulations.

·       TNMOT starts the Turbine Car every six to eight weeks to check on its operability. If you want to hear the sound of a smooth jet engine coming out of a sleek copper-colored 1960s car, let us know and we will tune you into the schedule.

·       Here is an interesting video of the Turbine Car being tested by Chrysler!

Pollinator Junction is Gardening for Life!

Posted on by Renee Hughes

The Museum of Transportation’s Pollinator Junction promotes a healthy growing environment and happy place to “bee” for pollinators and us.

Pollinator Junction’s mission is to demonstrate “Gardening for Life:” living creatures, interactive opportunities, food chain support and an eco-balance for us all!

This Missouri parkland, located in St. Louis County’s metropolitan area, offers a unique relaxed opportunity in a condensed space where people can “pause for pollinators” in a naturally pleasant place and see them as they live and thrive.

Enjoy “backyard ecology” as you watch and learn about our flower-powered pollinators.

Visitors will see season-long displays of “functional” flowers,  grown for their ability to make food for all of Missouri’s primary pollinators.

Our winged pollinator guests are butterflies and skippers, nectar moths, hummingbirds, various types of “too busy to care about us” bees including our native gentle orchard bees, bee mimics and flower beetles such as ladybugs.

View day-to-day gardening and stewardship activities that are part of the fun of caring for this “home for pollinators.”

The Transportation Museum Association and St. Louis County Parks coordinated on this pollinator preserve. Nearly 7,000 square feet, the pollinator park was installed in September 2016 in co-operation with, and support from, the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones, Madelyn. A. Kestler, St. Louis County Parks Foundation, The St. Louis County’s Children’s Garden Club, Shaw Nature Reserve, Hillermann Nursery, Sherwood Forest Nursery, Greenscape Nursery, Isabee’s Bee Keeping Supplies, Forrest Keeling Nursery, Forest Lawn Nursery, Forshaw St. Louis, Tom Krauska, Sugar Creek Nursery, Missouri Wildflower Nursery, Forest Releaf, Papillon Perennials and our horticulture volunteers.

Once an expansive sterile monoculture of grassy turf, Pollinator Junction is now a living exhibit of various cultivated and natural site conditions including wet, dry, sun and shade–an all season food fest for pollinators. All of the trees, shrubs perennials, bulbs and annuals were chosen for their ability to feed and support the tiny workforce of pollinators that that have the big job of transporting pollen from flower to flower!

Come see how to help your landscape become a well stocked “food pantry” for pollinators!

A Puzzle to Transport You

Posted on by Renee Hughes

One of our Museum whizzes created a “wheelie” cool puzzle on transportation to entertain you. Open and print the puzzle using this link. Only when you have finished the puzzle, or it has finished you, go to the answer key at this second link to check your entries.

If you are stumped, that’s OK. Learning is the best part of this challenge. We hope our puzzle master will keep on truckin’ with additional brainteasers.