INC NEWS - Spencer Shops: NC transportation museum has Durham connections

[John Schelp]

folks,

Ever wanted to see Buck Duke's private rail car? Or
wonder where our old, silver Life & Science Piedmont
airplane went off to? Want to learn more about all
those trains that have chugged through the Bull City
over the ages (remember, Durham is here because of the
RR tracks)?

Head down I-85 to Spencer Shops, home of the NC
transportation museum. Before you say "yawn" ... I
just came back from a day-trip and the visit is more
interesting than you might imagine. :)

Spencer, NC, is located near Kannapolis and Lexington
(on the same RR tracks that come through Durham).  

Buck Duke's private rail car is there and it's pretty
fantastic. The "Doris" even has a mural of the
family's interests (in the posh seating area near the
back "deck").

You can take an old train ride and later a slower
"ride" on the round-table (where locomotives are
turned and pointed toward their maintenance bay).
There's even an old boxcar with exhibits inside
connecting the histories of textile mills and
railroads in the state (by 1905, more people were
working in cotton mills in Durham than in tobacco
factories).

You'll learn that RR companies put sand on the tracks,
because the rails got so slippery from all the
grasshoppers.

More than trains, you'll also see old automobiles and
what a plank road looks like. And, you'll get a peek
at our beloved old Piedmont DC-3, resting in a big old
building that's being restored for future exhibits.

There's much more to see than indicated on the
website, but this link does provide hours and more
information... www.nctrans.org (Directions, take
I-85/South to Exit 81 and follow signs into Spencer).
The museum is in the middle of town, can't miss it.

Of course, hurry back to Durham for your next meal
(maybe near the tracks -- at Erwin Square, Brightleaf,
downtown or Fayetteville Street). :)

~John Schelp
old west durham  

Click here to learn about Old NC 10, the first highway
that crossed the state (and Durham)...
www.owdna.org/history24.htm