In November 1985, a flood damaged the museum and much of its collection.[3] In April 1986, the museum was re-opened at the former Norfolk & Western Railway Freight Station in downtown Roanoke as the Virginia Museum of Transportation, recognized by the General Assembly of Virginia as the Commonwealth's official transportation museum.
Under the museum's original charter, Norfolk & Western steam locomotives No. 611 and No. 1218 were property of the city of Roanoke. On April 2, 2012, during VMT's 50 Birthday, the city transferred ownership of the locomotives to the museum.[4]
The Norfolk & Western Railway Freight Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1] The station consists of two clearly identifiable sections, both of which were completed in 1918. They are the two-story, 50-bay freight station which was built parallel to the railroad tracks and now is oriented south, and the one-story-with-basement brick annex that formerly housed the offices of the Shenandoah and Radford divisions of the Norfolk & Western. The building closed for railroad freight business in 1964.[5]
Galleries and exhibits
Automobile gallery
Auto Gallery. Automobiles from the early part of the 20th century to today. An oral history display, "Driving Lessons," features stories from people associated with car culture.
Many of the museum's antique automobiles are on display here. The museum also features occasional special exhibits such as the Hollywood Star Cars exhibit of cars from television and movies.[6]
Railroad exhibits
Ongoing exhibits cover sundry aspects of railroad life in America, especially Virginia:
The Claytor Brothers - Virginians Building America's Railroad. This exhibit about Graham and Robert Claytor explores their past and their relationship that led to the merger of the Norfolk & Western and Southern Railways.
From Cotton to Silk: African American Railroad Workers on the Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern Railways. This exhibit is the result of an oral history project sponsored in part by Roanoke-area businesses and people to document the often-ignored roles played by African-Americans on the rails. The exhibit includes pictures, artifacts, and recorded interviews with African-Americans who worked for the railroad.
Big Lick. This exhibit reproduces a 1930s rural train depot, featuring freight scales, a telegrapher's office, timetables, and a velocipede hand car used for servicing track. A brief history of the N&W Freight Station, the home of the VMT, is also included in this space.
The museum maintains an O scaletrain layout modeled after Roanoke, Salem, and Lynchburg, Virginia.
Aviation gallery
Wings Over Virginia. This exhibit about the history of aviation, particularly in Virginia. The oral history exhibit "Flight Talk" features stories from aviation figures from the early days of aviation into modern aviation and space exploration.
Collection
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2011)
From January 20 to May 3, 2011, the museum was home to Chesapeake and Ohio 614 as part of the museum's Thoroughbreds of Steam exhibit.
Other pieces include automobiles such as a 1913 Metz, a 1920 Buick touring car, a Highway Post Office Bus, and an armored car used to showcase the United States Bill of Rights in 1991.
Rolling stock
The collection includes more than 50 pieces of rolling stock. Some may be closed to the public for restoration, and some in need of heavy restoration are stored offsite in yards managed by Norfolk Southern.
Norfolk & Western Class G-1 #6. Built in 1897 by Baldwin, it is the museum's oldest piece of equipment and one of the oldest Norfolk and Western locomotives still in existence.
Norfolk & Western Safety Instruction Car #418. A Theatre car that shows a 1983 documentary produced by Norfolk Southern titled "Going Home" about the restoration of the N&W 611.[14]
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