Night at the Transportation Museum

There's a flapper aboard the Loretto, at the NC Transportation Museum.

The Wright Brothers' sister gives a talk at the Night at the Museum.

A "highway patrolman" is on duty at The Night at the Museum.

SPENCER — The NC Transportation Museum brings history to life Friday, March 4, during “Night at the North Carolina Transportation Museum.” These special free tours take place at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Costumed interpreters will take center stage at different points during the evening.

In the Wagons, Wheels & Wings exhibit, a pioneer will relate her travels along the Great Wagon Road that ran from Philadelphia to North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. This hardy pioneer will tell tales of the tough journey, the hardships faced, where travelers slept, and what they ate.

Not all travel was by wagon in those pioneering days. Just outside Wagon’s Wheels & Wings, Dugout canoe demonstrations will be taking place. A small fire, mud to keep the fire contained, and patience combined to create these watercraft, a skill pioneers learned from Native Americans.

Moving into the Bumper to Bumper exhibit and forward in time a couple hundred years, a NC Highway Patrolman will be stationed alongside the museum’s ’35 Highway Patrol Model A Ford and the ’78 Plymouth Highway Patrol car. Keeping highway travelers safe is a patrolman’s top priority, and visitors will hear how law enforcement operated in the past and today.

In the Bob Julian Roundhouse, a 1920s flapper will tell of trips taken in luxurious private rail cars, like the museum’s Loretto, owned by Charles Schwab and Col. Leroy Springs of Springs Industries. Also in the Roundhouse, the battle to help wounded U.S. soldiers during the Korean War will be heard in the U.S. Army hospital rail car and the Wright Brothers’ sister will talk about her brothers’ great achievement alongside the full size replica of the Wright Flyer.

No reservations are necessary but visitors are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before each tour begins.

For more information call 704-636-2889 or visit www.nctrans.org.