Streamliners at Spencer: Looking Beyond the Main Event—Part1

Great Railway Exhibits and Antiques in Addition to the Streamlined Superstars.

In an environment characterized by streamlined sensory overload, it takes a trained eye (pardon pun) to see past Norfolk & Western’s 611, Burlington’s stainless steel E5A, Union Pacific’s radiant executive E-unit and the rest of the colorful Es and Fs paraded on display around the Spencer roundhouse.

Yet, in addition to the vintage streamliners, there were other noteworthy exhibits and interesting equipment. Amtrak’s 40^th Anniversary Display Train with locomotive 42 (painted to commemorate America’s Veterans) was featured prominently, as was one of North Carolina’s train sets used for Piedmont services.

Various heritage locomotives attached to the Spencer shops added period interest. Back in the day (1980s), I was quite pleased to find a Southern high-hood GP30 working at Alexandria, Virginia. And lo and behold, here at Spencer was preserved locomotive just like the one I saw those many years ago!

For those interested in automobiles, Spencer has quite a collection of vintage cars on display. Lots to see and do! I’m glad I invested almost four days in the event.