America 250 Locomotive Celebration to Bring Together Specially Painted Locomotives at the North Carolina Transportation Museum

The North Carolina Transportation Museum, Trains Magazine, and White River Productions today announced the America 250 Locomotive Celebration, a landmark three-day event that will bring together commemorative locomotives from Class I, short line, and passenger railroads honoring the 250th anniversary of American independence. The gathering will offer rail enthusiasts and history lovers a rare opportunity to see these specially painted locomotives in one location while celebrating the nation’s rich railroad heritage and its journey to 250 years of freedom. The N.C. Transportation Museum is part of the Division of State Historic Sites within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

The event will be held Aug. 28–30 at the museum’s campus in Spencer, N.C., home to the largest surviving roundhouse in North America.

For the first and only time, the special America 250 locomotives, painted by railroads large and small to honor the nation’s semiquincentennial, will gather in a single location. Rail enthusiasts, families, and history lovers will have the opportunity to photograph each locomotive, watch them rotate on the museum’s signature Bob Julian Roundhouse turntable, and enjoy train rides around the campus pulled by one of the museum’s diesel locomotives.

“The North Carolina Transportation Museum has been honored to host landmark events like the Norfolk Southern Heritage Locomotive Family Portrait in 2012 and Streamliners at Spencer in 2014,” said Museum Director Kelly Alexander. “The America 250 Locomotive Celebration continues that tradition and gives the American public a chance to witness a piece of living railroad history.”

“We’re pleased to partner with the North Carolina Transportation Museum on this extraordinary event,” Trains Editor Bill Stephens said. “The America 250 Locomotive Celebration will allow us to recreate the memorable 1975 Trains photo of Bicentennial locomotives in Chicago. But unlike that event in the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard, which was closed to the public, the America 250 Locomotive Celebration will allow everyone with a paid admission ticket to get in on the fun.”

“White River Productions is thrilled to participate with the North Carolina Transportation Museum to bring America’s 250^th celebration to the forefront,” WRP owner and Publisher Kevin EuDaly said. “This will be a rare opportunity to see a tremendous group of specially painted locomotives in one place.”

With the Bob Julian Roundhouse as its backdrop, the resulting image of red, white, and blue locomotives is expected to become one of the defining railroad photographs of the semiquincentennial year.

Each day of the three-day event will feature different photo opportunities, with locomotives rotated on the turntable and arranged in groupings by railroad. Night photography sessions sponsored and coordinated by Railfan & Railroad Magazine, and train rides pulled by a museum diesel locomotive will be offered. A list of participating locomotives in the America 250 event will be released as details are firmed up.

The America 250 Locomotive Celebration follows in the footsteps of two landmark events at Spencer that drew railfans from across the country and around the world.

The 2012 Norfolk Southern Heritage Locomotive Family Portrait attracted more than 4,000 visitors from 39 states and several countries. Streamliners at Spencer in 2014 drew attendees from 41 states and internationally to see 26 historic streamlined locomotives assembled around the Bob Julian Roundhouse turntable.

Ticket details and additional information are available at www.nctransportationmuseum.org. Tickets are on sale now. The North Carolina Transportation Museum is located at 1 Samuel Spencer Dr., Spencer, N.C.

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