St. Louis museum looks to draw Iowans with train exhibit

Administrators at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri are hoping to lure some Iowans across the boarder with a special exhibit they call “Iowa Days.” Museum spokesman Bob Eastin says the emphasis on Iowa begins today (Saturday).He says they’re trying to lure people into the exhibit that has over 70 locomotives, street cars, buses airplanes, and what he calls the largest, comprehensive collection of transportation artifacts in the world. Eastin says the Iowa exhibit features some vintage locomotives. He says the central features are locomotives from the Burlington and the Sante Fe Railroads, including the Burlington Zephyr, the last “shovel- nose” engine to run. It ran from St. Louis to Burlington, Iowa. He says the shovel-nose engine was unique. He says it was an attempt to build and engine that could carry people and freight, so it could compete with the popularity of the automobile after World War Two. Eastin says the railroad portion of the museum draws a lot of interest. He says he thinks people understand just how much we’ve forgotten when we look at the old locomotives. The Iowa feature runs through the end of this month. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday 9 A.M. to five p.m.