Virginia Museum of Transportation

The city that was Big Lick — population 500 — exploded to 25,000 in the decade after the Norfolk & Western Railway arrived in 1882. What the railroad made, this museum explains. It occupies the old N&W freight station downtown, a two-section building completed in 1918 that once housed the offices of the Shenandoah and Radford divisions. The station closed for freight business in 1964. The museum opened in 1963 in Wasena Park, moved here after a 1985 flood, and was designated the Official Transportation Museum of Virginia by the General Assembly in 1983. The collection is the largest assemblage of Norfolk & Western rolling stock in existence — more than 50 pieces. The star is the Class J 611, the most famous steam locomotive ever built in the South, operational since May 9, 2015. The Class A #1218, built at the Roanoke Shops in 1943, is the last remaining 2-6-6-4; it ran excursions from 1987 to 1991. The Virginian Railway SA class #4, built by Baldwin in 1910, is the last remaining steam engine from the Virginian Railway. The Norfolk & Western Class G-1 #6, built by Baldwin in 1897, is the museum's oldest piece and one of the oldest N&W locomotives still in existence. "From Cotton to Silk" documents African American railroad workers on the N&W and Norfolk Southern through photographs, artifacts, and recorded interviews. "Big Lick" recreates a 1930s rural depot with freight scales, a telegrapher's office, timetables, and a velocipede handcar. An O scale model railroad layout represents the rail networks of Roanoke, Salem, and Lynchburg. The automobile gallery displays cars from the early 20th century forward, with an oral history display titled "Driving Lessons." The aviation gallery includes an oral history project called "Flight Talk." The outdoor rail yard is worth the admission alone. Open daily.