Abstract:
Built in 1896, Spencer Shops was the Southern Railway's restoration and repair facility for steam engines and rolling stock. After World War II, steam engines were replaced by diesel and electric locomotives. Work at the shops dwindled until the facility closed in the mid-70s. In 1977, the idea for a North Carolina Transportation Museum was born. Today Spencer Shops is a State Historic Site, featuring nineteen locomotives, fifty-five pieces of rolling stock, and other railroad memorabilia.