England and RT8

The Classics

The morning of the Classics Show dawned rainy and dreary and with little hope of a dry day and successful show. Miraculously, however, despite the omnipresent cloud cover, the rain held off, and the brave souls who brought their absolutely fantastic cars were rewarded with a dry day.

The host clubs, including the Cadillac LaSalle Club, the Spirit Region of the Classic Car Club of America, and the AACA, assembled some 28 vehicles representing some of the finest marques in automotive history, including Cadillac, Packard, and Rolls Royce. They also presented - with the generous support of Schiller's - an outstanding session on automotive photography for the Kids' CARd Club participants, some of whom whipped out serious digital SLR cameras, much to my surprise. They were an enthusiastic, studious, and serious group, and we hope they learned from their session as much as we enjoyed watching them participate in it.














Our thanks to the host clubs for braving the weather and supporting the Museum and, as always, to Ron Anderson for the photographs.

Pmpers and Pistons

(Photos courtesy Ron Anderson)

One of our newest but most popular events is the Pumpers and Pistons event that features fire trucks - both active and antique - as well as antique trucks and displays by first responders. Last year's inaugural event happened in October, and this year, the event moved to the first Sunday in May.



With some 53 participating vehicles, including active units from as far away as Lincoln County as well as displays by the St. Louis County Police and Missouri State Highway Patrol, this year's event was a great success. We are extremely grateful to everyone who participated, including the many fire departments, police and highway patrol units, and the event sponsors, the Gateway Fire Historical Society and the Gateway Chapter of the Antique Truck Historical Society.



A crowd favorite was the Boeing Jazz Band...



And the Rubber Duck from the movie Convoy was in attendance...

A Big Weekend

Our TRAIN Your Brain weekend in early April was a huge success. We had over 60 marketplace vendors, over 12,000 books for sale, and two great car shows - 75 Ford Mustangs on Saturday and 93 Fords, Mercuries, and Lincolns on Sunday. Thanks to all who visited and all who participated!

A New Roof for Historic Barrett Station

Historic Barretts Station, the passenger station originally located along the Missouri Pacific single-track main in the area of the Museum's streetcar loop and moved in the 1940s to its present location next to the double-track and now Union Pacific mainline, has a new roof!

Wreath Auction

The Museum has a number of beautiful, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind wreaths designed and created by a veritable who's who of St. Louis florists and floral designers currently on exhibit in the Earl C. Lindburg Automobile Center. A silent auction is underway for the wreaths; interested parties may either submit a silent bid for the wreaths or elect to purchase them now for a set price, which is substantially lower than the price the florists and designers would normally charge. The wreaths have been donated by the florists, designers, and friends of the Museum, and proceeds from the auction will go to fund an exhibit exploring transportation in the Civil War.

The silent auction ends November 30, but stop in and purchase a wreath and enjoy it now!

Wind and Rain

Perhaps the MOT staff should consider taking up weather forecasting...

While we hadn't really planned for October to be cold and rainy, the October installation of both a rain garden next to the lake and a windmill-actuated aerator in the lake proved timely given the weather over the last month. The rain garden was installed by St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation horticultural staff and volunteers using grant funding from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and will utilize runoff from the parking lot for hydration.

While we want plants next to the lake, we don't really want them in the lake. An ongoing algae and plant issue will hopefully be at least partly addressed with the installation of an aerator run solely on wind power.