Robin and I drove into Bangor and found the Cole Land Transportation Museum with no problem. We parked our rental car and started walking towards the front.
This is the museum building.
World War II Memorial.
A nice tribute to our United States servicemen of past wars.
United States Army helicopter.
United States Army tank.
The Cole Land Transportation Museum Brief HistoryThe Cole Land Transportation Museum is a depository of land transportation vehicles used on dirt roads as well as state and interstate highways in Maine. The museum was assembled over many years and opened to the public in 1989 by the industrialist and philanthropist Galen Cole in his home city of Bangor. It is located at 405 Perry Road and is open seasonally from May 1 to November 11.
Features of the museumThe museum contains the former Maine Central Railroad Company station house that was located in Enfield, Maine. The structure was the original building from which Cole's father, Albert J. "Allie" Cole (1893-1955), started a business in 1917 hauling the mail. There is also a Maine Central Railroad car and the front car of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad engine, which one may board and watch taped recordings about various museum exhibits. The Cole Museum houses a blacksmith shop, later a garage in East Lowell, Maine, where Allie Cole shod his horses. Many vehicles of the Cole Express Company are displayed to reflect the history of the company.
The Cole Museum features vintage automobiles, including a Stanley Steamer, a Ford Fairlane, a Ford Galaxie, a Buick, a Volkswagen and Oldsmobile 98, the official vehicle of Governor Joseph E. Brennan of Maine, who served from 1979 to 1987. There are early horse-drawn wagons and a prairie schooner, which is a scaled-down covered wagon. The museum also includes early motorcycles, mopeds, a few bicycles, snowplows and a snow roller, which are important for the Maine winters, farm tractors, a potato harvester, a horse-drawn hearse, a bus, trailers pulled by trucks and delivery trucks of dairy products and ice. A special room includes a command car used in World War II, in which Galen Cole had been a young soldier. There are also outdoor military vehicle exhibits of both World War II and the Vietnam War.
The museum's recordings include the moving life story of Galen Cole's handicapped sister, Dorothy, who lived only to the age of forty. She was wheelchair-bound her whole life, but was an inspiration to all whom she met.
Our VisitI walked in and introduced myself as Chris from Trainweb.com and soon a gentleman came walking out to meet us.
Jim Neville, Direction of Operations for the Cole Land Transportation Museum, would take us back to the railroad displays and give us information.
We walked back to the Bangor & Aroostook BL-2 557 "American Railfan" built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949 as 57. This picture completes my collection of photographing every BL-2 left on Earth.
The railroad blacksmith shop.
Moosehead Canadian Pacific Railway sign and a B&A hand car.
Canadian Atlantic Railway Fairmont speeder.
Two station benches from Bangor Union Station.
Maine Central outside-braced box car 36001.
Western Maryland caboose 1878 built by the railroad in 1940, later sold to Maine Central and became 660.
Veazie Railroad Ties were the first railroad ties in the State of Maine.
The south end of the Maine Central outside-braced box car 36001.
The Enfield station, 38 miles from Bangor and built in 1917, has been moved to the Cole Land Transportation Museum.
Baggage and milk carts.
The ticket counter and office.
The railroad map of the State of Maine.
Trainorder hoops.
The station master's desk.
The bay window of Enfield station.
The train at this museum.
Trolley track.
The Harness shop.
Maine Central locomotive bell. Jim then turned us loose to look around the museum.
A Tusket snow caterpillar.
A model steam engine.
An Oshkosh snowplow.
A Ford plow.
A Lombard log hauler track.
A Linn snowplow.
A Homro snowblower.
An International snowplow.
A sidewalk roller.
Talk about courage....Talk about Jackie Cole.
Portland Steamer 836.
A 1927 McCann fire truck Model 50 pumper.
A Federal fire truck.
An Ahrens-Fox rotary pumper.
Presque Isle Fire Departmant 1.
This is one way to drive your Ford in the winter.
A Tucker Snowcat.
An early fire wagon.
The Eastport fire engine 3.
A fire truck with hoses.
The Augusta Hook and Ladder 2.
A fire dog and pup.
A Stanley Steamer.
A Model T tractor.
A Fordson tractor.
A Fordson Crawler.
A 10-20 McCormick-Deering.
1930 John Deere GP.
A CK Deering.
1941 John Deere Model K.
True horse power.
A Dupram Farm potato truck.
A rack for clearing cut fields.
A farm utility wagon.
Aspinwall N03 planter.
A manure spreader.
A dumpcart.
Chariots.
A pony cart.
Another pony cart.
The history of the wheel.
Ford Model T.
Bicycles.
Motorcycles.
Baby carriages.
Willie Cole wagon.
A wooden plow.
Hearses through the years.
A Jigger wagon.
A barrel sled.
GMC potato truck.
Burma Shave signs.
Governor Joseph E. Brennan 1988 Oldsmobile.
Wille Cole's car.
A Ford convertible.
What an odd color for this car!
A 1941 Pontiac Streamliner.
The Volkswagen Bug.
A 1985 Corsair MG to Kit Car.
A 1964 King Midget.
A camper.
A Ford Fairlane.
Snowboards.
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