Forney Transportation Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1961 |
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| Location | 4303 Brighton Boulevard Denver, Colorado 80216 |
| Type | Transportation museum |
| Public transit access | Bus Route 48: East 48th Ave./Commerce City, RTD |
The Forney Transportation Museum is a cool place in Denver, Colorado, where you can explore all sorts of vehicles! It's a museum dedicated to showing how people and things have moved around over the years.
The museum is named after its founder, J.D. Forney. He also started a company called Forney Industries, Inc., in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Contents
What You Can See at the Museum
The Forney Transportation Museum has a huge collection of about 800 different items. When it first started, it mainly showed off old cars. But soon, it grew to include all kinds of transportation! Their slogan is "Anything on Wheels," and they really mean it.
Some of the amazing things you can find there include:
- Amelia Earhart's "Gold Bug" Kissel car. Amelia Earhart was a famous pilot!
- A giant train called the Big Boy locomotive #4005.
- A special train called a Forney locomotive. The person who designed this type of train, Matthias N. Forney, was actually a distant cousin of the museum's founder, J.D. Forney!
How the Museum Started
The Forney Museum of Transportation began as a private collection of vehicles. It has since become one of the best transportation collections in the United States.
Mr. J.D. Forney, who founded Forney Industries in Ft. Collins, became interested in old cars. This happened after his wife and kids gave him a 1921 Kissel yellow Tourister car. This was the same model car he used when he was dating his wife, Rae!
Forney Industries made many different products over the years. These included an airplane called the Fornair, vacuum cleaners, and car battery chargers. But they are most famous for their electric welders and welding supplies.
Mr. Forney started accepting old cars and carriages as trades when people bought his welders. In 1961, the Forney Museum officially became a museum in Fort Collins, Colorado. By 1964, it became a non-profit organization, which means it's run for public benefit, not for making money.
Amazing Locomotives on Display
The museum is home to some incredible trains, especially two types of locomotives.
The Mighty Big Boy Locomotive
The Big Boy Union Pacific #4005 is one of the largest steam locomotives ever built. Only 25 of these massive trains were made, and today, only eight of them still exist in museums. The #4005 was briefly changed to run on oil instead of coal from 1946 to 1948. It was also involved in a train accident in 1953.
The Unique Forney Locomotive
The Forney locomotive 0-4-4T was designed and patented by Matthias Forney. Many different companies built this "Forney" tank-type engine. The one you can see at the Forney Museum of Transportation was built in 1897 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
These trains were often used on elevated railways, like those in New York, Brooklyn, and Chicago. People called them the "Little Giants." Around 1900, more than 500 of these engines were used to pull both freight (goods) and passengers. However, steam-powered engines on elevated railways didn't last long. They were soon replaced by newer electric engines. After that, Forney engines were sold all over the world. They were used for mining, logging, on plantations, and for short trips carrying freight and passengers. In the Denver area, Forney locomotives were used by the Denver, Lakewood and Golden Railway and the Denver Circle Railroad.
Planning Your Visit
The museum is located in Denver, Colorado. The building has about 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) of space that is open for visitors to explore. There's also another 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) available for the museum to grow in the future!
Gallery
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Panorama of the museum interior
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Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4005 inside the museum
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Chicago and North Western R-1 No. 444 inside the museum
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Forney locomotive No. 8 on display inside the museum
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