Museum of Transport and Technology facts for kids
An exhibition hall in MOTAT 2
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| Established | 1964 |
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| Location | Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Type | Transport museum |
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a cool science and technology museum in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It's super close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo, and the Western Springs Park.
MOTAT has huge collections of planes, cars, trains, and other vehicles. Many of these are from everyday life, but some are military vehicles too! Volunteers and museum staff work hard to restore and care for these amazing items. They also create fun programs for visitors to learn more about the collections. MOTAT started in 1960, thanks to groups like the Old Time Transport Preservation League. It officially opened its doors in 1964.
Contents
Explore MOTAT's Main Site
This part of MOTAT is built around an old beam engine pump house. This pump house used to provide Auckland's first water supply! A famous engineer named William Errington designed it. The nearby swampland was dug out to create the 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) Western Springs Lake, which is filled by natural springs.
The giant beam engine was built in Scotland in 1877. It stopped working in 1928 when Auckland got a new water system. After lots of restoration work, the engine moved again in 2007 and was officially working by steam in 2008!
Amazing Steam Engines
You can see other old steam engines working here too.
- A 1910 Tangye steam engine.
- An impressive 1911 triple-expansion engine from the ferry Greycliffe. This ferry sank in 1927 after a collision.
- A 1957 Daniel Adamson steam boiler provides the steam for these engines.
Cool Exhibits and Displays
MOTAT's main site has lots of different exhibits:
- Vehicles: Trams, trains, old traction engines, carriages, cars, buses, and fire engines.
- Science: Electrical equipment and even a Corporal rocket!
- Colonial Village: A special area with old shops and houses, including a blacksmith shop.
- Printery: Volunteers show how printing used to be done, from making type to using old printing presses.
Pioneers of Aviation Pavilion
This pavilion celebrates early aviators.
- You can see parts from Richard Pearse's experimental aircraft. Some people believe he made uncontrolled flights before the Wright brothers!
- There's also a replica of his aircraft and parts of his third attempt at a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) craft.
- Learn about the Walsh Brothers' flights and their flying school.
- See items from Charles Kingsford Smith's flight across the Tasman Sea in the Southern Cross.
- Discover Jean Batten's record-breaking flights. Her Percival Gull plane is displayed at Auckland Airport, but its engine is at MOTAT 2.
Road Transport Collection
This collection has over 100 cars, trucks, motorbikes, and emergency vehicles. They are rotated for display.
- Trekka: One of New Zealand's only homegrown production vehicles, built between 1966 and 1973.
- Race Car: A 1960s Cooper Climax race car.
- Historic Vehicles: An early American Brush Motor Car Company runabout and an International horseless carriage.
- Special Vehicles: An Austin Motor Company beer tanker (the first in New Zealand).
- Antarctic Tractor: One of the Ferguson Company tractors Edmund Hillary used to reach the South Pole in 1958!
MOTAT also has a small collection of old police vehicles.
MOTAT Aviation Hall: Home of Flight
The MOTAT Aviation Hall is a separate site, close to the Waitematā Harbour and Auckland Zoo. It's also known as the "Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield," named after Keith Park, a hero from the Battle of Britain.
The Aviation Hall opened a huge new display pavilion in 2011. This hall is home to the "Sir Keith Park Memorial Aviation Collection."
Aircraft Collection Highlights
- Grumman Avenger: A 1943 torpedo bomber that was used in combat in the Pacific.
- Jet Fighters: A Douglas A4K Skyhawk jet fighter and an Aermacchi MB-339 jet trainer.
- Historic Planes: A restored De Havilland Mosquito and a Lockheed Hudson.
- Flying Boats: A Short S25 Sunderland Mk V and a Short S45A Solent Mk 4. These were huge planes that could land on water!
- Other Aircraft: You can also see a NAC DC3 Dakota inside the maintenance hangar.
Military Vehicles
This section restores and shows off military trucks, light tracked vehicles, and tanks from World War II. They even have regular "open days" where the Military Reenactment Society demonstrates the vehicles and wears old uniforms!
Operational Railway
The Aviation Hall also has a working railway with 1 kilometer of track. You can see old New Zealand Government Railways locomotives, wagons, and carriages.
MOTAT's Amazing Collections
MOTAT has several huge collections of transport vehicles:
- Aircraft Collection: This is one of New Zealand's largest collections of civil and military aircraft. All of them have a real connection to New Zealand aviation history.
- You'll find relics from Richard Pearse's first 1903 aircraft and a replica.
- There are 1930s planes like the de Havilland Fox Moth and Tiger Moth.
- See the huge Short Solent double-decked flying boat from New Zealand's first international airline, TEAL.
- Other planes include a Short Sunderland flying boat, a De Havilland Mosquito fighter bomber, a restored 1940s Avro Lancaster bomber, and a Douglas DC-3 Dakota.
- More modern jets include a De Havilland Vampire from the 1950s and former RNZAF Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and Aermacchi MB-339CB jet trainers.
- A replica Hawker Hurricane stands at the entrance, honoring New Zealander Air Chief Marshal Keith Park.
- Railway Locomotives and Collection: This includes seven steam locomotives, from an early 1874 NZR F class to the famous NZR K class steam locomotive. There are also smaller industrial and logging locomotives.
- You can also see six diesel, petrol, and petrol-electric locomotives, including the DA class. This was the most common mainline locomotive in New Zealand for many years.
- You can often see these working on "Live Days" every third Sunday of the month.
- Railway Carriages: The collection also includes old railway stations, carriages, wagons, and other rolling stock.
- Tram Collection: This collection has over 20 electric, steam, and cable trams. Many of them still work! They come from old tram systems in Auckland, Wellington, Wanganui, and Dunedin.
- Auckland's horse-drawn tramway opened in 1884. Electric trams took over in 1902 and ran until 1956.
- You can see street items from the old Auckland Tramways, like old traction poles and cast iron pillar boxes from the 1900s.
- Petrol / Diesel Bus Collection: This has many historic buses from the Auckland area.
- It includes a 1924 White Motor Company bus with a wooden body.
- There's also a 1954 Bedford SB bus, built specifically for services over the Grafton Bridge.
- Trolleybus Collection: This collection shows the trolleybuses that operated in Auckland between 1938 and 1980.
- Trolleybuses first ran in Auckland in 1938.
- They later replaced the old tram system between 1949 and 1956.
- Diesel buses then replaced the trolleybuses in 1980.
Riding the MOTAT Tram Service
Tramlines were first laid at MOTAT in 1967. The tram line was later extended outside the museum along Great North Road in 1980. A further extension to Auckland Zoo opened in 1981.
In 2007, the tram line was extended even further to the Aviation Hall at MOTAT 2. This means you can now ride a tram directly between both MOTAT sites! The tramway uses two different track widths and is built into the concrete.
Trams run daily between MOTAT's main site, past Western Springs Park and Auckland Zoo, to the MOTAT Aviation Hall. It's a great way to travel between the two museum locations!
See also
