Spencer Shops was the home of Southern Railway's primary steam locomotive repair facility. As the popularity of steam engines began to fall in the 1950's, Spencer Shops started on the road to decline, and employment dropped steadily through the 1950s and 1960s until it finally came to a halt in the late 1970s.
In September 1977 Southern Railway donated four acres and three buildings to the state of North Carolina for the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Two years later a second donation placed the entire site under the administration of the Historic Sites Section of the Department of Cultural Resources.
Inside mammoth buildings in which locomotives were hoisted on cranes and broken down for repair, exhibits trace the development of all types of transportation including automobiles, buggies, and airplanes.
The history of the state's railroads is featured in the 37-stall roundhouse. A seasonal on-site train ride is a treat for visitors of all ages.
