Maine Transportation Museums

Mainers have always been on the move, so it’s probably no surprise that there are many museums here devoted to the many ways we’ve gotten around – from trains to planes.

Much of Maine’s transportation past was built on rails. The Boothbay Railway Village sports a collection of vintage historic buildings, cars and, yes, its own small railroad running through it. Both the  Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum in Portland and the Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington (WW&F) Railway Museum in Alna are devoted to the state’s narrow-gauge history and offer wonderful rides aboard the historic trains.

Kennebunkport’s  Seashore Trolley Museum collects and displays electric street cars and trolleys once common in American towns and cities.
 

Other Maine transportation museums look primarily at cars, trucks and two-wheeled transport throughout history. They include the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor, where kids 18 and under are always free, and the  Seal Cove Automobile Museum in Seal Cove.  

The  Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head also includes vintage cars, motorcycles and even bikes. But it adds something else – wings. Owls Head has a fine collection of vintage aircraft, some from the dawn of aviation. On occasion, some of Owls Head’s planes get taken out for a flight off the runways of the adjacent Knox County Regional Airport.