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The North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR), a state-owned entity that in turn owns a railroad corridor stretching through the state, has produced an impressive display focusing on how the railroad has affected the history of the state. The display is located inside the passenger station at Burlington, N.C. (That building was once the locomotive shop of the NCRR and was extensively renovated in 2003.) No, that full-sized Norfolk Southern diesel locomotive has not just come crashing through a wall. The replica of the front of the locomotive, using some real components, but mostly made of fiberglass, shows what modern motive power on the NCRR looks like. The NCRR corridor is operated by freight railroad Norfolk Southern under a long-term lease. Amtrak trains also operate on part of this corridor.

The modern locomotive is contrasted with an 1870s steam locomotive on the opposite side of the lobby, shown in the image at right. Here, also, only the front of the locomotive is shown in three dimensions while the rest is represented by a photo mural. (The replica is based on measurements made of the historic locomotive, The General, preserved in Georgia.) The display case at right in the larger photo contains a scale model of the town of Burlington circa 1870, at the time the NCRR's headquarters and shops were located there and accounted for most of the town's buildings. The exhibit is open to the public during the hours that the Burlington Amtrak station is open. The exhibit, containing many displays not shown in the above photos, was built for the NCRR by designer Peter Ruocchio.

For additional images related to the NCRR, click here.

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