Transportation museum hauls in history

The Matanuska Valley's transportation issues played an important role in local history. Tractors and ancient bush planes, train locomotives and steel-trimmed vehicles -- every relic tells a story about a unique person or point in time.

The Museum of Transportation and Industry became the natural repository for both stories and equipment in 1973, when it began collecting mining and railroad pieces. It moved to the Palmer State Fair Grounds in 1990 and now has a place of its own off mile 47 of the Parks Highway. Saturday is a chance to see some of the equipment at work, said Bruce Gazaway, executive director of the museum.

A Transportation Exposition will bring antique equipment together Saturday and Sunday, with contests and fun for the whole family. The expo offers a chance to see the museum's collection and pieces in private ownership brought to the expo.

"When the museum was moved to the Valley the focus was broadened to representing all forms of transportation. Today we see it as representing the history of Alaska's economic development, and every piece has its own story," Gazaway said.

Most of the pieces are donated to the museum, and along with each goes a file that preserves any original information about the homesteader or colonist who used the equipment, Gazaway said.

One relic that surprised Gazaway is an American version of a German V-1 rocket. "It has quite a story," Gazaway said.

At the close of World War II, the Americans took possession of a German rocket launcher and brought the technology back to the U.S. with orders to Ford Motor Co. to copy the missiles. Before the close of World War II a few were fired on Japan but not many were made, Gazaway said. "These were two primitive guided rockets -- the V-1 and V-2. Some were brought to Alaska for testing at the end of the war, but were never put into use. I'm guessing that this was one of them. This is the only one I know of in existence."

Gazaway said the V-1 is about 10 to 12 feet long.

Another piece came from one of Alaska's first oil fields in the 1920s. At Katalla between Yakutat and Cordova, an oil field produced for a few years. The museum has an oil pump from that boom.

And as those who turn out for the Transportation Museum Expo this weekend will be able to attest, many of these relics remain useful. A restored gasoline-powered tractor will be pulling its weight in a contest called "How slow can you make your tractor go?"

Tractors get better power at lower speeds, Gazaway said. He is expecting about 20-50 additional pieces held in private collections to appear at the expo.

Throughout the summer, tourists will show up at the museum to see certain pieces because word has traveled about its unique collection. At a recent Wasilla City Council meeting, museum board members told one such story of a couple who had traveled all the way from New Hampshire just to see a 1935 Ford truck which had been restored through a grant from the city of Wasilla.

Since the exhibit was not available when the couple first visited the museum, they stayed overnight in a local bed and breakfast and came back to the museum the next day. The museum staff sees several people each year who make a considerable journey just to see a certain exhibit.

For the nearly two decades since the museum opened, the state provided funds to support it. Now it receives no state funds but continues to operate on grants and donations, Gazaway said. "We're hopeful that we'll have the funding we need."

The museum features more than 250 outdoor exhibits, including vehicles, aircraft and locomotives. Hundreds of other items are on display in the indoor exhibits or are in storage. For more information on attending the expo, call 376-1211.