The Virginia Museum of Transportation occupies a 1918 Norfolk & Western freight station beside the railway lines, in the heart of what was once one of the largest railroad operations in the eastern United States. The collection includes the largest assembly of preserved diesel and steam locomotives in Virginia, plus carriages, fire engines, automobiles, antique aircraft, and exhibits on the role of the N&W in building the city.
The locomotives are the centrepiece. N&W 611 is the showpiece, a streamlined steam J class restored to working order, but the collection also includes a Class A 1218 Mallet (one of the largest articulated locomotives ever built), an N&W Y6a 2156 (the most powerful steam locomotive class ever built in commercial production), and several diesels and electrics. The museum sits a short walk from the O. Winston Link Museum and the City Market, making this corner of downtown easy to do as a loop.