Photobooth: Transport through history

A wax rendition of Mark Twain sitting behind a wobbly-looking Huck Finn (or possibly Tom Sawyer) greets visitors to The Forney Museum of Transportation. Across from them, two brightly colored children's cars sit waiting for toddlers to come learn how to scoot around in them. It's a Saturday afternoon, and the museum feels empty. With only an occasional spotting of a person who is not a mannequin, the scene is a little sad. 

Despite first impressions, Forney offers an impressive display of people movers. A giant warehouse filled with trains, planes, and automobiles from all eras, Forney boasts a mishmash collection that includes handless Molly Browns and cars dating back to the 17th century. "Our oldest car is an 1811 English road coach," said Carmen Consalvo, education and events coordinator and gift shop manager. 

The east side of the museum houses sections of trains, including dining cars and a giant mass of steel dubbed "Big Boy." Forney displays a section of the 132-foot-long, 1,189,500-pound train that steamed for Union Pacific between Cheyenne, Wyo. and Ogden, Utah, transporting heavy artillery through the Wasatch Mountains for the military. Consalvo said, "The other engines couldn't handle it. That's why they built the ‘Big Boy.'" 

Moving a machine that massive into a building doesn't appear possible. According to Consalvo, "Big Boy" was donated and then moved into the museum by Union Pacific railroad. The move took the help of other companies and people who volunteered their time and a lot of pushing, pulling, and dragging. Consalvo said train tracks were laid and a wall was knocked out to make room for "Big Boy" and a few other train cars. 

Like "Big Boy," most things are donated, Consalvo said. "We pretty much don't have the money to buy pieces." 

According to Consalvo, Forney's donations come from people from car collectors whose collection has gotten too big to store in their garage to people who inherited motorcycles they don't want to ride to regular people who happen upon a discovery they want to share.

"We had a gentleman a couple weeks ago calling from Arizona. And he found an old Denver token that was used to ride the street car," she said. "He was digging around on the beach [by a lake] with a metal detector." 

Forney capitalizes on the uniqueness of its eclectic collection by hosting events like lectures, auctions, and parties. "We had a high school dance there in January, and we have a prom coming up in April," Consalvo said. "In July we have a car show event [outside] alongside a sock hop [in the event space]." 

With the museum's collection of 50's cars, weird-shaped "bubble cars" from Europe, and electric cars dating from before Al Gore got so uppity, even if you think you're not interested in cars, it would be safe to say that a trip to Forney would be worth it because the nostalgia is unavoidable. 

And the reason for Twain and his fictional counterpart, Consalvo said, had to do with the Denver's old wax museum closing. "[Somehow] we acquired a lot of their dolls," she said. "I don't know what Twain has to do with transportation. Maybe river boats." 

As an odd assemblage of inherited items discarded from people or  other museums, Forney offers a lot. But, as the empty halls show, it's only enjoyed by a few.

Forney Museum of Transportation
4304 Brighton Blvd
303-297-1113
www.forneymuseum.com