Great news. The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry (MATI) will be open in Wasilla this summer. We will be open four days a week Friday through Monday starting Memorial Day weekend from 11 to 3.
We have several new and exciting additions to our museum. We recently received the Spartan aerial platform fire truck originally used on Prudhoe Bay then used byWest Lakes Fire Department who in turn donated it to us. The ladder extends an amazing 100 feet into the air. Imagine being on the platform that high in the air to rescue someone or to control the pressurized fire hose directed at a burning building. This Spartan truck joins our other many fire trucks located outside in the 15 acres adjoining our building.
Other new items are our picture boards where you can stick your face through the hole in the picture board and now you can take your picture. You can be a successful fisherman reeling in that giant fish. Pretend to be a pilotflying around the inside of the building. As a train conductor you can signal the oncoming train. Or you can take a picture of mom and dad pretending to be a 1930 Palmer Colonist farm couple in the Alaskan version of American Gothic. Three picture boards are scattered outside located near the exhibit areas they most closely represent and one is located inside the museum building.
See and learn the real history of Alaska. Inside the building learn about the bush pilots both male and female who explored and developed the Alaska we know today. They soared through valleys, over glaciers and around mountains to deliver mail and to provide supplies and to rescue people.
On the floor inside see the beautifully restored car that President Harding used when he visited Alaska in 1923among many other restored cars. See the car that isn’t a Ford, Chevrolet or anything identifiable. So the title says “homemade”. Al Gagnon used anything he could find to make the truck. He used pieces from tractors, mining equipment and anything else he could find. The story says there is even a spoon used to make the truck. Can you find the spoon?
The outside 15 acres have many exhibits. You can board the six cars of the train that was a WWII troop train where you can walk through the history of mining in Alaska. Throughout these cars you can see photos that introduce you to the struggles and hardships early miners suffered to extract gold, coal and 95% pure copper from mines throughout the state while living and working under theextreme Alaskan conditions. Under the pictures are the actual implements and equipment necessary to operate these mines and rail lines. Heading up these trains are two train engines, the 1500 and the X1000, that were used in the exciting 1985 movie the Runaway Train starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts and Rebecca DeMorney.
Imagine fighting the tide and the role of the ocean in a double ended fishing boat that doesn’t have an outboard or inboard motor. See some of the original snow machineswhich are nothing compared to our new sleek versions.
Did you know the early railroads in Alaska included a school bus, ambulance and an autorailer?
Farm equipment, the original Anchorage airport tower, radio and communication equipment, gold mining, Native crafts, experimental aircraft and other Alaskan historical memorabilia are only some of the other exhibits you can enjoy at our museum.
Come learn the history of our Alaska.
We have several new and exciting additions to our museum. We recently received the Spartan aerial platform fire truck originally used on Prudhoe Bay then used byWest Lakes Fire Department who in turn donated it to us. The ladder extends an amazing 100 feet into the air. Imagine being on the platform that high in the air to rescue someone or to control the pressurized fire hose directed at a burning building. This Spartan truck joins our other many fire trucks located outside in the 15 acres adjoining our building.
Other new items are our picture boards where you can stick your face through the hole in the picture board and now you can take your picture. You can be a successful fisherman reeling in that giant fish. Pretend to be a pilotflying around the inside of the building. As a train conductor you can signal the oncoming train. Or you can take a picture of mom and dad pretending to be a 1930 Palmer Colonist farm couple in the Alaskan version of American Gothic. Three picture boards are scattered outside located near the exhibit areas they most closely represent and one is located inside the museum building.
See and learn the real history of Alaska. Inside the building learn about the bush pilots both male and female who explored and developed the Alaska we know today. They soared through valleys, over glaciers and around mountains to deliver mail and to provide supplies and to rescue people.
On the floor inside see the beautifully restored car that President Harding used when he visited Alaska in 1923among many other restored cars. See the car that isn’t a Ford, Chevrolet or anything identifiable. So the title says “homemade”. Al Gagnon used anything he could find to make the truck. He used pieces from tractors, mining equipment and anything else he could find. The story says there is even a spoon used to make the truck. Can you find the spoon?
The outside 15 acres have many exhibits. You can board the six cars of the train that was a WWII troop train where you can walk through the history of mining in Alaska. Throughout these cars you can see photos that introduce you to the struggles and hardships early miners suffered to extract gold, coal and 95% pure copper from mines throughout the state while living and working under theextreme Alaskan conditions. Under the pictures are the actual implements and equipment necessary to operate these mines and rail lines. Heading up these trains are two train engines, the 1500 and the X1000, that were used in the exciting 1985 movie the Runaway Train starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts and Rebecca DeMorney.
Imagine fighting the tide and the role of the ocean in a double ended fishing boat that doesn’t have an outboard or inboard motor. See some of the original snow machineswhich are nothing compared to our new sleek versions.
Did you know the early railroads in Alaska included a school bus, ambulance and an autorailer?
Farm equipment, the original Anchorage airport tower, radio and communication equipment, gold mining, Native crafts, experimental aircraft and other Alaskan historical memorabilia are only some of the other exhibits you can enjoy at our museum.
Come learn the history of our Alaska.
In partnership with the Natural Endowment for the Arts BlueStar Families and more than 900 museums across America, we will be offering FREE Admission to all active military personnel and their families from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.