About the Museum > Museum History
Museum History
Since 2008, the Transportation Museum has been a unique, one-day event for toddlers, adults, and everyone in between. Each year, visitors are treated to interactive and educational exhibits related to all kinds of transportation, from the Transcontinental Railroad and projects to solve Bay Area traffic to programming miniature robots and solving an Amtrak-themed escape room.
Museum History
As a young child, museum director Andrew Mancini loved transportation of all kinds, especially trains. In fact, at the age of five, he had memorized all of the stations on the CalTrain line and knew all of the train engine numbers.
As a way to share his love for, and knowledge of, transportation with friends, family, and neighbors, Andrew created The Transportation Museum at the age of five. The museum, like those in subsequent years, occurred on a single day during the summer at Andrew's house. Early exhibits included displays of the schedules of every Bay Area transit route, organized on the family sofa; learning about the R.M.S. Titanic by allowing guests to send their own Morse code messages; and slot car racing at the "Grapefruit 500," a track set up on the cover of the hot tub in Andrew's backyard.
In 2013, Andrew wrote hand-written, personalized letters to transit agencies in the 40 largest cities in the U.S. and each transit agency in California and Nevada. Over 75 percent of these organizations wrote back, sending in not just the schedules and maps that were requested, but also fun items — chapstick, Yo-Yo toys, and rain ponchos — branded with their logo, forming the foundation of what is today the museum collection.
About the Museum > Museum History
About the Museum > Frequently Asked Questions
Museum History
Frequently Asked Questions
We'll admit that The Transportation Museum isn't your typical museum! It's a one-day event held annually featuring interactive and educational exhibits related to all kinds of transportation, from historical displays (like the Pony Express or the Transcontinental Railroad) to those looking toward the future (solving Bay Area traffic and traveling to Mars). If it's your first time visiting the museum or you're interested in a refresher on what to expect, read answers to common guest questions.
What are the exhibits like?
Each of the museum exhibits are different, but each year's museum brings between 10 to 12 brand-new exhibits to the public. Each exhibit combines both educational components and interactive activities, so every display can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. For example, in the Float Your Boat exhibit at the museum in 2016, guests learned the science behind how boats float and discovered what buoyancy and water displacement is. Then, guests worked to build a boat out of LEGOs that could carry cargo containers while remaining afloat. In an exhibit at the museum in 2019, visitors programmed miniature robots through a San Francisco-themed obstacle course to learn, hands-on, how self-driving cars function. These two exhibits are just a couple of examples of the educational and interactive combination present at each of the museum's displays.
Since 2008, the Transportation Museum has been a unique, one-day event for toddlers, adults, and everyone in between. Each year, visitors are treated to interactive and educational exhibits related to all kinds of transportation, from the Transcontinental Railroad and projects to solve Bay Area traffic to programming miniature robots and solving an Amtrak-themed escape room.
Museum History
As a young child, museum director Andrew Mancini loved transportation of all kinds, especially trains. In fact, at the age of five, he had memorized all of the stations on the CalTrain line and knew all of the train engine numbers.
As a way to share his love for, and knowledge of, transportation with friends, family, and neighbors, Andrew created The Transportation Museum at the age of five. The museum, like those in subsequent years, occurred on a single day during the summer at Andrew's house. Early exhibits included displays of the schedules of every Bay Area transit route, organized on the family sofa; learning about the R.M.S. Titanic by allowing guests to send their own Morse code messages; and slot car racing at the "Grapefruit 500," a track set up on the cover of the hot tub in Andrew's backyard.
In 2013, Andrew wrote hand-written, personalized letters to transit agencies in the 40 largest cities in the U.S. and each transit agency in California and Nevada. Over 75 percent of these organizations wrote back, sending in not just the schedules and maps that were requested, but also fun items — chapstick, Yo-Yo toys, and rain ponchos — branded with their logo, forming the foundation of what is today the museum collection.
The 11th Annual Transportation Museum was a hit!
Guests learned about solutions to Bay Area traffic, programmed miniature robots, talked with representatives from local transit agencies, solved a transit-themed escape room, and more!
The Transportation Museum is an annual, one-day event featuring interesting and educational exhibits related to all kinds of transportation, directed by 16-year-old Andrew Mancini, in San Carlos, California.
Transportation Museum 2018 Recap
2018 Exhibits and Activities
included...
Better Commute Ahead: Solving Bay Area Traffic
Survey Bay Area commuters and residents, and what's one issue that everyone can agree on? Traffic. At the museum, visitors dug deeper into what's causing the traffic before exploring 10 different solutions in detail, from expanding "slug carpooling" (spontaneous group rides from park-and-ride lots) to implementing more first-mile and last-mile transit connections.
Guess the Artifact
Visitors carefully observed 3 unique items from the museum's collection to identify them. Artifacts included a train coupler, a school bus stop sign, and a Botts' dot (raised pavement marker).
Music That Makes Us Move
This exhibit gave visitors the opportunity to listen to 10 transit-themed songs (from Arlo Guthrie's City of New Orleans to the country hit Convoy) and read about what inspired the songs.
Did You Know?
Between 2010 and 2016, traffic increased in the greater Bay Area by 80%! In fact, in a 2017 study of 1,360 cities around the world, San Francisco has the 5th worst traffic congestion anywhere. Those numbers aren't going to be getting any better—
that is, unless we do something about it!
Did You Know?
Most self-driving cars use a GPS unit and sensors to identify the precise location of the car and the objects surrounding it. In the future, fully-autonomous vehicles may even be connected to infrastructure and other cars, potentially reducing accidents and congestion.
Programming Mini Robots
Transportation Museum 2018
Vroom! Vroom! Intelligent Cars and Roads
After learning about recent developments in the autonomous car industry and discovering how self-driving cars work, visitors programmed their own miniature robots. Guests placed stickers at different locations on a map of San Francisco. Sensors on the robots picked up these colors, which were translated into commands like slowing down, speeding up, stopping, and turning at intersections.
Getting to Grandma's: Traveling the Peninsula
In this exhibit, visitors explored the evolution of transportation on the Peninsula, beginning with the Ohlone Indians' use of tule boats in the 1700s and continuing up to the present day.
Bus Driver Simulator
Using the museum's simulator software, guests took control of one of 30 different bus routes throughout the streets of a city. As a bus driver, guests must keep to a schedule while staying safe!
Flight Simulator (by Brandon D.)
Led by student pilot Brandon D., this very realistic simulator offered visitors the chance to pilot an airplane using a throttle and steering level. Guests could choose which airport they wanted to take off from, meaning they could fly over the Peninsula and around the Bay Area! During the flight, Brandon offered suggestions on flying and described what it's like to fly in a real cockpit. To see a visitor using the simulator, view the video to the right.
Here are the 3 of the 5 clues that visitors had to search for in the escape room. Each of the locations are stations on Amtrak's Coast Starlight route.
Amtrak Escape Room
Kelso-Longview, WA
An Amtrak ticket, with this station highlighted in blue, was hidden in a jacket pocket.
Albany, OR
Various Amtrak "Seat Check" tickets were placed in a bowl, all listing major worldwide destinations that would not be served by Amtrak. One ticket listed Albany as an Amtrak station.
Dunsmuir, CA
An Amtrak luggage tag listed Dunsmuir in the address. Half of the tag was placed inside a locked suitcase, with the key hidden in a fake book.
Amtrak Escape Room
Calling all detectives! Amtrak has just discovered that the switch on its track is set incorrectly. If it's not corrected, the next Coast Starlight train will derail. As participants, you have 10 minutes to search through the schedules, toys, and luggage of the ticket office, looking to uncover clues, unlock a suitcase, and ultimately deduce the 5-letter combination to turn the switch before disaster strikes. Ready, set, go!
Transit Agency and Local Organization Booths
Representatives from the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Capitol Corridor train answered visitors' questions, SamTrans hosted a booth, and a local organization set up a model railroad display.
Toll Toss
Replicating the tradition of throwing coins into machines to pay tolls, in this interactive exhibit, visitors tossed coins into replica toll buckets, with the goal of totaling exactly 66¢. It's harder than it looks!
Can't wait for next year's museum?
Stay tuned for information on the 12th Annual Transportation Museum, which will take place in October 2019. Details about the museum and its exhibits will be coming this summer!
In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about the museum:
The Transportation Museum is a one-day event held each year in San Carlos, California, featuring interactive and educational transportation-related exhibits. Each museum features a variety of exhibits for all age groups, from learning about solutions to Bay Area traffic to building a hot air balloon out of LEGOs. The museum also hosts other exhibitors, like student pilot Brandon D. and his flight simulator, and transit agencies, including the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Capitol Corridor train, and SamTrans. The museum is created by 16-year-old Andrew Mancini, who started the museum at the age of 5. The 12th Annual Transportation Museum will be coming in October 2019.
To learn more about the museum, browse the website or contact Andrew.