Reynolds-Alberta Museum

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum, in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada is one of 18 provincially owned and operated historic sites and museums. It traces the mechanisation of Alberta's transportation, aviation, agricultural, and industrial past from the 1890s to present, as cars and trucks replaced horse-drawn buggies and wagons, huge factories replaced the village blacksmith shop, and animal and human-powered farm implements were replaced by mechanized equipment. The stories told by each exhibit reveal how the daily lives of Albertans were affected during this period of rapid change.

The museum has one of Canada's largest historical collections of transportation and industrial machinery, including

• more than 400 vehicles including automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles
• more than 95 aircraft
• more than 5,000 pieces of agricultural equipment including tractors and farm machinery
• many industrial machines
• a reference collection of more than 3,000 publications and 60,000 pieces of trade literature.

The holdings continue to grow through the generous contributions of hundreds of donors. Tax receipts are available for donations. The museum has received awards for their exhibits.

The Main Gallery takes the visitor along a "highway through time", beginning with a horse-drawn carriage of the late 19th century and featuring four stations, whose themes are a 1911 factory, a 1920s grain elevator, a 1930s service station, and a 1950s drive-in. The centre of the gallery has artifacts and displays that showcase the agricultural theme through the four seasons of the year.

Visitors can tour the main gallery on their own or as part of a guided tour, take rides in vintage cars and aircraft, visit an internationally acclaimed state of the art restoration and conservation facility, participate in hands-on programs, watch vintage agricultural machinery being used on 28 hectares of actual crops, or browse the award-winning reference collection or the gift shop. The Museum also features event rooms for group meetings, and is one of only two museums in Canada with fly-in access.

Featured exhibits include:

• a one-of-a-kind 1929 Duesenberg Phaeton Royale Model J
• the world's oldest known production Chevrolet, a 1913 Chevrolet Classic Six
• the world's oldest dragline, a Bucyrus Class-24 built in 1917
• a 1928 American Eagle biplane, the only surviving Canadian example
• a full-scale replica of the Avro Arrow
• a half-track vehicle used in the infamous Bedaux Expedition, the subject of the film "Champagne Safari"

The Museum also serves as home to Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, a national organization paying tribute to the men, women and organizations who pioneered and advanced aviation in Canada.