MOTAT

MOTAT, the Museum of Transport and Technology, is located at Western Springs in Auckland, New Zealand, and presents the country's transport and technological history across two sites connected by a heritage tram line. The museum was established in the 1960s and grew from volunteer enthusiasm for preserving vehicles and machinery that were being scrapped, which is why its collection is unusually large and varied. The Western Springs site includes the old Western Springs pumping station, a nineteenth-century engine house that supplied water to the growing city, and its machinery is part of the historic fabric. Exhibits cover trams, trains, steam engines, cars, fire engines, household technology and an extensive range of everyday objects showing how New Zealanders lived and worked. A heritage tram operates on a loop and links the main site with the Aviation Display Hall, where aircraft are housed under cover. Highlights of the aviation collection include large flying boats from the era when long-distance air travel relied on seaplanes, as well as military and civil aircraft that trace the development of flight in New Zealand. Many machines are kept in working order and are demonstrated on scheduled days, giving visitors a sense of how they sounded and moved. The curatorial approach is thematic and hands-on: galleries are built around topics such as communication, power and transport, and interactive displays and a children's science area make the museum popular with families. Conservation workshops maintain the collection, and some restored items are drawn from long projects by volunteers. Entry is charged, with discounts for children and families. The museum offers a broad cross-section of New Zealand's industrial heritage, from early settler technology to twentieth-century aviation, in a relaxed parkland setting.