Wheels Museum president outlines preservation, expansion plans for historic Bernalillo County rail site
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Summary
In an interview on 'Biz Moments,' Liba Fried, president of the Wheels Museum, described decades-long volunteer preservation work at the former steam locomotive repair complex, outlined expansion plans for a machine shop and model-railroad center, and requested capital outlay, sponsors and volunteers to support redevelopment and tourism goals.
Marcos Gonzales, executive development officer for Bernalillo County, interviewed Liba Fried, president of the Wheels Museum, about the museum’s history, collections and plans to rehabilitate buildings on the former steam locomotive repair site in Albuquerque.
Fried said the museum occupies a 28,000-square-foot former freight building at 1100 South 2nd on what she called the iconic steam locomotive rail site. "When the railroad came, they brought 27 nationalities to work there," she said, recalling that as many as 1,500 to 2,000 workers were on-site daily during the complex’s peak operations. Fried said the site closed in 1977 and she acquired the property after it was listed for sale in 1994.
The museum, organized as a 501(c)(3), holds more than 10,000 items related to transportation history and, Fried said, has about $5,000,000 worth of donated exhibits. "If you want to see model railroads of every scale ... come and have fun at the Wheels Museum," she said, listing model trains, a wooden plane that took 800 hours to build, antique automobiles, trucks, fire trucks and buggies.
Fried described long-running volunteer support: "I've spent 31 years as a full time volunteer to do so," and said the museum currently has roughly 40 volunteers and has hosted more than 250,000 visitors from around the world.
On expansion plans, Fried said the museum is working with the city to acquire additional buildings on the property, including the Babbitt and Welding Shop (about 5,000 square feet) to create a New Mexico Home Model Railroad Center. She also described a larger "machine shop" building — historically where repairs occurred — and said she is coordinating with developers, universities and other museums to preserve it; she noted the mayor has expressed interest in working on the machine shop.
Fried said federal-funded studies the museum commissioned project a substantial tourism boost if the machine shop is restored. "Our studies that we did with federal money show we can bring 1,000,000 people a year if we get that machine shop completed," she said. That figure was presented as a planning projection during the interview and was not independently verified on-air.
Fried asked for community support and funding assistance. She said Bernalillo County is a sponsor of the museum and requested capital outlay funds, corporate sponsorships and volunteers to advance preservation and economic-development goals. For those interested in helping, Fried provided a contact number and the museum’s public hours: (505) 243-6269; open Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–noon, and Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
The interview closed with the host thanking Fried and inviting listeners to visit the museum. No formal decisions, votes or funding commitments were made on the program.
