The Virginia Transportation Museum opened to the public in 1963 in Wasena Park. The Museum aimed to spread the story of the rich rail heritage of Roanoke. To complement this purpose, the Museum also represented all modes of transportation.

A private non-profit corporation operated the Museum in 1976. Seven years after, the Museum was designated as the Official Transportation Museum of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It changed its name to Virginia Museum of Transportation.

Floodwaters in 1985 struck the Museum leaving a damage amounting to more than a million dollars. Norfolk Southern then generously donated the 1918 vintage N&W freight station that will become the Museum?s new home. Today, the Museum occupies a 45,000-square foot building neighbouring the Norfolk Southern mainline tracks.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation today is visited by people throughout the country and all over the world. It aims to preserve the transportation history of Virginia and to honor the people, especially the workers, who have shared their skills in creating the significant pieces in the collection, which contains about 2,500 objects. This includes over 50 pieces of rolling stock and the largest diesel locomotives collection in the South. The collection generally consists of automotive, transit, aviation, artifacts and other loaned objects.