In continuing on with the Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Guns themes (Planes were the last post), we visited Union Station, in downtown Ogden, Utah.  It’s definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.  The station contains four small museums that you can visit, for $7.00 per adult.  The current station was built in 1924, after the previous station burned down.

In Wisconsin, we call this a bubbler.  The rest of the country, for whatever reason, seems to think this is a water fountain.

At it’s heyday, 120 trains went through Ogden every day.  Union Station is now used to house several small museums, including an outdoor display of diesel and steam engines.

The Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum has a small space honoring the Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame as well as historic western memorabilia.

The Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum has about a dozen old cars on display.  What is unique about the cars is they are all driven out of the museum every year during the annual Heritage Festival in Ogden every May.

The blue car on the right is a 1931 Lincoln Model 202A.

Below is the 1929 Pierce-Arrow.

Below, on the far right, a 1929 Durant model 6-60.  The red vehicle is a 1911 Knox Model S Roadster.  The beige vehicle on the far left is a 1930 Cadillac Model 452.

The Utah State Railroad Museum is now the proud owner of the The Golden Spike safe, which was originally held at Stanford University, and contained the original Golden Spike of 1869, a 17.6 karat gold spike used to connect the final rail of the Transcontinental Railroad, connecting the Union Pacific with the Central Pacific in Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, May 10, 1869.

After the 1989 earthquake in California, the museum displaying the safe and spike was damaged, and a new museum was built, with a new display case for the spike.  The safe was then donated to this museum in 2010.  The “golden spike” on display in the safe is the Utah Centennial Golden Spike.

Before trains, people were not really aware of “time.”  There was morning, afternoon, evening and night.  People used sundials to keep track of time.  After trains, “time” became important, and people soon realized that the time in Chicago was not the same as the time in Ogden.  In 1884, the National Railway Time Convention proposed standard time zones, and in 1918 Congress finally passed the Standard Time Act, making the time zones official.

The John M. Browning Firearms Museum  has a large display of firearms.  The museum started with the history of the Browning family, talking about John M Browning’s father, Jonathan.  The family history was a bit confusing, because Jonathan was a polygamist with several wives and lots of children.  (too many branches in the family tree!).  Jonathan was a gunsmith in Ogden, and John followed in his footsteps, working in his shop at young age.  He is considered to be one of the most successful gun designers in history, with many of his 128 patented designs still in use today.   He sold many of his designs to Winchester, Colt, Remington and Fabrique National de Herstel (FN) of Belgium.  Original models of his guns are on display.  They provide an excellent history on the development of rifles, shot guns and automatic weapons.

His very first invention, in 1878, was the single shot rifle (top rifle in the photo below).  In 1883, he sold the patent to Winchester, and in 1885, they started selling Model 1885 in 33 calibers (bottom rifle).

John M Browning also developed a 9mm pistol.  The top pistol was his first prototype, and the other three were patents he sold to Fabrique National (FN).

He developed a number of weapons for the military.

Including this automatic rifle, which was first used near the end of WWI, and continued to be used through the Vietnam War.  It can fire 500 rounds per minute.

In 1911, Browning designed the M1911, semi-automatic weapon used by the military as their standard sidearm.  It was manufactured by Colt, and used until 1986. Below are several variations of the model.

If you are a gun owner, John M Browning probably had something to do with the design and development of the guns that you own.  We enjoyed our visit to Union Station, and highly recommend a visit if you are in Ogden, Utah.

Now it’s back to work…

Quote of the Day:  “Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty