Denver, Colorado - Forney Transportation Museum: Amelia Earhart's Car

The Forney Museum is open in its new digs just off of Brighton Blvd, south of I-70. The new building is a vast improvement. The museum's Union Pacific "Big Boy" steam locomotive is now indoors, protected from vandals and the elements. Moving it was no small feat, involving many hundreds of yards of "temporary" track, which had to be strong enough to support one of thelargest engines ever made. The hundreds of early 20th-century automobiles from all over the world are now better-displayed and protected. For Jack Forney and his many friends/volunteers, this has been a labor of love. [Rick Staples, 06/26/2001]

The Forney Transportation Museum is not gone here in Denver, CO -- it has simply moved. Yes, the old two story brick building near the Platte River that the museum was in from the 60s on is now gutted and being remodeled for REI...but the museum has moved to a nicer building that is newer and easier to maintain (the maintenance costs on afactory building built near the turn of the century were kind of high, believe it or not!). Just head west on Interstate 70 until you see the signs for the Denver Coliseum (home of the National Western Stock Show), get off at the next exit and you should see some signs to guide you to the new location. [From a Denver native, 07/02/1999]

Unfortunately, that museum has been closed down (as of January, 1999) and the building is now owned by REI (the big outdoor equipment retailer). Yet another kooky piece of our collective conscience gone the way of the DoDo. From what I heard, the museum was very poorly managed and had next to zero income. [Ian Boersma, 03/11/1999]

[RA: But a great attraction nonetheless, featuring Amelia Earhart's car and a charming diorama of Alferd Packer, America's favorite cannibal.]

Cannibal Sights at the Forney Transportation Museum, Denver, CO: A large collection of old automobiles, horse-drawn carriages, trains and other curiosities, spread out in an unorganized, haphazard fashion.

In the museum's inadequately lit basement, past the somewhat less-respected old cars and motorcycles, past the extensive N-gauge model railroad, you'll be treated to the sight of an 8x8 foot life-size diorama of a crazed-looking and rather dusty Alferd Packer, pictured not long after finishing his infamous meal, surrounded by charred human bones and hair. There's a little sign explaining the basics of the Alferd Packer story, but nothing else to explain why it's in the museum. It's really disconcerting to see this graphic display within a few feet of a giant model train setup. Of course, when you notice that one of the tiny cute buildings in the train set is labeled "Alferd A. Packer Meat Processing Co.", the location makes a little more sense.

Elsewhere in the museum, you'll find Amelia Earhart's Car, accompanied by signs explaining an impressive conspiracy theory about how she was not actually lost at sea, but was killed by the Japanese as a spy. [Dave Sweeney, 01/29/1998]

"Then there was the time at the very dusty and cracked Forney Museum of Denver (which repeatedly exhorts everyone not to touch anything!) when a friend and I saw Amelia Earhart's car. A woman nearby said, 'Is that the car she disappeared in?'" [Jill Meyer, 10/31/1996]