Kids of all ages can sit astride a bicycle built for two, hop inside a soapbox derby car, try their hand at an antique telegraph machine and ride a train around the exhibits when they visit the Wheels Museum just south of Downtown Albuquerque.
The volunteer-run Wheels Museum has been steadily growing for years and is open to visitors by donation from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday. 
The museum is in its early stages, but already has more than $3 million worth of exhibits and a small gift shop in 21,000 square feet at 1100 Second St. SW in the Railyards, the site of the historic Santa Fe Railroad Shops where steam locomotives once were repaired. 
Wheels stands for We Have Everything Everyone Loves Spinning. The museum is dedicated to the history of transportation in Albuquerque and New Mexico and its impact on the area – how the railyards influenced the development of the city, for example.
But the museum also looks forward, said President Leba Freed.
“We try to discuss the past and the present and the future of the world through moving,” she said, adding that electric cars and other new technologies have a place at the museum alongside wooden wheel carriages and horse buggies. “We try to inspire.”
Wheels is a great place for children, said Freed, a former teacher who has been championing the museum for 25 years. 
Cars, bicycles and trains grab children’s interest and imagination, and the interactive exhibits keep them engaged. For example, visitors can step inside a vintage travel trailer and feel it rock. The trailer, built out of Route 66 billboards, formerly was housed at Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati and is one of many donated exhibits.
Other exhibits include a horse-drawn milk wagon from an Albuquerque area dairy, an airplane hanging from the ceiling, a restored 1942 fire truck, vintage gas pumps, an 8-foot-tall saw once used to cut wood for rail timbers, a newly acquired red 1918 Model T Ford pickup and hundreds of model cars. 
Kids also can play a piano and touch some other exhibits. Docents sometimes even give kids a chance to run the model trains.
“One of our goals is to get more interactive,” said volunteer docent and board member Tom Sims.
Sims, a lifelong train enthusiast, often can be found running the model train displays that are adored by children. He also talks to kids about how the railroad and the railyards changed the culture of Albuquerque. 
For example, older kids – and adults – can learn how the railroad brought advances in technology that required a well-educated work force and led to challenges such as providing affordable housing and managing income inequities. Younger children can imagine spending two days traveling by buggy from Albuquerque to Santa Fe rather than making the trip in an hour by car. 
“It’s very fun and it’s a unique museum,” Freed said. 
There are plenty of ways to enjoy the museum. Wheels is available for group tours and private events such as birthday parties. In addition, children 10 and older can volunteer at the museum dusting and doing other jobs if accompanied by a parent.
For information: 505-243-6269 or wheelsmuseum.org