The Peru Gazette

The Transportation Museum's centerpiece 1915 Lozier

John T. Ryan

Listening to visitors’ on a recent tour of Plattsburgh’s Champlain Valley Transportation Museum the common remarks heard were , “This place is wonderful!” This place is impressive!” and “They’ve added so much since the first time I visited.” While the museum focuses on the Lozier, the luxurious car manufactured in Plattsburgh over one hundred years ago, it offers the visitor much more. (See photos of several vehicles) The museum also houses more than thirty other meticulously maintained and historically significant vehicles ranging from a Model T Ford to a 2005 Lotus Elise. It has something for everyone especially when tour guide Dick Soper brings the exhibits to life with his enriching stories and historical facts.  Did you know that a Lozier finished 2^nd in the 1911 Indianapolis 500 or that the Lozier family sent a spy to work for Mercedes company prior to opening their Plattsburgh auto plant?

The transportation museum is a place where young and old alike can enjoy a close-up look at the evolution of the transportation industry. The Lozier automobile manufacturing plant was located where Georgia Pacific is situated today. Only thirty-two of the beautiful, luxurious cars still exist and two of them are housed at our local museum.  Other cars on display include the Model A Ford; a 1918 Dodge once owned by John Dodge, one of the two Dodge brothers; a 1927 Pierce Arrow built in Buffalo, NY; a 1925 Model T racer; a 1917 Paige and a three wheeled 1960 BMW Isetta. The Isetta got 75 miles per gallon and resembles today’s Smart car. 

The museum’s displays aren’t limited to cars and trucks. One large room has two operating model electric trains which travel along North Country replica routes complete with the appropriate topographical settings and trackside buildings.  Another room has very interesting historical photographs of such events as trolley cars going through the streets of downtown Plattsburgh. A third room is filled with beautiful car and train models.

The Champlain Valley Transportation Museum is located at 12 Museum Way on the Old Base and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Admission is $5.00 for adults and less for seniors and children. Exhibit Manager Dick Soper or an assistant are almost always present to give a guided tour which takes about one hour.  The guided tour is extremely well done and greatly enhances one’s enjoyment of the museum.