MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, September 14, 2008 7:26 am

TMP Photo by Kelly Hite. Discovery Center of Murphee Springs Exhibit Director Roda Ferrado shows off the Wheels exhibit Discovery wall, full of scale-model cars donated by the Ed Dellbridge Transportation Collection.

The Discovery Center at Murphee Spring isn’t just for kids anymore.

The educational, hands-on museum recently opened Wheels, a new exhibit documenting the history of ground transportation in America.

“The Wheels Gallery has allowed us to blend incredible antique automobiles and a large model car and train collection with hands-on learning opportunities to provide an exhibit to be enjoyed by the whole family,” said Billie Little, executive director of the museum.

The focal points of the permanent exhibit are its antique vehicles, a 1910 Buick Model F Tourer sedan and a 1913 International Harvester truck.

“It’s one of the best examples of a Model F out there,” said Roda Ferraro, director of Exhibits and Collections for the Discovery Center.

Both vehicles are in superb condition and were donated through the Ed Delbridge Transportation Collection.

Ferraro plans to connect the Harvester truck with the farmers’ market display, where children can take toy produce to market, to show the importance of farming in Rutherford County.

Ferraro explained the Delbridge collection also donated more than 90 years of automobile and locomotive history in the form of hundreds of scale models, which documents the progression of automotive design over the years.

“The dads and granddads love it,” Ferraro said, adding some will stand and look at all the model cars while the kids have fun with the rest of the exhibit.

The kids can play on an interactive Brio Train Engine, experience an assembly line with Build-a-Car or play with the Brio train table or car table. They can also use tools and dress as a mechanic to rotate car tires, check oil levels and even replace a muffler in the Nissan Super Service Center.

Wheels also has an interactive gas pump that teaches about fuel consumption and gives conservation tips.

The gas pump can tell visitors how much gas cost from 1918-1980, as well as an inflation-adjusted estimate.

“The exhibit gives information about shifts to make vehicles more environmentally friendly in the past and into the future,” Ferraro said.

It also shows the gas mileage of a variety of vehicles, from SUVs to bicycles. For example a bicycle gets 0 mph, but it would take four hours to bike to Nashville and back.

Wheels also features a history of coal use in America as an energy source for trains and its impact on Tennessee with examples of different types of coal, donated by the Rutherford County Blacksmith Association.

The museum is gearing up to open a Train Depot in October, which will feature scale models of Murfreesboro landmarks, like the Historic Courthouse and Oaklands Mansion, in a model train set of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad.

Kent Cooper, the same custom fabricator that designed the three-level train set at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, designed the model train set. The buildings and Lionel model trains were donated from Delbridge collection.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.