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    Wheels Museum

    4.8 (22 reviews)
    Closed Closed

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    exterior
    Kate A.

    This is a charming museum with a real DIY feel. It's more a collection of interesting donations than a comprehensive museum, and some exhibits are better presented than others. One section about the history of rail travel has semi-professional signage and is very educational and engaging; in other areas donations are unrestored and unclean (or maybe it's a tribute to the Dust Bowl?) with nary a sign to be found. Several sections look to be pieced together with donations from different eras rather than accurately portraying history. Cars were fenced off with cattle-type barricades, making photographing the vehicles tricky. Enormous enclosures are dedicated to model trains. There's a lot to look at here! Volunteers were seated by the entrance when we arrived, and another volunteer was working with model trains in the back. Everyone was friendly and our visit was a pleasant experience.

    Mia M.

    Have you heard of the Harvey Girls? They are a very important part of New Mexico and transportation in the Southwest in general. My mother taught me about them a few years back, and I have come to see them everywhere! What does this have to do with the Wheels Museum you ask? Well, a lot! The Wheels Museum highlights transportation throughout New Mexico. Whether is be train, or car- this museum has it all. It's family friendly- but most importantly you can ride the train as an adult. Everyone volunteering inside are so helpful and passionate, and they host speakers/ live musicians multiple times a month. If you are a history buff, train, car, or Albuquerque connoisseur this is the place for you!

    Kate C.

    This is a hidden gem museum! The volunteers are so nice and there are lots of cool exhibits. There is an awesome mural outside too. It's free but definitely donate to keep them open!

    Saul's Car

    Went to ABQ for a breaking bad trip, and accidentally stumbled upon this insane hidden gem. The workers are super passionate about this place and make it super interesting, we were led around by Tom who is super kind and knowledgeable and even showed us that they had Saul Goodmans car here and even let us go take pictures with it. If you are visiting ABQ definitely stop by this place!

    Lindsay B.

    This is a wonderful transportation history museum! It's so comprehensive with artifacts, information and fun too! There is even a real train you can ride inside the museum!!!! There are several tiny train dioramas that are works of art with model trains constantly in the move. It's hard to explain the wheels museum- you just need to go see it to understand for yourself! It is definitely worth a visit!

    The train you can ride
    Jordan O.

    It's more a group of volunteers who got some cool stuff donated than a normal museum. There aren't a ton of signs or explanations of stuff. But it was super fun and everyone there seems to truly care about what they do. And then of course there's the Train you get to ride. That was a lot of fun. Good for keeping kids interested and engaged for 1-2 hours and considering it's all on donation, what do you have to lose?

    Jeremy S.

    This is definitely a hole in the wall museum that I never knew about and definitely recommend checking it out it definitely shows how the downtown area looked in the past and has some pretty cool vintage cars on the inside so come take a look at this place.

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    2 months ago

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    8 months ago

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    1 month ago

    It is like your buddy grandpa's collection of stuff. Not a professional museum. It's free and interesting.

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    11 months ago

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    9 months ago

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    2 months ago

    A wonderful collection of historic New Mexican artifacts. Live rideable trains, planes, and classic cars.

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    8 months ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

    What a little gem!!! Wonderful volunteers and there's even a little train for the kids to ride!!

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    11 years ago

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    Ask the Community - Wheels Museum

    Review Highlights - Wheels Museum

    The volunteers were super knowledgeable and very willing to share history of how Abq came to be.

    Mentioned in 3 reviews

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    We first discovered Tinkertown, back in 2019, as a random 'hidden gem' road trip pit stop-…read morerevisiting NM years later, bringing our 3yr old to vacation with family, we knew we had to bring her here- Anticipating her enjoyment, we were thrilled with her magical joy discovering the displays whimsy & silliness- the moving parts, the hidden characters, the humorous scenes- she had a blast Last visit, we weren't able to visit the boat portion, it was a very interesting exhibit feature-learning about the founder's around the world journey was so captivating- very glad we were able to walk through there is so much art creativity and passion within the museum; definitely a must-visit, multiple visit recommended ::NOTE:: price has changed to $6 per person (cards accepted) & they no longer give out a handful of quarters-you're encouraged to bring your own quarters to truly see all the museum moving pieces-

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    A joyous stop into the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. We…read morewere in town the other week for the holidays. There were many different holiday celebrations going on. One that we had heard a few times about was the gingerbread contest at the cultural center. We had been here briefly a couple years ago and had vowed to come back, so this seemed like an excellent reason. We arrived in the mornign and there were plenty of people there lready. The front had the contest. There were dozens of gingerbread creations. A fella there gave us a clipboard so we could all judge and pick our favorites from different categories. After we spent time appreciating the artistic creations, we went ahead and checked out the center as well There were plenty of rooms with artifacts, video displays, and historical breakdowns of the many Pueblos around New Mexico. We learned a lot that day. I'm proud of my family, being inquisitive and appreciating the many people of the New Mexico tribes that day. It's a fun museum to pop into.

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    4.4(101 reviews)
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    4.2(185 reviews)
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    Wheels Museum - museums - Updated May 2026

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