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Land Transportation

Land Transportation is the curatorial area that groups together a number of diverse technologies into three fields:

This field has figured prominently in the Museum's collecting activities and exhibitions since its opening in 1967. Nevertheless, the curatorial area was only established in 1989 when existing collections were consolidated under a curator specifically assigned to the area.

Since its formation, the Land Transportation area has reviewed and developed the collection with an emphasis on Canadian contributions and experience in the development and application of land transportation technologies from the eighteenth century onwards. It is important to note that all but the most rudimentary forms of technology require a relatively complex system of supports to ensure their continued existence. In this respect, the activities of the curatorial area are not restricted to the vehicles that so often provide the primary focus of transportation collections. Rather, the area encompasses a broad range of activities that comprise the infrastructure upon which land transportation systems are based. These include such areas as: manufacturing, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, construction technology, marketing and distribution. Similarly, the emphasis in the collection is not on the unique, but the significant and representative example of transportation technology.

In conjunction with our rich holdings in other curatorial areas, the collection provides the basis from which present and future generations of Canadians can obtain a balanced perspective on the role of science and technology in the transformation of Canadian society.



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