I said to John “I really would like to go to the caterpillar museum.” John said “yes” thinking we would see beautiful butterflies for him to photograph. He learned later that this was the large yellow machinery. Talking to the visitor center receptionist, John wasn’t the only person who thought they would be seeing butterflies. More than than 1 little girl cried after learning that they were going to play around on and learn about caterpillar machinery not butterflies.

What I really liked about the museum was the large number of interactive games, equipment, seats (you read it correctly), etc. The downside was it cost $7 for admission and the large amount of caterpillar advertising. Either way, I had fun and I think John did too. Though probably not quite as much as butterflies.

The entrance utilized caterpillar parts as the decor. Along with a large globe.

Once you’ve paid the $7, you cannot immediately enter. Everyone was required to watch a Caterpillar video in the bucket of a HUGE dump truck used in mining operations. The truck was a mock up since the weight of the truck and, probably, cost would be too much for the museum. In case you’re interested, the picture below has the specifications for the mining truck. The height was 25.4 feet (2 stories), length 49.6 feet (longer than our trailer) and width 32 feet.

We entered into the dump part of the truck which had a tiered theater room where everyone watched a 10 minute video about the company (advertising) and learned about the mining trucks. The seats reminded me of a Disney Land ride. We bounced up and down, side to side and shook with the video. Fortunately – unlike Disneyland – no odors reminiscent of the mining operation were included. My guess is the diesel smell would have driven off all the visitors.

Once out of the room, you could see the entire dump truck along with informational boards, equipment, and machines you could get inside and play on.

Additional pictures of the mining dump truck with John and I standing by it to provide an idea of just how large the truck was. Please note: these dump truck can also run without a human driver. I really would not want to be in the mine with no driver. I picture the system going crazy and chasing me around.

Another section had the Caterpillar history and information about the various models throughout the years.

The model below was originally built from scrap mahogany wood. The equipment in the picture was not the original but an artist made version based on reading books.

We saw a Stage 4 engine. Dad, I thought you might like to see this and read about it. The left pictures had the engine specifications.

They had pictures of how the early machines were tested. This puts a new spin on mud bogging.

Information about the first 5 pieces of equipment manufactured.

Another area had a huge muffler.

The reference chart showing valve sizes was amazing. For reference the smallest valve on the far right was for a standard v6 automobile.

Working for Caterpillar could have been a kids dream because they built small replicas to test the equipment before use.

My favorite advertisement listed quantity of crops required to pay for the diesel used to process. Based on the price you can tell this was a long…. time ago.

There was section that had the various hand controls for the equipment. This was the second time I realized that equipment was not sized for an average height female (me). My thumb does not reach the buttons. 🙂

The rest of the pictures were of equipment and processes used by Caterpillar.

Part 2 consist of John and I playing around on the equipment and interactive games.