Northwest Railway Museum Blog

Chapel car organ plays on!

2013-05-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

In March Spike reported on the acquisition of an organ for the chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace. In April Brian Tate and Wes Spore offered to rehabilitate the "new" organ by cleaning the reeds and repairing anything that wasn't quite right. Wes put many of the rehabilitative hours into the organ and in the end even replaced the bellows, the heart of a pump organ. The results are spectacular;

Coach 218 windows, part 1

2013-04-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Bob McNall begins a window installation Coach 218 was built in 1912 and is now being prepared for its second century of service. Historic rehabilitation of this former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway coach has been underway for several years, but is now moving at a rapid pace with both a dedicated crew of volunteers and a full time crew advancing the agenda. Priorities for one of the

Organ donor

2013-03-27T20:18:00.001-07:00

Well, not quite, but at a price that felt like a donation! A "new" Estey organ arrived at the Conservation and Restoration Center on a warm March 27, 2013. "One (1) Estey reed organ, cottage or school house model, mahogany, circa 1885. Fully functional but missing one knob. $125." This is "pretty close" to the reed organ from the chapel car Messenger of Peace that the Estey Organ

Main Street crossing reconstruction

2013-02-25T01:28:00.001-08:00

"We've been working on the railroad" and there is another new highway crossing to show for! Railroad crossings represent one of the bigger funding challenges for the Northwest Railway Museum. With a total of 18 roadway crossings, the Museum devotes significant resources towards maintenance and reconstruction. This latest project cost was in excess of $51,000 and replaced a double

quid pro quo

2013-01-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

Pavers at east end of theTrain Shed. In December, Spike reported here on the disposition of an object removed from the collection. A small steam crane was moved to Ballard where it will become part of a French bistro early next summer. As part of the disposition, the new owner of the crane provided and installed pavers for part of the Railway History Center campus. Workers from Pavingstone

Season's Greetings

2012-12-24T10:37:00.002-08:00

Thank you to all our Volunteers, Donors, Trustees, Supporters, Members, Benefactors, and Patrons for a wonderful and successful 2012. A railway museum is about more than just the excitement of a train: it is education, heritage and historic preservation, community identity, the economic sustainability of a small community, and enjoyment. Thank you to everyone who played a part in 2012. 2013

A 12/12/12 marriage to remember

2012-12-14T22:33:00.001-08:00

Messenge of Peace trucks and car body married again! Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace has wheels again! Messenger of Peace was married with a pair of passenger car trucks in a lengthy ceremony held on the much-coveted 12 December 2012, or 12/12/12. The car lost its original trucks in 1949 when it was adapted for reuse as a roadside diner. The rehabilitation work it is undergoing

Something old, something new

2012-12-11T07:38:00.002-08:00

6 wheel wood, steel reinforced passenger truck Something old, something new, something borrowed, something . . . carbon black! Later this month inside the Conservation and Restoration Center, the chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace will be married to its new trucks, which are special frames with wheels, bearings, and brakes. The trucks (we think, based on castings and other details) date

Adaptive reuse

2012-12-01T15:12:00.002-08:00

Steam crane is prepared for shipment. One of the great challenges facing history museums around the world is the size of their collections. Many institutions have amassed collections that cannot be cared for with available resources. Perhaps more troubling,even the most optimistic (but realistic) strategic plans do not project these institutions ever fully acquiring the resources needed

New marketing director appointed

2012-11-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

The Northwest Railway Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of a new team member. Jennifer Osborn has joined the Northwest Railway Museum as the new Marketing Director. She is replacing Sue VanGerpen who after serving more than six years left the Museum earlier this month to accept a position at another Valley business. Ms. Osborn arrives at the Museum via the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber

Crossing repairs

2012-10-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Center of crossing is re- paired on North Bend Way. It may be Halloween but things will no longer go bump in the night when using several newly-repaired crossings. The Northwest Railway Museum has 13 public crossings at grade or, more simply stated, 13 public roads that cross the tracks. The Museum has certain statutory responsibilities to maintain portions of these crossings even

Checkin' It Twice

2012-10-11T15:13:00.001-07:00

Santa Claus checks his list while riding Santa Train (R). Imagine you and your family aboard a vintage train with the scenic Cascade foothills outside your antique coach window. As you journey from North Bend to Snoqualmie, you hear the wheels on the train clickety-clack beneath you. The train pulls into the station and you see Santa Claus, Ms. Claus

Bad to beautiful conclusion

2012-10-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to dozens of donors and local corporate sponsors, the Bad to Beautiful initiative has been successfully completed! Workers from Queen Anne Upholstery unpack and unload the reupholstered seats. The Museum participated in the Seattle Foundation’s Give BIG event last May. Give BIG 2012 was the second annual day of giving hosted by the Seattle Foundation with participation from

Day of Caring 2012

2012-09-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Landscaping at the Train Shed. Every year in September, United Way of King County organizes Day of Caring where thousands of volunteers all take the day off from work and volunteer in their community. United Way asks non-profit organizations to sponsor projects and then group leaders - mostly from companies - sign up for projects and organize volunteers to work on those projects. This year,

Platform to preach

2012-09-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace with its distinctive open vestibules or plat- forms. A distinguishing feature of many 19thCentury railroad cars is an open platform or vestibule on one or both ends. For chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace, this platform was the ingress and egress to the car. So the preacher, his wife, and all the parishioners used the open end platform to enter and leave the

Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2012

2012-08-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2012 was held August 17 - 19 in historic downtown Snoqualmie. More than 11,000 visitors enjoyed live music, an art show, the grand parade, lots of trains, a car show, great food and more! Success of the event came from a very supportive community, scores of dedicated volunteers, generous sponsors, and great weather. Why not be part of next year's successful event?

RailCamp Northwest debut

2012-08-08T07:31:00.001-07:00

Twelve RailCampers pose with locomotive 1 in the Train Shed. August 2012 was the debut of the first-ever Northwest RailCamp. Designed for youth, the intensive rail-oriented program was a week of operations, history, collections care, and fun. James uses a cutoff saw under the careful super- vision of the Dan C. The Northwest RailwayMuseum (NRM), in partnership with the National

Drawing the chapel car

2012-07-31T14:06:00.002-07:00

Randy Miller describes his drawing to the project lead rehabilitation specialist Kevin Palo. Documenting an historic structure is an essential element in any rehabilitation, and is a concomitant of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Structures. This allows future curators to know what was done, and what the underlying structure lookd like without

Thomas thrills thousands

2012-07-18T18:14:00.003-07:00

Thomas the Tank Engine steams into Snoqualmie. Thomas the Tank Engine is visiting Snoqualmie and the Northwest Railway Museum for the 12thannual Day Out With Thomas event. The first three days of the six day event have concluded and thousands came to see the really useful engine. In all, more than 16,400 visitors are expected at this sold-out event before it closes July 22. Motor car

Improving collections care

2012-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Stewardship of a massive collection like the Northwest Railway Museum’s can be daunting. A trained curator can quickly see there are issues with storage conditions, damaged artifacts, and security. Heat, light, humidity and too few restrictions on collections access are the usual culprits, but they do have to be identified and assessed before they can be mitigated. So what to do? Cristy L.

Aarrgh!

2012-06-27T20:31:00.002-07:00

Avast me hearties: the Snoqualmie Railroad Days committee is proud to announce the return of the SeaFair Pirates! They’re back, matey! The SeaFair Pirates will sail inland to grace our town with their piratical presence at our community festival, Snoqualmie Railroad Days. Watch for them on Saturday in the Grand Parade. And you better watch out for those rascally pirates all afternoon too!

Terne over a new roof

2012-06-05T07:47:00.004-07:00

The original Terne roof was applied in 1898. Pin holes, loss of coating and breaches in the membrane left few options for the rehabilitation. The roof on a century-old railcar is more than just something to keep the rain out; it is a distinguishing feature. On chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace, the roof is particularly important for what it was made of: Terne metal. The vast majority

Studio Snoqualmie

2012-05-28T12:52:00.002-07:00

Former NP stock car is positioned for filming inside the Train Shed exhibit building. Lights! Camera! Work Extra 4024, take it ahead! Not quite what you were expecting? The Northwest Railway Museum was briefly transformed into a movie studio for the production of You Can’t Win, a screen play adapted from the literary work of the same name. Filming at the Museum of this independent

Salute!

2012-05-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

In honor of Memorial Day, the Northwest Railway Museum is offering reduced fare train rides for members of the military: active duty, guard, reserve, retired, and their dependent families. See the splendid scenery of the Cascade Foothills through the windows of a vintage railcar. Your current military id and $5 are all you need for a ride on the Museum’s train Saturday, May 26 –

Clerestory windows for the chapel car

2012-05-08T21:20:00.001-07:00

Let there be light, and some fresh air too! One of the distinguishing features of most traditional clerestory-roofed railroad cars is the clerestory window. Designed to provide both light and ventilation, the windows are typically elongated and have hinges that allow the windows to “roll” into the car. Chapel car 5 - built in 1898 in an era before air conditioning - was built with 45