11 March 2010 - The depot restroom renovation project is progressing with wall tile installation now underway. Work is expected to continue through the end of March with completion in time for the first train in April. Two blog posts have desribed the project: an introduction here and a progress update here.

2 March 2010 - The Northwest Railway Museum is pleased to introduce Wellington Remembered, an exhibit and companion web site dedicated to the town of Wellington, 1892 - 1929.

Wellington was a railway town in the Cascades in the northeast corner of King County. It was located just west of the Great Northern Railway's old Cascade Tunnel and on March 1, 1910 was the site of the infamous Wellington Disaster. The town was an indispensible cog in the railway machine that has been almost forgotten. Over 100 workers lived there and supported nearly every imaginable job required to keep the railroad running.

Wellington Remembered is an initiative to keep the memory of the town and the many people who worked there alive. The project is centered around the 60 image Oberg collection of photographs taken by photographer Casper Hansen in 1913 and 1914. With images provided by the Skykomish Historical Society, the Everett Public Library, the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, the University of Washington Special Collections, the Washington State Historical Society and the Northwest Railway Museum, the story of Wellington from 1892 - 1929 is being recounted.

The Wellington Remembered exhibit is presented in a model of a Great Northern snowshed inside the Snoqualmie Depot at 38625 SE King Street and is open daily 10 AM - 5 PM. The companion web site is focused on the Osberg Collection, but additional content will be added later. The web addess is www.wellingtonremembered.org .

30 December 2009 - The restrooms in the Snoqualmie Depot are being replaced. A generous grant from the City of Snoqualmie funded with Lodging Tax revenue is allowing complete replacement of the public restrooms. The project has been in planning for nearly three years and will begin in January 2010. Completion is anticipated in late March 2010.

The existing restrooms were constructed in 1979 during restoration/rehabilitation of the Snoqualmie Depot. In the intervening thirty years, they have served an estimately 2.5 million visitors. Complete replacement was deemed necessary to assure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and contemporary building codes. The new design is intended to reduce environmental impacts and is mindful of anticipated visitation of even more visitors in the next thirty years. It is featuring ceramic tile flooring and backsplash, waterless urinals, low-flow toilets, high tech paperless hand driers and motion-activated lighting.

At the conclusion of the renovation, the Snoqualmie Depot restrooms will reopen as public restrooms for all tourists visiting downtown Snoqualmie. The City of Snoqualmie will maintain and operate the restrooms including daily cleaning, and open/close. The restrooms will operate daily from dawn to dusk.

9 December 2009 - The Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace rehabilitation project has been awarded a prestigious Save America's Treasures grant. The $180,000 award will be used to conduct rehabilitation on this Nationally-significant object, part of the Northwest Railway Museum large artifact collection. Click here to read more in the Museum's blog.

27 November 2009 - Train Shed construction continued in November and just before Thanksgiving 2009 workers began pouring the interior concrete slab. Building erection is scheduled to begin in early December and that will mark the 50% milestone.

In November 2009 King County's 4Culture confirmed an additional $40,000 grant from the Heritage Captial Project program towards Train Shed construction costs. Fundraising continues with over $3.1 million pledged or received. Total costs including project administration and design are expected to top $4 million.

Construction of the Train Shed began in July 2009. It is the largest project in the Museum's history and will create a structure that incorporates 25,000 square feet. The facility will accommodate 1,100 track-feet of artifacts.

The project is under construction in Snoqualmie adjacent to Meadowbrook Farm, a public open space buffering Snoqualmie and North Bend. The site is a beautiful location surrounded on three sides by trees and on the fourth by the Museum's railroad. A view of Mount Si is visible between the trees.

Check out these photos of the site as seen the day before Thanksgiving; additional photos depicting progress may be viewed here on the Museum's WASteam web site.

 

22 July 2009 - The Northwest Railway Museum's Train Shed exhibit building will soon be a reality! Construction officially began on July 6, 2009 with the creation of a haul road. Loggers visited the site beginning July 10 to carefully remove trees from the footprint of the new building - dozens of other trees are marked for retention. Grading began in earnest on July 20. Foundation construction will begin August 3. Building completion is scheduled for 2009; facility will be dedicated in summer 2010. Progress photos are posted here on WASteam.   The Train Shed will incorporate 25,000 square feet and is the largest project in the Museum's history. Its primary purpose is to provide a museum environment to preserve and exhibit surviving examples of Washington's railway history including steam locomotives, freight cars and passenger coaches.

Trees on the footprint of the building were removed. Trees around the building permeter are being preserved to the extent practicable. Trees marked for saving include the spectacular 48 inch diameter western red cedar in the middle distance that will be seen outisde the east end of the Train Shed.

Soon the Train Shed will occupy this site. All the trees in the distance are to remain.

You can help support this important initiative that will help ensure our shared heritage is preserved and perpetuated. Click here to donate on the Museum's web site or click here to use the American Express Giving Express gateway that also allows you to donate membership reward points. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law; donors who consent will be acknowledged on a permanent donor board that will be located in the building foyer. This is the largest project in the Museum's 52-year history. While construction costs are immense, the history this facility will preserve and perpetuate is priceless. Chapel car 5, White River Lumber caboose 001, Weyerhaeuser Timber locomotive 1, and a railway bunk car are just a few of the artifacts that will be exhibited in this new public facility. You can learn more on the Museum's blog, on the Railway History Center page, and on WASteam.

June 30, 2009 - King County Sheriff's Office has posted a $10,000 award for information concerning a fire that was deliberately set at the Snoqualmie Depot at approximately 2 AM on Jun 30, 2009. Another two fires were also deliberately set in downtown Snoqualmie that same night. Debris piles were set up and ignited outside the hair salon and behind the Snoqualmie City Hall at the corner of King St. and Falls Ave at approximately 4 AM on Jun 30, 2009. Anyone with information about any of these fires is encouraged to call 1-800-55ARSON.

 

Damage to the Snoqualmie Depot is limited to some charred siding and burnt wiring. The depot's exterior sprinkler system was activated by the fire and that combined with a quick response from the Snoqualmie Fire Department prevented what could have been a much more serious outcome.

 

The Museum has posted a commentary on the blog.

11 June 2009 - The Northwest Railway Museum has re-launched Washington Steam Railroads and Locomotives, a web site dedicated to surviving railroad heritage in Washington State. It is presented as a continuing program of the Museum.

Developed by volunteer and member Brian Fritz during the 1990s, the site highlights underrepresented railway heritage including park locomotives, cabooses, and rail museums. Mr. Fritz was a railfan and historian who was active in several local rail heritage groups including the Northwest Railway Museum. Brian died unexpectedly in March 2007 and his family gave the site to the Museum to perpetuate in Brian's memory.

The re-launch of WASteam includes a new interface developed by NDC Web Designs using Plogger, an open source photo album. This will make the site easier to update, and provide wider browser compatibility.

Also with the update comes a broadening of scope: the site now includes an expanding chapter on historic depots, and a truly underrepresented resource: historic bridges.

The Museum is grateful to Brian's family for donating this valuable resource, and to J. Henry Priebe, Jr., owner of Railfan.net who has agreed to continue donating hosting services for the site.

20 May 2009 - Learn about last minute opportunities, new programs, exciting news and more! The Northwest Railway Museum has joined with ConstantContact to offer you a safe and secure way to subscribe. Rest assured, the Museum will never share or sell your address, and you will only receive occasional emails - typically two or three per month in the summer, and one in the winter. And if you decide you no longer wish to receive mail, a simple click on "unsubscribe" will remove your name and address from the list. (Sorry, but you may need to disable your pop up blocker to complete the registration process.)

11 May 2009 - One of the most significant pieces in the Northwest Railway Museum Collection is a chapel car formerly used by the Baptist Publication Society and Baptist Home Mission Society. Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace was donated to the Museum by the Hodgins family in 2007 and was moved to Snoqualmie that fall. Now, a major research and collection care effort is underway to return the object to its condition, function and appearance when used as a mobile church in Western Washington.

 

Car 5 was built in 1898 by Barney and Smith and served as a mobile church for over 50 years. It rode the rails in 11 states and affected the lives of thousands of people in hundreds of communities. This story is truly remarkable and speaks as much to the impact of the railroad on American society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as it does to the development of modern religious evangelism. This story and more will be told in a future exhibit that is being developed for the new Train Shed exhibit building.

 

Since the donation, planning efforts for evaluation, care, and interpretation have been underway and the Museum is pleased to announce several recent developments:

• Listed on Washington State Heritage Register, July 2008. The object is recognized for its impact on Washington having served in the state for over 20 years.
• Listed on National Register of Historic Places under National criterion, January 2009. The Messenger of Peace is recognized for its role in the development national patterns serving in far flung communities from West Virginia to Washington State.
• Listed on the King County and City of Snoqualmie Landmarks Register, March 2009. Chapel Car 5 repeatedly visited King County and numerous communities including Wilberton, North Bend, Renton, Kent, and Seattle.
• Completion of the Report of the Investigation of Chapel Car 5, April 2009. This study was completed by Nationally-recognized wood car expert Glenn Guerra and will be used to guide collection care efforts on this historical artifact.
• 4Culture has awarded a Collection Care grant, Landmark Challenge grant and a Landmark Rehabilitation grant towards rehabilitation efforts. This funding totals $32,000 and is allowing preliminary work to begin on this project that is expected to expend nearly $400,000.

Several short articles have appeared in the Museum's blog; additional material will be posted here and in the blog in the coming months.