Now under construction, phase two of the Railway History Center: The Train Shed Exhibit Building, a public space to preserve and perpetuate Northwest railway history.

The Railway History Center 

The Northwest Railway Museum has been developing a plan to build a Railway History Center for several years.  The project is divided into two phases:

Conservation and Restoration Center - to perform collection care on railway transportation artifacts including locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and special maintenance vehicles such as snow plows. This 2.4 million facility was completed in 2006 and opened in January 2007.

Train Shed Exhibit Building- to store and exhibit vulnerable and endangered railway artifacts, especially those constructed of wood. 

The Library and Archives - to preserve and access historical documents including engineering records, books and photographs..

The Train Shed

The Train Shed will be a large structure to house locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars, and maintenance-of-way cars.  It will provide fundamental protection against rain, rapid changes in humidity or temperature, and light.  These environmental factors present some of the greatest threats to the Museum's collection of railway artifacts. 

The Train Shed will provide public access.  Scheduled tours will allow visitors to see the locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars and maintenance equipment stored in the Train Shed.  Contextual exhibits will also be possible within the scope of this project and broad use of signage will provide additional interpretation.

Library and Archives

Phase 3 will be a Library and Archives to house the Museum's paper-based collection of published and unpublished material.  This collection is focused on the history of the railway in the Northwest, railroad technology and related material.  Its primary purpose is to support collection care and interpretation however there is significant demand from students and researchers for access to the unique collection.  The new Library and Archives will provide a reading room for public access to this collection of non-circulating material.  The Museum's administrative functions will also be housed in this facility.

Funding 

The Train Shed contract is for $2.8 million. Tax and project administration will add $600,000 and track construction another $500,000. Total costs will be nearly $4 million.

Support for the project is widespread. A Transportation Enhanancement grant for $950,000 is the largest contribution. Additional support from Washington's Department of Community Trade and Economic Development and the Washington State Historical Society totals $960,000. 4Culture, the Seattle Foundation, Osberg Foundation, Puget Sound Energy Foundation, the McEachern Foundation and hundreds of individuals have also contributed to the project.

CRC plan view

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The Northwest Railway Museum is located in Snoqualmie, Washington.

Please call us at (425) 888-3030, or email