2 December 2008, 17 February 2009, 12 March 2009 & 11 June 2009- A contract has been awarded to Wick Constructors of Bellevue to build the new Train Shed exhibit building. The new structure will be built on the Museum's Railway History Center campus on Stone Quarry Road. The award is the result of a public bid process that received 6 proposals that ranged in price from $2.6 million to $3.3 million.

The new exhibit hall that will be used to display rail artifacts including coaches and locomotives. Planned for completion in 2010, the Train Shed was put out to public bid on February 17 through King County; bids closed on March 19.

The building will incorporate 25,000 square feet including four railway tracks with traditional depot-style platform access for museum visitors and will be used to teach, preserve and perpetuate our State’s rich and colorful railway history. A component of the Railway History Center project, the exhibit building will provide sustainabilty for some of the most important and vulnerable artifacts in the collection. And the building itself features many sustainable features in the design including an automated cooling system that uses outside air, and controlled natural light for exhibit spaces.

Exhibits planned for the Train Shed will include religion by rail featuring the National Register chapel car Messenger of Peace, logging on the rails featuring the Enumclaw-built White River Lumber Company caboose 001, and an exhibit on the steam locomotive featuring a locomotive once assigned to switch the King Street station in Seattle (NP 924), which will be used to describe what it was like to work inside the “furnace” called a locomotive cab. 

The construction phase of this project is expected to cost between $2.7 million and $3.3 million exclusive of construction management, tax or track; contributions of $2.8 million have been secured. Major funders include 4Culture, The Seattle Foundation, McEachern Charitable Trust, Capital Projects for Washington's Heritage, Schwab Charitable Fund, Osberg Foundation, PSE Foundation, CTED, and the Federal government's TEA-21 enhancements program.

You can 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.

January 2009 & 10 May 2009 - On January 7 & 8, 2009 the Northwest Railway Museum experienced a major flood event and sustained serious damage. Click here for information and photos of Snoqualmie and the Museum. Repairs were completed in April (progress was documented on the Museum's blog) and trains are operating as scheduled. Thanks to a generous outpouring of community support, flood recovery is now complete. Thank you for all your support!

30 November 2008 - The Northwest Railway Museum today officially launched the new Northwest Railway Museum Blog. A Blog is the popular term to describe a web log and this new web tool will be used to describe what's happening at the Museum with greater detail than practicable using a more traditional web site. The blog will also be used to describe behind-the-scenes details often unseen to most visitors. Coverage of collection care activities, upcoming and current programs, interesting details about objects in the collections and things the museum gets involved with in the local community are just a few of the many topics that are being covered in the Northwest Railway Museum blog.

 

Patrons interested in what's happening at the Museum as reported in the blog can subscibe by email or by using the Atom or RSS feed available on the blog page. (The subscription lists are being maintained by museum staff and there is an option to unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive the blog.) The full address of the blog is www.trainmuseum.blogspot.com

8 September 08 & 8 October 08 - Snoqualmie – The Snoqualmie Depot has new paint on surfaces above the roof gutters.  The depot has decorative dormers and a turret that are the most visible and distinctive features of the building. They also get considerable exposure to the elements.  These surfaces were last repaired and touched up with paint during the roof replacement in 1996. Unfortunately the paint was beginning to peel and immediate attention was required before serious damage occurred.    The first element of the work – cleaning – was performed in 2007 when the roof was treated with a preservative.  The work just completed included scraping away loose and failed coatings, brushing with “Prepbond” to help prevent any additional coating failure, and application of an acrylic latex architectural coating.  Woodinville-based RC Painting performed the work.  The project is being funded in part by a grant from 4Culture.   Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Snoqualmie Landmarks Register, the Snoqualmie Depot is the centerpiece of historic downtown Snoqualmie.

7 & 28 May 08 - Rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow. Those conditions made riding on log cars not only unpleasant but dangerous. These conditions were likely a factor in Washington State enacting a rule that required a caboose on log trains of more than 10 cars. That law (probably) resulted in caboose OO1, a short caboose at just 24 feet but nonetheless an improvement allowing a safer work environment and a safer train.   The caboose was built at Enumclaw in 1945 and that original construction required approval of the wartime ration board. Trucks from a log car and other recycled parts were used to construct the caboose because steel and other raw materials were in short supply. Stock lumber from around the mill was used to frame and clad the carbody.   Caboose 001 was constructed by carpenters at the White River Lumber Company and represents the innovation, adaptability and elegant simplicity that characterized logging by rail in the Northwest. It is framed like a building and lacks most of the joinery common on mainline rail cars. It has no insulation, no kitchen, no toilet, no running water, and no beds. But it does have a table and bench seating, oil heat, and early on was equipped with an Onan light plant to provide electricity for interior and exterior lighting.   The caboose is at the end of an extensive multi- year reconstruction project and is presented as it appeared in 1949. This work is being made possible by the Museum's new Conservation and Restoration Center, a specialized collection care facility completed in 2006. Collection care has taken 4,400 skilled man hours and an expense of over $35,000 for materials. Volunteers completed the work over a period of several years but the majority of effort was focused in a 16 month period. Click here to view progress on Martin N.'s web site.
New exterior cladding appears and then primer. Over4,400 person hours are transforming this badly deteriorated artifact into a signature piece for the Northwest Railway Museum.	The caboose was repainted several times during its service life and were matched to samples found on surfaces protected from light and rain.

Golden Rain Globe Award recognizes achievements in sustainable heritage tourism

24 April 08 - 4Culture, King County’s arts and heritage agency, has awarded its 2008 Heritage Tourism Award to the Northwest Railway Museum of Snoqualmie. The “Golden Rain Globe” highlights an individual, organization, or agency that has most effectively shared the distinctive cultural heritage of King County through successful promotion beyond the local level. This prestigious award was presented April 22 to the Northwest Railway Museum staff and board of trustees, before a large gathering of their peers at the Museum of History and Industry during the Association of King County Historical Organizations’ 25th annual Awards.

“Since 1957, the Northwest Railway Museum has grown into one of the most exciting heritage attractions in King County,” said 4Culture Executive Director Jim Kelly. “With more than 80,000 visitors a year, the museum is a model for sustainable development that serves multiple local, national, and international audiences.”

"Cultural tourism is an important part of our museum's model for sustainability, particularly as we partner with the
City of Snoqualmie to become the anchor attraction in the historic downtown,” says Richard Anderson, Executive Director for the Museum. “We feel very honored to be recognized by 4Culture for our efforts in this regard."

4Culture inaugurated the award in 2007 as a way to recognize the contributions of heritage organizations to the county’s growing heritage tourism industry. The recipient must demonstrate successful adherence to the five principles of sustainable heritage tourism established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation:

• Collaborating with partners
• Finding balance between community and tourism
• Making sites and programs come alive
• Focusing on quality and authenticity
• Preserving and protecting heritage resources

23 April 08 - Aided by a $49,000 US Small Business Administration loan, the Northwest Railway Museum has completed reconstruction of 1.1 miles of mainline track damaged by the November 2006 flooding. Nearly 300 new wooden crossties and 1,000 tons of rock were required to line and level the track to its predisaster alignment. This work supplements emergency repairs completed in mid November 2006 that have allowed the track to continue in service until this final work could be completed. Ace Rail of Graham, Washington performed the surfacing work while tie change out and other work were handled by other contractors.

The draft site plan was developed in 2007 and shows the planned facilities including a Train Shed and Roundhouse for
exhibits, a library/archives, and a turntable.

9 Nov 07 - A complex real estate transaction involving a land swap with Meadowbrook Farm has been completed providing four additional acres for museum develop-ment. The Farm, owned jointly by the City of Snoqualmieand the City of North Bend, is public

open space. In exchange, the Museum has gifted a parcel of commercial land to the Farm that is located near the Mt Si Quarry. The process involved detailed appraisals, and the approval of six agencies: City of Snoqualmie, City of North Bend, Meadowbrook Farm Preservation Association, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, and the Northwest Railway Museum. Click here to read the joint Snoqualmie - Northwest Railway Museum news release describing the transaction. The Museum is grateful for the support of Snoqualmie, North Bend, their respective mayors Larson and Hearing, their respective city councils, and key staff members including Snoqualmie director of communityplanning Nancy Tucker and city attorney Pat Anderson.   The next steps involve design and permitting for the next structure: the train shed. The train shed will be used to exhibit and store transportation artifacts including locomotives, coaches and freight cars and will incorporate 25,000 square feet.

Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson, Museum Executive Director Richard R. Anderson and North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing signed the real estate exchange agreement at a brief ceremony held at the Snoqualmie Depot on November 8, 2007.

Construction is expected to begin in mid 2008 and has a projected cost of $3.2 million. Over $2.4 million has been secured from State and Federal government, private companies, foundations, and individuals.

January 08 & September 08 - Snoqualmie - The Northwest Railway Museum has rehabilitated a coal mine car that was used in a King County coal mine. This representative piece is from the Renton History Museum's collection and was	be rehabilitated at the new Conservation and Restoration Center in Snoqualmie. Work included documentation, fabrication and assembly of a new wood carbody, cleaning of steel and iron components, and limited painting. Upon completion in August 2008, it was returned to Renton where it was be placed on exhibit inside the Renton History Museum. The project was being funded by 4Culture and represents a new type of partnership between two history museums. For Renton, it represents one of their largest artifacts and one that required a different type of care than most of their collection. For the Northwest Railway Museum the project represents typical collection care work that is performed to the Secretary of the Interior standards for the treatment of historic properties. Click here for more information about this project from the Renton History Museum website.
Scott Sleeth helps unload the coal mine car at the CRC on a chilly January 25.
oTeh coal car fram begins to appear again in June 2008. It was completed dismantled to allow rust removal from all ferrous metal components. Fasters were replaced but with square head and carriage bolts common in the early 20th Century.	Coal mine car rehabiliation was completed in August 2008 and the car was prepared for shipping to Renton.