5 July 2011 & 18 July 2011- A City of Snoqualmie grant facilitated the reconstruction of the Meadowbrook Way SE railway crossing. RailWorks of Chehalis installed new ties, clean ballast, welded rail and new concrete crossing panels to meet the needs of the community. The construction is similar to the Newton and River Streets crossings in downtown Snoqualmie completed in the early 2000s. The $38,000 project began July 5 and was substantially completed in time for Day Out With Thomas on Friday, July 8, 2011. The project was detailed in a recent blog post: Northwest Railway Museum blog.

24 June 2011 - The Northwest Railway Museum participated in the Seattle Foundation's Give BIG initiative and it was an unqualified success. During the 17 hour event, donors contributed more than $16,000 to the Museum, which is being partially matched by The Seattle Foundation and their event sponsors bringing the total contribution to $19,000!

Give BIG was an online giving challenge presented by The Seattle Foundation. On Thursday, June 23, 2011 from 7 AM to midnight, all contributions to the Northwest Railway Museum made through the Seattle Foundation website gateway were partially matched by the Foundation's and local sponsors' Stretch Pool. All proceeds designated for the Museum have been directed towards completion of the Train Shed Exhibit Building and collection care program work at the Museum.

Join as as we Give BIG thanks to The Seattle Foundation and their GiveBIG partners including Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle International Foundation, JPMorgan Chase; lead sponsors Microsoft, The Boeing Company, Puget Sound Energy; and more than two dozen supporters! 

After a brief line outage, regular excursion service to Snoqualmie Falls resumed April 2, 2011. Track reconstruction to correct unavoidable impacts caused by PSE's Snoqualmie Falls Generating Station project were undertaken and the line has been reopened. The $120,000 reconstruction project replaced subgrade, ballast, and ties for a distance of 600 feet. The successful bidder was RailWorks of Centralia, WA. The Museum has posted a blog video illustrating some of the work that was performed in that spectacular location.

Check out the schedules and fares for this season. All aboard!

 

 

7 March 2011 - The Museum's annual working on the Railroad benefit dinner was held Friday, March 4 at the Salish Lodge and Spa. 90 guests enjoyed a delightful meal prepared by the Salish's award winning kitchen, a silent auction, live auction, a chapel car 5 rehabilitation update, and a theatrical rendition of a visit from the Reverend and Mrs. Neil, chapel car 5's first pastor, from 1898 - 1900. Proceeds from this event are benefiting the rehabilitation of the Messenger of Peace now underway in the Conservation and Restoration Center, and planned for completion in 2012.

 

A permit is required for all commercial photography at the Northwest Railway Museum. This includes all individual and family portrait sessions where a photographer is hired to perform the work. The permit is available for purchase at the Depot Bookstore and allows the photograp her to shoot for 90 minutes on Museum grounds. The cost is $50. Larger projects will require a more extensive evaluation - please respect the Museum's private property and the immense cost of maintaining the collection and operating programs. Contact the bookstore clerk for more information: (425) 888 - 3030 x 202 or info@trainmuseum.org.

8 November 2010 - The Museum has gratefully accepted the donation of caboose X101. Jack Hoover developed a representative collection of Northwest rail history on his ranch in Belt, Montana prominently featuring former Great Northern wood caboose X101. His daughter Christina Blackwell announced the donation of his caboose to the Museum while attending the Train Shed dedication on October 2. The caboose was moved to the Museum on November 4 & 5; the move was detailed in a blog post here.

X101 dates from 1892 and is the oldest known surviving Great Northern caboose. It will be a featured exhibit in the new Train Shed exhibit building beginning in 2011. The Museum is grateful to Mr. Hoover's family for their generosity and for providing this incredible interpretive opportunity.

Snoqualmie - The Train Shed exhibit building was dedicated on October 2, 2010. 186 guests traveled by train to view the new building and participate in the ceremony. The $4.3 million facility was the result of years of effort and was completed this fall. The event was covered in detail in the Museum's blog here.

Track construction began in earnest in August and is being performed by volunteers. Over 2,700 feet of track is being constructed and will connect the Train Shed with the Museum's main track and the CRC.

20 January 2012 - 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 per month 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.)