Northwest Railway Museum Blog: Learning from others

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Learning from others

Main entrance to America's Car

Museum in Tacoma.

On Saturday, February 28, 2015, the Northwest Railway Museum's Board and Staff took a trip to Tacoma, the City of Destiny. There, they visited America's Car Museum and the Fort Nisqually Hudson's Bay Company fort.

The Board of Trustees and Museum Staff are responsible for the governance and management of the Northwest Railway Museum. Measuring efficacy requires benchmarks, but also a commitment to at least considering new ideas. Periodically, there are organized efforts for Trustees and Staff to experience programs, and learn about policies and practices at other institutions. This allows the Train Museum's leaders to maintain a working knowledge of best practices, and to see the best new ideas at other institutions. There is certainly a "fun factor" in visiting and exploring other museums, but it is a lot of work, too.

Scot Keller leads a tour.

Scot Keller is Chief Curator of the Lemay Museum, best known as America's Car Museum. He gave a talk and tour of this national collection where he focused on his work with consultants in developing exhibits. The trustees and staff learned about the car museum's development efforts, exhibit philosophy, and the process of building this new museum that is located right next to the Tacoma Dome. The museum - the foundation of which is the Lemay collection - is truly a underrated gem and was well-worth the visit for the Trustees and Staff. It was an educational experience for the Train Museum leaders, and one most will repeat with their families.

Collections care is performed on the first floor with a fully equipped auto shop.

Stanley Steamer - a steam-powered automobile!

An early Ford F series truck.

Auto colors of the fifties were often seen inside passenger trains too

Main entry for Fort Nisqually.

Next, the Train Museum leaders traveled to Point Defiance, a unit of Tacoma's Metro Parks to visit a living history exhibit. The Fort Nisqually Hudson's Bay Company fort includes both original and replica structures, though the original site is in Dupont. It represents this fur trade center as it operated between 1832 and 1869, an important chapter in Washington's history. It is also emblematic of the era just prior to what the Northwest Railway Museum interprets, when the railroad arrived in Washington territory. Re-enactors operate a small blacksmith shop, perform as an HBC employee in the trading post, and tend the Chief Trader's home. This too is an valuable experience for the Train Museum leaders, and worthy of a family visit.