Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Giving Tuesday is a day of charitable giving held every year on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, and this year is officially Giving Tuesday in the City of Snoqualmie as declared by Mayor Matt Larson.  The Northwest Railway Museum is part of the Giving Tuesday movement, and invites you to support programs and initiatives.  This year support will be directed towards continuing work on NP steam locomotive 924, to assess Puget Sound Electric Railway interurban car 523, and help move former Northern Pacific Railway parlor car 1799 to the Museum from an island in Puget Sound.  And the Museum is grateful for General Fund support too!

Specifically,


Locomotive 924.  Rehabilitation of this former Northern Pacific Railway steam locomotive has been underway for the last two years.  This multi-year effort will allow this 1899-built steam locomotive to operate again!  924 is a City of Snoqualmie and King County Landmark. The locomotive cab and running gear are two of the undertakings contributions are supporting this year, and some additional boiler work will be taking place early next year.  Recent work has included rehabilitation of the steam appliances.  

Parlor car 1799.  Parlor cars were extra fare cars on passenger trains that catered to the needs of the more affluent.  1799 operated between Seattle and Yakima on through trains.  This former Northern Pacific Railway parlor car is located on an island in Puget Sound, and is included on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s Most Endangered Places list.  The owners have offered the car as a donation provided it is removed from the site.  The project is ready to proceed pending receipt of development permits, which is expected to occur early in 2018.  Support is being directed towards the cost of crane, barge and trucking fees.

Interurban car 523.  The Puget Sound Electric Railway operated electric trains between Seattle and Tacoma from 1902 through 1928.  Car 523 is the only known surviving car, and originally served as a combination coach/parlor/observation car. It arrived in Snoqualmie in September.  Support towards this project will help funding a complete assessment, and the first phase of its structural rehabilitation to repair side sill damage caused by the car’s reuse as a residential home.

The General Fund is a great way to support the Northwest Railway Museum without designated a specific project or initiative.  Support received designated towards the general fund will be used for regular programs including School Train, operation of the Snoqualmie Depot, and the operation of web sites like www.WellingtonRemembered.org

Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to support the Northwest Railway Museum.  Please visit the donate now page and choose your favorite project!

Digital collections now available online

The main page of Digital Collections.

The Northwest Railway Museum recently completed a 4Culture Collection Care (Heritage) grant: Small Object Cataloging. The project proposed to catalog a selection of small railway artifacts and provide the public with a way of viewing those items through the Museum’s website. 

As part of the project, more than 600 objects were cataloged using Past Perfect Museum software. The software also includes a function that allows the public to view designated collection items online. The Digital Collections are available for perusal on TrainMuseum.org under Research. The Museum selected a small sample of artifacts for the online collection under three categories: lanterns, ephemera, and tools of the trade. 

The Digital Collections are available at no cost to the public on TrainMuseum.org. Additionally, some artifacts from this project are on display in the Train Shed Exhibit Building, which had approximately 14,000 visitors in 2017.

Sample page of the Ephemera collection.

Lantern main page.

Sample table of contents for Tools.

Sample page of the Lantern collection.

Railway history is an under-represented heritage theme yet railroads played an extremely important role in getting people to the Pacific Northwest and materials out of the area. The Digital Collections help tell that story to the public through photographs and collections data.

A 4Culture Collection Care (Heritage) grant funded this exhibit. 4Culture is the cultural funding agency for King County, Washington. Using Lodging Tax and 1% for Art funds, 4Culture has four program areas to serve the county: arts, heritage, historic preservation, and public art. For more info on 4Culture, visit their website at 4Culture.org.