tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89233722223795764342024-03-17T05:52:09.251-07:00Northwest Railway Museum BlogInside the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington.Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.comBlogger445125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-820573693778023832023-10-23T17:03:00.000-07:002023-10-23T17:03:43.784-07:00Fall Book SpotlightHello! Welcome to the Northwest Railway Museum’s fall book spotlight! All four of these lovely books are available to purchase in the Snoqualmie Depot Bookstore, with select titles offered in The Railway History Center! For all you keen eyed museum members, this was originally written for our fall edition of The Sounder and had to be cut to one review – so the remaining reviews are being posted Harvey Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03950957156585758291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-30568349067498080552023-09-08T21:19:00.005-07:002023-09-08T21:19:00.140-07:00924 rides the rails again!Steam locomotive 924 was built in 1899 by Rogers for the St. Paul and Duluth, a shortline railroad extending between the Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth. By 1901, that road had been purchased by the Northern Pacific Railway and the 924 0-6-0 was reassigned to Seattle, Washington. Soon it was switching docks, building trains at King Street Station and building freight trains in freightSpikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-79376922793393882512023-08-31T21:15:00.009-07:002023-08-31T21:49:10.571-07:00Snoqualmie Days 2023Snoqualmie Days 2023 was held on August 18 and 19, and thousands enjoyed live steam locomotive demonstrations, live music, trains, the grand parade, history comes alive, the pancake breakfast, and did we mention live steam locomotives? Please enjoy our photo gallery illustrating this year's event. Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-5030019232467439592023-05-01T11:06:00.006-07:002023-05-11T10:59:43.839-07:00Steam locomotive 1246 returns home!The 1246 has arrived!In the last TrainMuseum blog post, details of the locomotive and its acquisition were revealed. Now it has arrived in Snoqualmie, returning to the Puget Sound region after an absence of more than 40 years!The Great Northern Railway 1246 is popularly known as the Woodland Park Zoo steam locomotive. Displayed near the south entry to the park from 1953 until 1980, Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-2445437010457346192023-04-25T09:12:00.006-07:002023-05-11T10:59:05.140-07:00A Consolidation of efforts for the 1246The 1246 has returning to Washington State and is making its new home at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. Help defray the cost of bringing it home by making a contribution right now!What is the 1246? It is a steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1907 featuring a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement commonly known as a Consolidation.People of a certain Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-23458202854163435672023-03-26T11:29:00.000-07:002023-03-26T11:29:15.528-07:00Celebrating Women in Railway History March is women’s history month, and in the spirit of that we’ve been highlighting groundbreaking and notable female characters in railroad history on our various social media platforms. In this post, we’ll wrap up the month by expanding upon the stories of some of these women, as well as introduce a few new faces. Here’s to women in the past, the present and the future.Anna JudahAnna Judah Harvey Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03950957156585758291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-1074859464773892482023-03-13T15:06:00.005-07:002023-03-13T15:08:19.717-07:00Arsenic and Old BooksThe NRM's collection of possibly poisonous books. In 1820 Archibald Leighton, a bookbinder, and William Pickering, a book publisher, developed a method of coating fabric with starch, making it stiffer – this was the first commercial book cloth and it became a sensation. As cloth bound books became popular in the later 1800s, bookbinders started to take advantage of the wide Harvey Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03950957156585758291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-44495877265384784682023-02-20T15:39:00.003-08:002023-02-20T19:22:47.782-08:00Amtrak Cascades Talgo series VI trainsIn 1996, the Washington State Legislature appropriated $20 million for the lease-purchase of two trainsets by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The trains were intended for use in the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor, a federally designated high-speed train corridor. After a rigorous Request for Proposals process, Talgo was selected to construct the trainsets.&Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-37859420564867907002023-02-10T17:21:00.011-08:002023-02-10T17:36:37.576-08:00Rotary Snowplow on Snoqualmie PassSteam rotary snowplow crew, C.M. & St. Paul Rwy, 1916, Northwest Railway Museum collection.The Cascades are noteworthy for heavy snow. The term "Cascade Concrete" was coined by the earliest railroad workers charged with keeping mountain passes clear of snow. So it was little wonder that railroads in Washington were early adopters of mechanized snow clearing, and steam rotary Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-61941511182315898032022-12-25T01:00:00.004-08:002022-12-25T01:00:00.153-08:00Season's Greetings The Staff of the Northwest Railway Museum wish all our volunteers, trustees, supporters, patrons, and guests and safe and happy holiday season! The Staff enjoyed a holiday celebration in the style of the 14th Century thanks to our friends at Camlann in Carnation, but don't worry: we'll be back with late 19th and early 20th Century railroad operations on January 21st, 2023, Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-5094782650387699032022-09-12T17:22:00.018-07:002022-09-12T17:26:46.998-07:00Pettibone Speedswing(Click image to see larger version) Pettibone invented the"do it all" rail crane.The Northwest Railway Museum first adopted a Pettibone Speedswing in 1994. With Hyrail gear and more than 30,000 pounds it has been used to deliver railroad ties, clean up minor incidents, perform rail exchanges, and reconstruct and demolish track up and down the line from North Bend to Snoqualmie Falls. Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-45997605792988113192022-08-19T10:53:00.001-07:002023-12-06T16:36:10.097-08:00Celebrating Snoqualmie since 1939Snoqualmie Days
(formerly known as Snoqualmie Railroad Days and Snoqualmie Firemen's Festival) is the annual celebration
of the Snoqualmie Valley, its people, and its culture!, but the
original Snoqualmie Days celebrated a specific and important event – the
arrival of the town’s first fire truck. The festival was
originally organized by volunteer firefighters to celebrate the arrival
of theHarvey Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03950957156585758291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-53229980799554696662022-07-29T21:37:00.011-07:002022-07-29T21:43:22.306-07:00Thomas the Tank Engine thrills thousandsThomas the Tank Engine arrives at the RailwayHistory CenterIt has been a full 20 years since Thomas the Tank Engine first visited the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. While the event is structured differently today, the guest of honor remains the highlight of the event.Scratch the Catvisits with Eric Ode In 2022, Day Out With Thomas at the Northwest Railway Museum consistedSpikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-11643608267521594482022-06-21T18:45:00.001-07:002022-06-21T18:45:21.334-07:00Electromatic Mk IITypical track cross sectionThe basis of any good railroad is track, which consist of rails supported by ties held in place by ballast. Unlike roads and highways, when track settles the original profile can be restored by jacking and tamping ballast under the ties to hold them in position. This is an advantage that railroads have over highways, but track is also less forgiving and Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-28481954967840601002022-05-18T21:33:00.008-07:002022-05-19T08:59:39.474-07:00Day Out With Thomas returns in July! Thomas the Tank Engine is returning to Snoqualmie this July, but he made a brief appearance on May 18 when he stopped at the Snoqualmie Depot for water, and to let his driver have a short break. Thomas the Tank Engine is on his way to greet families in British Columbia, but will soon return for his grand event here in Snoqualmie.The Very Useful Engine took a few moments to speak Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-10192303091851729772022-04-29T15:26:00.005-07:002022-04-29T15:35:51.918-07:00Give BIG for an iconic locomotive!Moving the 125.Northern Pacific Railway locomotive 125 is now part of the Northwest Railway Museum collection in Snoqualmie, WA. It moved here last November as part of a much larger project. Now, it is being restored to its appearance when it arrived in Seattle in February 1940 and you can help make it happen. Why is this important? In the Washington Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-53223781558251861702022-03-30T16:39:00.005-07:002022-03-30T17:27:37.083-07:00An infamous anniversaryIt began 80 years ago today. March 30, 1942 was the first day of forced relocation and incarceration of individuals of Japanese ancestry in Washington State. The first affected were the 200 children, women, and men living on Bainbridge Island. By May 22, 1941, employees of the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company logging railroad - who built and maintained an extensive network Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-88478642301547478732022-01-27T16:36:00.001-08:002022-01-28T11:36:13.936-08:00Big wheels rollingCutting heads in position.The Museum's high hood Alco model HH660 locomotive received its first restorative work this week when Scott Hutton - with able assistance from Josh Kiavo - was on hand to turn the wheels. The last operating assignment for the 125 was switching grain cars at the Port of Longview. In this intensive use, the tapered profile of the steel Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-46032232102246681862021-12-18T15:44:00.001-08:002021-12-18T15:44:35.603-08:00Merry Christmas, Jack!Jack taking a short breakin Santa's chair insidechapel car 5 Messenger of Peace.Jack Christensen has had a long railroad career. He began as an engine wiper for the Northern Pacific Railway in the Auburn roundhouse. He first operated a steam locomotive on Christmas Eve 1943 when he was just 16 years old. 16? Yes, apparently the locomotive engineer called for the Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-31138442275110103462021-12-15T16:56:00.003-08:002021-12-15T16:56:52.788-08:00Lake RecognizedThe Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust has recognized Northwest Railway Museum Registrar Cristy Lake for her contributions to the Greenway.Lake was awarded the prestigious Jim Ellis Spirit Award at the Greenway's annual dinner (click to watch a video of the presentation), which recognizes her tireless dedication to the preservation of Snoqualmie Valley and Regional Heritage. Some of herSpikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-55322508208793868252021-11-05T11:22:00.009-07:002021-11-05T11:35:12.534-07:00High hood Alco arrives in SnoqualmieThe locomotive as 770 circa 1950.Locomotive 125 arrived in Seattle in February, 1940 and entered service for the Northern Pacific Railway doing the same work the Museum's former NPR 924 steam locomotive performed years earlier. At that time nearly every train in Washington was pulled by either a steam locomotive or an electric locomotive. Diesel electrics were still an experimentSpikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-74865190856633292872021-11-05T10:28:00.005-07:002021-11-05T10:37:29.200-07:00Locomotive 201 departs the Museum201 on 3 Nov 2021.Locomotive 201 is an American Locomotive Company ("Alco") model RSD4 diesel-electric locomotive constructed in 1951. It served Kennecott Copper for more than 30 years and was subsequently donated to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA in 1985. Although an outstanding example of a first generation road switcher, after the Museum updated its mission and Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-50253498715979929812021-10-21T15:12:00.017-07:002021-11-02T09:35:51.089-07:00Out with the new, in with the oldHeavy things are about to move at the Northwest Railway Museum!Successful museums constantly work to improve the representation of their collections and how it serves their mission. An art museum may want to better represent notable local artists. A flight museum might want the aircraft a local astronaut once flew. A railway museum may want the second diesel electric locomotive Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-54736223641269809302021-09-12T14:50:00.025-07:002021-09-12T16:20:37.943-07:00Restoring a trussPullman builder's photo, courtesy of theCalifornia State Railroad Museum library.Parlor car 1799 is a Pullman Company product constructed almost entirely of wood, and completed in 1901. The car was built for extra fare (first class, similar to business class today) service on the Northern Pacific Railway's Lake Superior Limited serving between Minneapolis/St Paul and Duluth. Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923372222379576434.post-33564455974009804872021-08-30T10:46:00.007-07:002021-08-30T13:36:10.117-07:00Snoqualmie Railroad Days returns!Snoqualmie's original fire truck On August 28 and 29, 2021, Snoqualmie Railroad Days made a triumphant return to the live event scene. Despite the lingering effects of a global pandemic, the annual town festival that has been hosted in downtown for more than 80 years was able to return with a Grand Parade, an impressive car show, and of course the trains.924 attracted attentionOf Spikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16504396621504127375noreply@blogger.com2