Seasons Greetings!

The Museum's key staff represent a very

diverse group of qualifications that sup-

port many mission-critical functions. 

From left to right, Gary James, ship-

wright; Richard Anderson, executive

director; Cristy Lake, registrar and

volunteer coordinator; Lara Ballinger,

bookstore buyer; Stathi Pappas, large

object curator; Peggy Barchi, market-

ing manager; Jessie Cunningham,

deputy director and educator; James

Sackey, visitor services; and Jennifer

Youngman, bookkeeper.

From all the Trustees and Staff at the Northwest Railway Museum to all the supporters, patrons, volunteers, donors, visitors, and all 'round fans, thank you for another great year.

There are many components in a successful Museum, and chief among those are willing and generous supporters.  So whether you donated goods, services, funds, volunteer hours (more than 14,000 in 2015!), or bought tickets to visit or ride, thank you for your role in making 2015 successful!

The senior staff recently got together to reflect on the last 12 months, and tour Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace.  As 2015 winds down, the Museum has secured necessary permits to build the new Railway Education Center, installed a new exhibit in the Train Shed, made significant progress in the rehabilitation of steam locomotive 924, successfully nominated 924 to the Landmark Register, operated more than 37 days of steam with the visiting SCPC 2, refinished the floors in the Snoqualmie Depot, performed additional rehabilitation on chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace, and performed major work on coach 276. 

Wow, 2015 was a busy year!  Yet 2016 looks like it may be even busier with plans for construction of the new Railway History Center, near completion of locomotive 924, additional coach work, and more.  Your support always makes a difference and we invite you to consider - even encourage you - an end of year donation to the Northwest Railway Museum so that this important work may continue.

Seasons Greetings, and thank you for your support.

Snoqualmie Depot celebrates 125 years!

Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2015 included a special celebration, one that occurs just once in an historic structure's life cycle. Sunday, August 16, 2015 commemorated the 125th birthday of the Snoqualmie Depot.  

It was a beautiful day in historic downtown Snoqualmie.  The temperature was in the low 70s and there was not a cloud in the sky.  More than 125 people gathered before the Snoqualmie Depot's distinctive octagonal turret to hear a dedication by Museum Board President Dennis Snook.  Surrounded by historic reenactors dressed in their late 19th Century finery, President Snook spoke of the Depot's construction in 1890, how it was completed in 90 days, and cost just $4,200. Constructed by the firm of Anderson and Scott, the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway commissioned this unusually elaborate depot designed in the late Queen Anne style.    

City of Snoqualmie Councilmember Bob Jeans presented a proclamation from Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson acknowledging the Depot's birthday, its importance to the community's past, present, and future, and declaring Sunday, August 16, 2015 as Snoqualmie Depot Day. The success of the Depot as the centerpiece of historic downtown Snoqualmie has been a cornerstone of the redevelopment of the district and the City of Snoqualmie has been an important partner with the Museum.

The next presentation was by Mike Seal, one of the founding partners of Sigillo Cellars in Snoqualmie.  They dedicated a special limited bottling of wine in commemoration of the Snoqualmie Depot's 125th anniversary.  "Cab 125" is 2013 vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon available at Sigillo Cellars in Snoqualmie (right across the street from the Depot) for $25 per bottle until it is sold out.  The spectacular artwork was developed by Sharon D. Siegel and donated to the effort.

The event was capped off with a splendid "coming together" of steam and diesel in front of the Snoqualmie Depot.  Snoqualmie Valley Railroad locomotive 4012 and Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 made a ceremonious coupling to the delight of all in attendance.  Then all attendees were invited to join the Museum's Board of Trustees for cake and lemonade. Happy 125th Anniversary Snoqualmie Depot!

Photos courtesy of Dave Honan.  Special thanks to the Northwest Railway Museum Board of Trustees for organizing the Snoqualmie Depot 125 Celebration.

Steam trains return July 4 & 5!

Steam trains are returning to the Northwest Railway Museum on July 4 and 5, 2015!  The first departure is at 11:30 AM from Snoqualmie.  Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $12 for children.  You can purchase tickets in advance and pickup them up at will call prior to boarding the train. There is no service charge for using the Museum's online ticketing system, and it will reserve space for you and your family!  So why wait?  Order here today!

 

Trains will be pulled by Santa Cruz Portland Cement steam locomotive 2.  There will be departures from Snoqualmie each day at 11:30 AM, 1:00 PM, 2:30 PM, and 4:00 PM.  Just a year into service after years of effort were expended restoring this early 20th Century gem, "The Chiggen" is ready to steam for the weekend. This will be the last weekend of regular trains before Thomas the Tank Engine visits Snoqualmie so come and ride the line in style, behind SCPC 2!

SCPC 2 winter work

The Santa Cruz Portland Cement steam locomotive 2 ("SCPC 2") is at present the resident steam locomotive at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie.  It is from the personal collection of Stathi Pappas, the Museum's Curator of Collections, and is the flagship of the developing steam program introduced at the Museum last year.  While the Museum's locomotive - Northern Pacific Railway 924 - undergoes a complete rehabilitation, the SCPC 2 is leading all steam excursions and is training new engine crew.  However, like all steam locomotives, an ongoing preventative maintenance and upgrade program is essential to sustainable success.  So this past winter, the SCPC 2 received some important attention.

First of all, a little about the 2.  In 2014, SCPC 2 ran over 1,000 miles on four different railroads across the west coast, and everything relating to her rebuild (completed in 2013) performed very well.  However, a few items were not addressed in the initial project as time constraints of the west coast tour just would not allow everything to be completed before departing for California.  These were remachining the piston rods, pistons and ring grooves, new piston rings, redesigned packing, new crosshead wedges, remachining and relining the crosshead guides, and remachining the crosshead slippers. Although there was no evidence of blow by, and the bores and pistons were inspected prior to being put in service, the author decided to finish these last few items before returning the 2 to service Memorial Day weekend.

In January the author and his crew of volunteers ("Team Chiggen") stripped the cylinder saddle of covers, crossheads, guides, pistons, etc and began the process of rebuilding.  In order to assure perfect concentricity and no taper of the piston rod, the best method of machining is to rough machine to round, then use a tool post grinder to assure surface finish and concentricity.  At the same time, the team turned the ring grooves, preparatory for new rings.  

 

The specification for engines this size is for a the ring groove to be .005" over the width of the rings to assure steam tightness.   Meanwhile, new rings were purchased from Niagara Piston Ring to specific dimensions. Although Team Chiggen is more than capable of making piston rings in house, it is less expensive to source completed rings than to buy the rough material to manufacture from scratch.

At the same time, the original rod packing on the locomotive left a lot to be desired.  The author had researched going to a La France style packing similar to what the Cumbres and Toltec, and the Durango and Silverton use on their locomotives, and found a very competitively priced version available through That Steam Guy.  This owner - though not associated with the seller - is quite happy with the product.  In response to more recent steam locomotive practice, also installed were four packing elements per side based upon the South African Railway and Chinese data for multiple packing elements rather than the more familiar two. 

While piston work was underway, Team Chiggen remachined and set up the crosshead guides in order to maintain perfect alignment of the piston rod within the packing gland to prevent premature wear of the piston rod, rings, pistons, and bores.  After the guides were machined and and temporarily installed, string lines were run through the bores perfectly in alignment with the cylinder and checked against the guides to assure parallelism.  

On the left side, all was well, but the right side (shown at right) required work to bring the guides into specification with the bores, thus demonstrating the necessity of doing this type of work, even if things "look ok."  

After a little effort, the piston, rod, and ring assembly were ready to re install on the right side.  Those with keen eyes will notice the presence of double rings in each groove.  The owner decided to do this rather than two wide rings due to the overwhelming evidence to support the higher sealing abilities of multiple narrow rings over wide ones.


Now, in order to assure the piston rod is running parallel to the bores and crosshead guides, the crosshead slippers themselves must be machined and fit to assure the center line of the tapered socket is in the right place.  The accompanied photos show one of the four remachined slippers ready for installation, and the entire assembly, straight and true, with a new machined crosshead wedge to assure years of trouble free operation.  

So after all this work, there is no better way to prove if it all works than to try it.  So last Sunday was test day: Team Chiggen fired the locomotive up, and put her on the head end of the last passenger train of the day.  Rest assured that diesel is in isolation, and the Chiggen is pulling the consist up the 1.2% grade to the top of Snoqualmie Falls. Everything performed admirably and the team called the test so successful, there was a second charge up the hill just for fun!

So for all of you in the local area, come on out this Saturday through Monday (Memorial Day Weekend) and take an excursion at Northwest Railway Museum behind the new and improved SCPC 2!  Fares and times are here.  And remember, there is full summer season of steam this year, and a variety of special programs including Snoqualmie Railroad Days in August, so check out the details on the Museum's web site at www.trainmuseum.org

A special thanks to Team Chiggen: John Graddon, Adam Phillips, Zeb Darrah, Karl Klontz, Nathan Iverson, Steven Hughes, Mark Speer, Mike Donnelly, Jason Hill, CJ Vargas, Bill Gejerstad, David Wilhite, Andy Walker, Ken Liesse, Jason Sobcynski, and many others who help make this all possible!

--SCPC winter work was a guest post by Northwest Railway Museum Curator of Collections Stathi Pappas--

Steam Santa Train

In another important 2014 development for the Northwest Railway Museum, the first steam-powered Santa Train since 1989 operated on December 19, 2014.  The Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 pulled sold-out four-car trains from North Bend to Snoqualmie where passengers disembarked to visit with Santa and receive refreshments prepared inside the railway kitchen car.  The SCPC 2 is owned by the Museum's curator and is helping train volunteers in preparation for a permanent steam program.  While not indigenous to the Northwest, the SCPC 2 is an excellent example of a small steam locomotive and is a powerful tool for interpreting steam locomotive operation.

 

Steam Santa Train was quite popular and successful  More than 1,200 people made the journey on December 19, and younger visitors who still believe received a small gift from Santa, which this year was an LED flashlight.  The day closed without incident and will likely be repeated in 2015 - check out the steam-centric photos of the event below!

Steam Santa Train departs from the North Bend Depot and travels to

Snoqualmie where the Santa experience takes place.

Periods of sunshine brightened the day, but crisp air allowed escaping steam

to persist making the event feel rather ethereal.

Santa Train has a tight schedule: the train completes a run every sixty minutes.

To maintain the schedule, a water truck topped up the water in North Bend at

the end of each run.

The SCPC 2 was very popular with the visiting public and crowds quickly

gathered after each arrival.

Steam Santa Train included a very rare 4:00 departure, which meant nearly

the entire experience occurred after sunset.

Heading up the coach consist was the newly-rehabilitated SP&S 218, a wood

coach built by Barney and Smith in 1912.

 

There is something truly magical about a steam locomotive operating after

sunset!

Happy Birthday, Washington State — remix

Five years ago, we took credit on these pages for Washington State's 120th birthday. Well, we won't do that again.

Instead, we'll take credit for its quasquicentennial!

We said it then and we'll say it again: it was no coincidence that railroad builder D. H. Gilman signed this Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company stock certificate in 1888, and that U.S. President Benjamin Harrison signed Proclamation 294 admitting Washington into the Union the following year.

Today, we think the pace of life has rapidly increased with electronics, computers, smartphones — instant this and instant that. And so it has. But that's just what it felt like as the final decades of the 19th Century hurtled toward the 20th. The railroad turned a laborious multi-day journey from Seattle to Snoqualmie into a picnic. Literally. An excursion to Snoqualmie Falls became a recreational day trip. And folks in Snoqualmie? Whatever they wanted could be brought in by rail. Quickly. Life was transformed. So resist that sleepy historic town stereotype and let the flavor and flourish of those days swirl around you. The Depot and other wood buildings from the period can help you picture it.

President Harrison. Courtesy FCIT.

Trains have operated out of the Snoqualmie Depot — the same building — since 1890. The sound of our footfalls may be different without lace-up boots and hard heels. But the creak of the boards would be familiar to those who stepped across the platform and into the ladies' waiting room to purchase their tickets. Incidentally, lengths of rail currently in front and back of the Depot pre-date the building. So if you step over the track to get to the platform, you may touch the very rail that was here when President Harrison signed that proclamation on November 11, 1889.

What else was here then? The two-story building behind the Depot was built not long after — in 1902 — for the Modern Woodmen's fraternal organization. Across King Street, the tavern is the original first floor of a two-story hotel built in 1910.

Across the main street from the Depot, at 8096 Railroad Avenue, another wood building harbors stories of Snoqualmie dating from 1909. And not much more than a block away at the corner of River Street and Falls Avenue, the hip roof porch and posts are among the features that maintain the historical appearance of another 1909 building, although additions and changes have been made to the structure since its original construction for Reinig Brothers General Merchandise.

Is the Snoqualmie of today — a main row of businesses facing the Depot, with additional enterprises peppered around neighboring streets, all in the shadow of Mount Si — so very different from the Snoqualmie shown here in 1897? The Depot-centered activity that greeted Washington's birth as a state has its echoes in activity surrounding the Depot today. More than 1,000 people rode the train during the last weekend of October. And the Northwest Railway Museum recently launched a steam program. So when you board the newly rehabilitated coach 218 with its mahogany paneling and mohair-covered seats, you might have an opportunity to ride in the wake of a steam locomotive. Just like the passengers who looked out those coach windows when the State of Washington was just a whippersnapper.

Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 pulls coach 218 in 2014.