Yuletide Express

The Covid-19 pandemic is continuing its impact on Washington State, and public events remain under suspension.  Unfortunately, this means the annual Santa Train - an event that has run every year since 1969 - has been canceled.  The Museum is instead offering a holiday-themed train excursion called Yuletide Express.  The Yuletide Express offers a safe, fun, and uplifting experience for families.  

Participants enjoy a 25 minute train excursion to Snoqualmie Falls.  Santa is riding the train and presenting boys and girls with a small gift, and as participants detrain they receive two cookies from the Pacific Cookie Company.  Life-sized photographic portraits of Santa are positioned at the Snoqualmie Depot to provide for a safe photo opportunity with Santa.  

Yuletide Express is a shorter, less intimate experience than Santa Train, but it complies with all the applicable guidelines for railroads from the Centers for Disease Control.  In keeping with these guidelines, masks are mandatory and the requirement is enforced for everyone five years of age and older.  The train well ventilated with windows or doors open throughout.

The Yuletide Express is operating weekends from Snoqualmie through December 19.  Tickets at $24 and are available at shop.TrainMuseum.org  

New arrival

The Northwest Railway Museum is delighted to announce the arrival of a new and more comprehensive online ticketing system.  This month, advance ticketing was launched for the Santa Train, Grand Tour, and the Snoqualmie Valley Wine Train events.  The new system is built on the Museum's TAM Retail Point of Sale System and - when fully implemented - will allow advance ticketing for all regular trains too. 

The new system has been designed to provide flexibility so it can be expanded as the Museum continues to grow, but also to improve security.  For instance, the new ticket system requires users to create a user account.  This process is intended to reduce attempts to illegally or inappropriately use the ticket system.  However, the user account will speed any user's subsequent ticket purchase because it will eliminate the need to re-enter contact information.

Ticket are now on sale for the September 1 Grand Tour, Snoqualmie Valley Wine Trains in September and October, and the annual Santa Train.  Visit https://shop.TrainMuseum.org/Events.aspx to select and purchase your tickets today.

Victorian Santa

Santa Train is a Northwest tradition that began in 1969.  Each year thousands are thrilled to see Santa, but one day is extra special: Victorian Santa Train!

Friday, December 15th was Victorian Santa Train 2017 at the Northwest Railway Museum.  Guests enjoyed a train excursion to Snoqualmie, received cookies and hot chocolate from the Army Ambulance Kitchen car, and had a visit with Victorian Santa in the Snoqualmie Depot.  

Young guests received on Santa's lap were treated to a Jacob's Ladder gift, which is a wooden toy popular in the late 19th Century.  It was the toy that every kid said they had to have!  And the atmosphere was made oh so much more festive with the enthusiastic participation of Victorian (and Edwardian!) reenactors dressed in period clothing.


Check out these images from this year's Victorian Santa Train!

Scenes from Santa Train

Santa Train has been a Northwest tradition since 1969.  This year more than 11,000 guests will ride a vintage train, enjoy a hot cocoa and Krustez cookies baked in an authentic army kitchen car range, and visit with Santa.  Younger visitors may enjoy a gift from Santa, or perhaps some coal . . . And for some families who have enjoyed Santa Train for 20, 30 or even more years, every year brings something new and memorable, yet the experience is infinitely repeatable.  Here are a few unique "wintery" images to enjoy from this year's Santa Train!

Successful Santa Train 2014

Last Saturday, the Northwest Railway Museum wrapped up a successful Santa Train, an event that was first hosted in 1969.  Reflecting on the eight-day event, 11,200 guests were served, more than 24,000 cookies were baked, about 320 gallons of hot cocoa were prepared, and 40 gallons of coffee were brewed.  This year's event also featured the first steam-powered Santa Train in 25 years.  In all, this was the largest Santa Train by numbers served, with 500 more guests than the previous record.

Many thanks are in order.  First and foremost, to the 61 volunteers that contributed time and talent to running the event and making it successful.  Volunteers put up seasonal decorations, served as Santa's helpers, addressed any problems as they occurred, served on the train crew, baked cookies, served the refreshments, helped in the gift shop, cleaned up garbage, and helped direct guests to Santa and the kitchen car.

Thanks are also in order to the many Museum supporters.  Many thanks to Continental Mills who donated Krusteaz cookie dough to the event; to the many media partners who helped spread the word; the City of Snoqualmie parks staff who helped clean the restrooms in the Snoqualmie Depot; the Si View Park District who maintained the restrooms in the North Bend Depot; the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce staff who helped publicize the event and host the ice rink for several days in downtown Snoqualmie; 4Culture and City of Snoqualmie who provided sustained support grants to the Museum using lodging taxes collected at the Salish Lodge and Spa, and hotels and motels across King County; and last but certainly not least, anyone who helped support the event who Spike has inadvertently omitted from this important list.

There are also thanks owed to the Museum's Board of Trustees who provide the governance and oversight that allow this event to continue, to the part and full-time staff who work additional hours to ensure the event operated smoothly (even helping clean the restrooms!), and especially to the two very talented Santa actors and their two elf actors!

And thanks to all the guests who purchased tickets, enjoyed the event, and made all the other efforts worthwhile!

Seasons Greetings from all of us at the Northwest Railway Museum.

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!

Gearing up locomotives for Santa Train!

Santa Train is the Northwest Railway Museum's annual family event held after Thanksgiving.  First hosted in 1969, this seasonal excursion has become a tradition for thousands of Northwest families.

Locomotive 4012 as it arrived in 2000.

4012 was acquired from the Yakima.

While preparing for this year's event, an engine crew caught locomotive 4012 being a little too much in the spirit of the season: it was a emitting a sound strangely similar to the Ghost of Christmas Past from Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  The 4012 is a 1953-built Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS4-TC that has operated for the Museum for many years.  It has been a very reliable locomotive and has rarely been out of service.  A quick assessment found that the culprit was the engine cooling fan, which had suffered a partial failure.

The cooling fan is an important part of any diesel engine.  On the 4012, it is powered with the diesel engine by coupling a universal joint to the end of the engine driveshaft.  The universal transmits power to an angle drive and the cast aluminum blades are mounted directly on top. The speed of the fan is directly proportional to the speed of the diesel engine.  

After the fan drive was disassembled, the problem was evident: a number of gear teeth had stripped off one of the miter gears.  So each rotation of the shaft caused the gear to slip, which also damaged the universal joint.  If left unchecked, continued use would have stripped all the teeth off the gear and resulted in an overheated diesel.

Broaching a keyway.

Fortunately, an identical  6 diametrical pitch, 30 tooth, 45 degree miter gear with a 20 degree pressure angle was available from a gear manufacturer.  Unfortunately, the bore was too small for the existing driveshaft.  So Curator Pappas has his work cut out for him.

Gear mounted on shaft.

Using the Museum's Monarch engine lathe, the bore was enlarged.  The second step was broaching a keyway in the bore to engage the key present in the shaft to assure power transmission rather than slipping.  Rather than purchase an expensive broaching set or contracting this work out, this was handily achieved by grinding a broaching single point tool and running it on a boring bar by hand with the lathe carriage.  This yielded a perfect keyway that needed no hand fitting.  The final step was facing the hub of the bear so as to set the lash.  The gear pressed on the shaft with no problems and the gearbox has been reassembled.

A test run of the 4012 quickly established that everything was correctly fitted.  Now locomotive 4012 is ready to pull nine days of regular Santa Train 2014 to North Bend, and to support steam locomotive SCPC 2 on the special Friday, December 19 Steam Santa Train. 

  

Hallloween train steam

The locomotive was hot, though the weather was not. Even so, scores and scores came to experience steam at the Northwest Railway Museum for the final scheduled trains of 2014.  Some guests got their tickets in advance on the Museum's web site, while others bought their tickets just prior to departure. In all, more than 1,000 people rode the steam train, a wonderful way to end scheduled operations for 2014.

The annual Halloween trains operated on October 25 and 26.  Many guests were dressed in Halloween costumes, and cider press demonstrations were presented on the Snoqualmie Depot platform.  Five-car trains operated on Saturday, while four-car trains operated on Sunday, and the event presented an opportunity for the newly-rehabilitated coach 218 to get a really thorough shakedown. 

Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 pulled trains both days.  Crews ably handled the locomotive despite occasional heavy rain, leaves on the rails, and sanders that struggled with the humid conditions.  Meanwhile, Curator of Collections Stathi Pappas kept a close watch on bearings for overheating using an infrared thermometer.

The next opportunity for a steam experience is during Santa Train 2014 in December.  On Friday, December 19 only, Santa Trains will be pulled by SCPC 2. So come and enjoy another "new" steam experience at the Northwest Railway Museum!  Tickets are available in advance here, but don't delay because Santa Train usually sells out in advance.

Merry Christmas!

Deputy director Jessie C., Visitor services 
James S., Volunteer coordinator Cristy L., 
Bookkeeper Jennifer Y. and Director 
Richard A.

Christmas and the railroad

In their roles as museum educators, staff work hard to remain truthful and accurate in creating interpretive programming. However, they must also use today's conventions to help people understand yesterday's.  Identifying the year-end holiday season as "Christmas" considers a recent Angus Reid Global poll that found 80% of people in the United States, Britain and Canada prefer to call the holiday season "Christmas." That is a pretty convincing majority!

So what do a refer car, box car, brakeman, coach car, express car, locomotive, conductor, railroad bridge, depot, and chapel car all have to do with "Christmas?"  Everything!

While examining the impact of railroads on the Northwest it is nearly impossible to ignore the role of significant cultural practices, including the celebration of Christmas. Why? Christmas and other major holidays have had - and continue to have - a tremendous impact on railway transportation including express, freight and passenger service.  Railroads brought (bring) families together, letters and packages to family members, and goods to retailers. Railroads even transport many Christmas trees from farms to your local communities.  So Christmas might not be very merry without the railroad!

Thank you to everyone! 

As another successful Santa Train program is completed and 2013 draws to a close, I am delighted to reflect upon another great year at the Northwest Railway Museum. In doing so, what is clearly evident are all of the generous contributions of time, talent and funding that have helped make the Northwest Railway Museum and its programs possible.  By the numbers, the human side of the Museum's success was a handful of management and other key staff, a dozen trustees and advisers, a gaggle of special contractors, more than 125 volunteers, and hundreds of donors. They all worked together to serve more than 90,000 guests who got to see and understand the role railroads played in the development and settlement of the Northwest.  

From all of us to all of you, have a Merry Christmas!

--Spike

New marketing director appointed

The Northwest Railway Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of a new team member.  Jennifer Osborn has joined the Northwest Railway Museum as the new Marketing Director. She is replacing Sue VanGerpen who after serving more than six years left the Museum earlier this month to accept a position at another Valley business.

Ms. Osborn arrives at the Museum via the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce where she performed the functions of Business Manager. She brings with her a wealth of community knowledge and connections.

Jennifer’s new responsibilities at the Museum include managing Snoqualmie Railroad Days, leading of the overall marketing effort, and community outreach.  Principally, Jennifer will be working with the Museum’s other key staff to update and implement the strategic marketing plan.  The plan will feature improved awareness for the Museum’s favorite annual events: Santa Train, Day Out With Thomas, and Snoqualmie Railroad Days.  It will also focus on building attendance throughout the year, especially for educational programming.

Ms. Osborn has a strong background in education.  Prior to working at the Chamber, she completed her Masters degree in Education, which included an internship in guidance counseling at Aviation High School in Seattle. She has also worked for the Snoqualmie Valley School District at Snoqualmie Middle School.

Jennifer was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia and always wanted to return to the Pacific Northwest. Her family has lived in the Snoqualmie Valley for the last eight years after relocating here from Carlsbad, California. Both of her daughters attend Mt. Si High School and are very active in their school community.

Jennifer is very involved in the local community.  She is a member of the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum Board and is a member of the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation Board. The history and future of the Snoqualmie Valley are very important to her and make her a great fit for the Northwest Railway Museum.

Welcome aboard Jennifer!


Checkin' It Twice

Santa Claus checks his list while riding Santa Train (R).



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine you and your family aboard a vintage train with the scenic Cascade foothills outside your antique coach window. As you journey from North Bend to Snoqualmie, you hear the wheels on the train clickety-clack beneath you. The train pulls into the station and you see Santa Claus, Ms. Claus and Zoe the Elf waving from the platform. As you alight from the train, the aroma of fresh-baked cookies greets you. You hurry into the railway kitchen car for hot cocoa and coffee to go with your cookies. Santa is waiting to see your family in the depot and he has a small gift for each of your children.

Is this a dream? No, it’s Santa Train®, the more than four decades old tradition at the Northwest Railway Museum. You and your family can be part of it. Purchase your Santa Train tickets online or in person now, or by phone beginning October 29.

Santa and the cookies will be waiting for you!

Another successful Santa Train event

Zoe (Santa's oldest elf) and Ms. Claus

joined Santa in greeting children and

preparing the list of who is naughty

 and nice.        

         Santa Train is the Northwest Railway Museum's premier event; it has been a Northwest tradition for 43 years.  Visitors travel on a 2 hour excursion on a century-old train from North Bend to Snoqualmie, visit with Santa and enjoy refreshments prepared in an authentic railway kitchen car.

        In 2011 trains ran for eight days and served 11,200 visitors.  The kitchen car stoves baked more than 24,000 cookies and Kris Kringle distributed nearly 7,000 small gifts to children.  Factors in a successful event include the 57 dedicated volunteers and permanent staff that hosted the event, and awesome community support from the Snoqualmie Valley. 

       Volunteers crewed the train, helped guide people around the depot, assisted Santa, served refreshments in the kitchen car.  They decorated the Snoqualmie Depot, the kitchen and the train.  They baked cookies, sold and mailed tickets, cleaned the coaches, and set up craft tables.  More than 1,600 hours were invested in preparing and hosting Santa Train.

24,000 cookies were rolled and baked
in the railway kitchen car. A dedicated
 team of volunteers served them too!  

        Continental Mills contributed Krusteaz® cookie dough and North Bend's John Day Homes provided monogrammed cups for hot cocoa and coffee.  The City of Snoqualmie Parks Department cleaned and maintained the restrooms in the Snoqualmie Depot.  They also did an outstanding job of decorating Railroad Park in downtown Snoqualmie.  The North Bend Public Works Department cleaned and maintained the North Bend Depot.

        2011 brought several important improvements to the kitchen car too.  The demise of Borders Books provided an opportunity to acquire and install an SBC Coffee machine.  New 300 ounce insulated beverage dispensers were acquired to improve cocoa service.  A new dough mixer has improved the quality and consistency of cookies. And a new cookie flavor was introduced: lemon!

        Santa Train is a wonderful event and all of us here at the Northwest Railway Museum really enjoy hosting it. Wishing you Happy Holidays from all of us at the Northwest Railway Museum.

Families young and younger rode in century-old coaches.

Seasonally decorated coaches greeted Santa Train passengers.

Locomotives featured wreaths and Santa's own class lights.

Excited children arrive in Snoqualmie.

As he rode back to the North Pole, Santa reviewed his "nice" list. 
Santa was very pleased to note that none of the children who visited
him in Snoqualmie were on the naughty list.