Improving the parking lot

The Northwest Railway Museum has amazing volunteers who possess an impressive diversity of skills.  That fact was clearly on display on Wednesday, 6 January 2021 when Brent M. led a team of volunteers and constructed concrete foundations for two new parking lot lights.  

The parking lot is for the Railway History Center, and the new lighting will improve pedestrian safety during low light and night conditions.  The lights were part of the original Railway Education Center design but cost issues had deferred the project until now.  Soon, two new light towers will be erected on the concrete bases.

Brent and his team with some help from community service workers dug holes, constructed wooden formwork, erected steel reinforcing cages, and tamped concrete into the forms.  A quad of mounting bolts was set into each pour as well.  After the concrete cures for a few days, the formwork will be removed.  After at least a seven day set, the lamps will be erected and connected to power.  An optical sensor will turn the lights off during daylight hours.

Day of Caring 2013

Each September, United Way of King County organizes Day of Caring, an event where thousands of volunteers take the day off from work and volunteer in their communities.  United Way asks non-profit organizations to sponsor projects, and group leaders from the supporting businesses select projects and organize volunteers.  This year, on September 20, 2013, the Northwest Railway Museum participated in Day of Caring by sponsoring a series of projects. 

This year there were a variety of projects at the Railway History Center to help preserve and share railway history.  Teams of volunteers set up more than 1,200 cubic feet of new collection shelving, moved a substantial number of additional shelving pieces, planted native plants and gardened around the Train Shed, worked on window screens and seats for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle coach 218, prepared windows for painting on coach 272, did a thorough cleaning of the Chapel Car, and generally had a fun time of helping care for the Museum.  A total of 35 volunteers from Microsoft participated, and they were assisted by several regular Museum volunteers who helped coordinate the event.

The Northwest Railway Museum thanks all of the volunteers from Microsoft and the Northwest Railway Museum.  It was a very successful day that allowed projects to be completed in one day that would have otherwise taken months to complete.  If you have a group that would like to volunteer for a day, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Cristy Lake.  Volunteering as a group for the day can be a fun way to serve the community and have an enjoyable time with friends and coworkers too. 

Day of Caring at NRM

Every year in September, United Way organizes Day of Caring where thousands of volunteers all take the day off from work and volunteer in their community. United Way asks non-profit organizations to sponsor projects and then group leaders - mostly from companies - sign up for projects and organize volunteers to work on those projects. This year, on September 16, 2011, the Northwest Railway Museum participated in Day of Caring by sponsoring two projects.

The first project was for a group of 16-20 volunteers to come bake cookies for Santa Train in the Museum's historic US Army Ambulance Kitchen car. An amazing group from Marriot Hotels signed up. They were able to bake a ton of cookies and prepare the batter for the upcoming cookie bake on October 22nd. Normally, baking cookies at the Museum is quite an endeavor because bakers use an historic coal-fired oven to bake in and there are very few volunteers who know how to use coal ovens these days. But in this group there was a chef who grew up in Burma who learned to cook on a coal-fired oven. He immediately took charge and everyone was quite impressed.

Our second project was to beautify the Northwest Railway Museum for the Train Shed Grand Opening. 55 volunteers from Microsoft signed up to help clean the Museum. They worked on a mammoth list of tasks to help make the Museum look nicer. At the New Train Shed, to name just a few jobs, they washed windows, swept floors, raked gravel, weeded flower beds, and planted native plant landscaping. They also cleaned the Train Set: they power washed the exterior, vacuumed the coaches, cleaned out the closets and old restrooms, washed windows, reinstalled windows, and tightened up loose benches.

Volunteers worked at the Snoqualmie Depot as well: they painted picnic benches, washed windows, power washed the walkways, and swept. And if all of that was not enough, in the afternoon about half the group went up to the rail yard and worked on cleaning it up, cutting back the weeds and getting some of the equipment ready to be moved to the Train Shed. All told there were 75 volunteers from Marriot and Microsoft sign up plus, to help coordinate the event, four volunteers from the Museum helped run the speeder (railway scooter to move volunteers between work sites) and another three helped supervise the projects.

The Northwest Railway Museum thanks all of the volunteers who helped out from the Marriot, Microsoft and from the Northwest Railway Museum. It was a very successful day! If you have a group that would ever like to come and volunteer for a day, please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator Cristy Lake at any time. Volunteering as a group for the day can be a fun way to serve the community and have an enjoyable time with friends.

Images(From top to bottom)

Volunteers from Marriot Hotels baked cookies and made lunch for everyone.

Microsoft volunteers raking gravel at the Train Shed.

A gentleman from Microsoft spent 6 hours power-washing the brick walkways at the depot – they haven’t looked this good in a long time!

Microsoft volunteers rode to and from the Train Shed by speeder. A big thanks to Jim H., Pete K., Ken L. and Chuck S. for operating the speeder and the train during the day!

Annual Banquet & Volunteer Recognition

This year the Annual Banquet and Volunteer Recognition was held on Saturday February 19th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah. Acting Board President Dennis S. addressed the crowd before we enjoyed a lovely plated lunch, followed by brownies donated by George’s Bakery of North Bend. Participants enjoyed a slide show of Museum activities and programs in 2010, as well as a gift raffle. After lunch there was the State of the Museum address by Executive Director Richard R. Anderson followed by our awards ceremony. This year’s awards were as follows:

The Legacy Award recognizes volunteers who have made exceptional long-term contributions and commitments towards the success of the Northwest Railway Museum. This year’s Legacy Award winner was Jason P.. While involved for a number of years in various capacities, Jason received the Legacy award for his dedication to sound at Day Out With Thomas and RR Days and for his recent leadership in the kitchen car during Santa Train. Jason is always upbeat and seems to easily maintain composure during stressful or adverse conditions. He is a pleasure to work with – thank you Jason!

Hugh H. is this year’s Cliff Sharpe Award winner. The Cliff Sharpe Award is given to a train crew volunteer who makes outstanding contributions towards the operation of the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. Unless he is out of town, Hugh usually spends a day a weekend on train crew, mostly as fireman or rear brakeman. This is a significant commitment towards train operations, done with a friendly demeanor and a great attitude – thank you Hugh!

The Conservation and Restoration Award is presented in recognition of outstanding service in the care of our collection of historic railway transportation artifacts. Typically the award is given upon completion of a restoration or rehabilitation project. This year, however, we chose to honor an individual’s body of work on a currently incomplete project. Marty B., a travelling volunteer, put in 550 hours in three months on the coach 218 project before heading south to warmer weather. Marty primarily worked on windows and was able to complete a significant amount of work. We will always think of Marty when we see coach 218’s windows!

This year’s Community Partner Award goes to Phil S. and Lisa M. of Finaghty’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. Phil has volunteered to manage the main stage during Snoqualmie Railroad Days, including finding and hiring bands, hiring the sound engineer and getting the stage donated. As music is a very important component of the event – having someone volunteer to take care of the whole thing has been greatly appreciated. A big thank you to Phil and Lisa for their community support of our RR Days event!

All in all it was another great day! Thank you to all the volunteers and special guests who attended the banquet - we thoroughly enjoyed the event and hope you did too.

This Santa drives a train

“On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!” may have a better ring than “On, Weyerhaeuser Timber #6! On, Coach NP X-46 and Caboose NP 1203!” But train, not sleigh, was the transportation of choice for Brian Norvell, Santa Train’s very first Santa.

The year was 1969. During warmer months, the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association offered steam train rides for a dollar. Brian’s mother Hazel Norvell and other members of the Women’s Auxiliary conceived of Santa Train as a way to thank the community for its support during the past year. (Women’s auxiliaries were a sign of the times.) They had no idea how many people to expect, but if they charged 25 cents a ticket and if maybe 500 people showed up, it would serve as a fundraiser, too.

So one Sunday in December, Hazel prepared hot chocolate in a stationary kitchen car (NP X-127, a car configured with a coal stove and eating area for railroad workers), and Brian a.k.a. Santa headed down the hill on board the train in hopes of greeting a few folks.

And 1,800 people showed up.

Families rode the train with Santa up the hill on a spur where Snoqualmie Parkway is today and disembarked for cocoa and cookies. (Says Brian, “I felt like a sardine getting squooshed out of the car.”) They stayed as long as they liked, singing carols around a bonfire. Trains came and went. Cookies and hot chocolate ran out, and the Women’s Auxiliary ran all over town in search of more.

The event expanded to two Sundays the next year and two weekends the third year. Guests visited Santa, now seated in an overstuffed chair in a stationary bunk car, and then walked through to the kitchen car for treats. In 1973, Santa handed out candy canes from a big chair on a platform in a combine car’s baggage room that volunteers decorated with leaded glass chandeliers and a tree.

Norvell qualified as a locomotive engineer in 1968. So after sitting for hours in his Santa chair, he enjoyed wrapping up the event by taking over as engineer for the last run. He invited the final family of the day, after they had waited so long to visit him, to ride with him in the locomotive as Santa engineered the train down the hill.

Brian’s parents, sister, wife and children have all contributed to Santa Train’s success. Norvell speaks of the incredible dedication and devotion of volunteers, especially in those early days when they worked entirely outdoors (which was “pretty brutal”), monitoring pipes during freezing weather so they would have running water, making sure there was enough firewood. What a change from today, he notes, with a fully restored depot and new buildings under construction. “It’s wonderful to see the dream we all dreamt as teenagers finally coming to fruition,” Brian says. “That’s awesome.”

Then he muses about this year’s 40th annual Santa Train, “We probably have grandkids of those who sat in my lap.” In fact he’s right. You can read about that here. Santa Brian and his mother started one fine tradition.


Photo: Santa Train's very first Santa Brian Norvell (right) poses with the 40th annual Santa Train's Santa.

Giving Thanks in 2009

15 things the Northwest Railway Museum is thankful for (in no particular order):

1. Sprinkler systems! (The Snoqualmie Depot was spared from major fire damage by sprinkler heads located on the structure’s exterior.)

2. Successful flood recovery. (On January 8 the Museum experienced the most significant flood event in its history and recovered in time to operate trains in April as scheduled.)

3. Broad base of community support from a truly successful community. (Participation through programs, volunteering, contributing funds, donating goods and services, and helping protect the museum from fire, flood and even petty crime.)

4. Popular programs. (2009 experienced record-setting participation in the Museum’s programs.)

5. Beautiful scenery in a great location. (A beautiful location helps the Museum be successful, and is part of railroad's legacy in the Northwest.)

6. A Collection of Northwest railway history truly representative of the region. (Locomotives, a depot, bridges, freight cars, coaches, lanterns, books, photographs, maps, and examples of pretty much anything else imaginable that was used to build, operate or maintain a railroad.)

7. Great volunteers. (Over 200 people have participated this year in everything from flood recovery to staffing all programs.)

8. Dedicated staff. (Five full time and four part time staff provide management and general support for museum programs.)

9. Supportive local government (Snoqualmie, North Bend and King County have all helped the Museum become more successful.)

10. Awesome elected officials at all levels of government from the City of Snoqualmie Council all the way to Congress.

11. Irreplaceable support from the State of Washington and the United States. (Together, the State and Federal government are funding nearly 40% of the new Train Shed.)

12. Museum members. (Membership remains as one of the Museum’s critical support mechanisms.)

13. Generous funders. (Recent new support received from 4Culture, North American Railway Foundation, the Quest for Truth Foundation, the City of Snoqualmie and dozens of individuals.)

14. Effective and dedicated Board of Trustees. (Museum is governed by 11 volunteer trustees. Members include rail historians, museum volunteers, and community representatives.)

15. The best bells and whistles of any museum in the County!

Need spikes? Zap it!

Back in the 1970s, a forward-thinking company called RMC-Portec (track machine division now part of Harsco) came up with a machine design that holds a railroad tie in place under the rails and spikes it. Mind you an operator (or two or three) is required to manipulate a joy stick and some push buttons, it is nevertheless an effective and fast machine that takes most of the heavy labor out of the equation.

The Northwest Railway Museum has a former British Columbia Railway Portec Model B "Zapper" Automatic Spike Driver ASP-3. With the upcoming construction of the tracks inside the new Train Shed exhibit building, and the turnouts and siding connecting to it, Richard Wilkens has been leading an effort to get the Zapper back in working order and reports on some significant progress:

In September a rebuilt blower for the three-cylinder Detroit 3-53 diesel was installed along with a rebuilt starter. On Labor day weekend Brandon C. and Steve P. were successful in getting the engine running, despite it being out of service for 19 years. The engine on this machine is in very good condition with only a couple revolutions it fires right off. Other work leading up to its return to operation included draining the fuel tank to install shut off valves and a sight glass for the fuel level.

For those not familiar with this machine it is used to nip and insert spikes with a minimum of physical effort, something good for those of us not 18 any more. Using 3 people, two operators and one spike loader, the controls consist of a toggle switch to control movement, a foot pedal air brake pedal, and push buttons and joy sticks to place the spikes. After reaching the tie to be spiked a push button is pressed and clamps descend around the tie to nip it up snug to the base of the rail. Spikes are held in holders above the tie plates and a joy stick is used to line up the spike to the hole in the tie plate. After the spike is in the proper position a button is pushed and a hydraulic cylinder pushes down and sets the spike. After the cylinder retracts a new spike is placed in the holder for the next tie. Normally spikes are driven on both rails but the spike chutes on one side have been removed.

Being out of service for so many years we are in the laboriously slow process of checking electric circuits from the switches to relays and to solenoids that operate the air and hydraulic cylinders. So far part of the circuits are working but more testing is needed. Besides the previously mentioned work another major task has been repairing the roof. Several weeks ago the roof was pulled and placed on saw horses so we could remove peeling paint and deal with some rusted out areas. The largest rusted area is 3’ by 4’ and the failed metal was cut out and a patch was made.

First step was to remove paint and tar type undercoat on the bottom of the roof and this was done by Dan C., Dale C., Brandon C., Richard W., and Dick H. and a coat of primer was applied followed by a coat of yellow paint. On the weekend of the 10th and 11th the roof was flipped and the surfaced cleaned and primered. This past Thursday the 16th Richard W. applied the sheet metal patch and also some roof sealing tape to deal with smaller rusted areas. Saturday the 17th saw additional rust repairs and Sunday two coats of yellow paint was applied. This coming weekend plans are to reinstall the roof and to do final touchup painting, painting of lettering, and more work towards getting the machine to 100%.

So there you have it, thanks to this Shop Log update from Richard Wilkens. While a month or two of volunteer effort still remains, a few months of effort inside the Conservation and Restoration Center has restored basic operation to an RMC-Portec Model B Zapper. We'll update progress again soon.

Scouts improve safety and security

Troup 466 of the Boy Scouts of America. Quite a remarkable troop actually. In the last several years they have turned out more than a dozen Eagle Scouts. In fact so many Eagle Scouts that it is easy to forget that becoming an Eagle Scout is a remarkable achievement, and is not common place.

So the remarkable Alex C. planned his obligatory Eagle Scout project last spring. He offered to undertake a project at the Northwest Railway Museum. And the Museum came up with quite a project: 400 feet of fencing to improve safety and security. 400 feet of fence to keep accidental trespassers from wandering onto an active railroad. 400 feet of fence to keep the not so accidental trespassers from doing, well, inappropriate things.

More than 16 people participated under Alex's direction (14 plus Alex are shown in the photo and inset). His father drove a tractor, his younger brother helped measure, other adults operated concrete mixers, and other scouts poured concrete, stretched fencing fabric, and helped make the Snoqualmie Valley a better place.

So congratulations Alex on a project well planned and managed. You and your team have completed a project and teh Northwest Railway Museum is grateful for your contribution.

Caboose 001 project receives Spellman Award

Last year the Northwest Railway Museum's intrepid group of collection care volunteers completed rehabilitation of White River Lumber Company caboose 001. This year their efforts were acknowledged with the John D. Spellman award for outstanding achievement in restoration.

The Award is named for the first King County Executive John D. Spellman, who held office from 1969 - 1980 and later went on to become Governor of Washington. This year, the presentation was made by Congressman Dave Reichert in a ceremony held at the Meadowbrook Farm Interpretive Center in North Bend. Depicted in the photo l to r, Congressman Reichert, Caboose volunteers Dale Campbell, Martin Nemerever, Richard Wilkens, Dan Calhoun and Museum Executive Director Richard R. Anderson. Not present was Dickie Huntamer.

Five volunteers contributed over 75% of the efforts to restore caboose 001, a project that consumed over 5,000 person hours. Volunteer Martin Nemerever's site describes the process: http://wrl001.restorations-nrm.com/

The Spellman Award acknowledges this significant achievement and its overall contribution to historic preservation in King County. It is given each year to outstanding projects in King County. Other recipients this year include the Interpretation of the Iron Goat Trail in Steven's Pass performed by Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, David Cook's reconstruction of the Cook Building in North Bend, and Peter LaHay's adaptive reuse that created the Woodman Lodge in Snoqualmie behind the Snoqualmie Depot.

King County photo by Ned Ahrens

Signal repairs

North Bend's Bendigo Street railroad crossing is fully repaired following efforts led by signal maintainer Jon B. and assisted by Steve P., Issac F., and Dan C. A beautiful April 24 saw temperatures soar to 66 degrees and the crew of four made quick work of the assignment. Completing this work will allow trains to operate through this crossing without restriction beginning Saturday, 25 April 2009. (Click here for current schedules.)

Technically, a new Safetran model S-40 gate mechanism was installed in the west quadrant. Heavy rains that precipitated the January 7 & 8 flooding infiltrated and damaged this crossing gate mechanism on Bendigo Street. Temporary repairs allowed the crossing signals to function normally up until now, but complete replacement for "permanent" repair was required because it was not practical to fully repair this 30 year-old model S gate. The old gate mechanism was disconnected and lifted off with the Museum's Pettibone Speedswing; then a new one was hoisted into place. The entire procedure took 5 hours and replacement parts cost over $6,000; this in another in a series of flood-related repairs that when completed will total $116,000.

Spacing out the ties

Railroad ties are ubiquitous and often taken for granted yet there is more to a tie than meets the eye. At the Northwest Railway Museum, a standard cross tie is 6 inches by 8 inches by 8 feet long and it is treated with either creosote or copper naphthanate. In well-drained ballast (the crushed rock the tie is placed in), it will last for 30 or more years. and over that time support millions of tons of trains.

Ties support the rails and distribute the weight of a passing train on the ballast. Ties also hold the track "in gauge," which is the distance between the two rails. For maximum effectiveness, ties must be evenly spaced. But when trains are braking or accelerating, or even just as the rails expand and contract in the heat and cold, there is a tendency for the track to "creep" and this causes ties to "creep" too. The end result is crooked alignment and uneven spacing. Once upon a time, badly misaligned ties were straightened by digging out the ballast from around the tie and moving it with a long steel bar -all by hand.

In the 1970s, some enterprising design engineers devised a hydraulic tie spacer. A diesel engine drives a hydraulic pump to pressurize a fluid - usually oil - to about 2,000 pounds per square inch. This pressurized fluid is used to force giant pistons back and forth. Those pistons are connected to a steel foot that can hook the end of a tie and move it in either direction. Of course the hydraulics are used to perform other functions too including propulsion.

The Northwest Railway Museum has a tie spacer that came from the British Columbia Railway but is similar to units once used in Washington by the BNSF and Union Pacific. Last fall, the tie spacer was rehabilitated in the Conservation and Restoration Center and is now used to help maintain the railway.

Coach 218 rehab continues

Rehabilitation of a resource that is nearly 100 years old requires patience and considerable discipline. At times it would seem so easy to adapt a modern method or material, but that is not consistent with accepted standards and practices. Take the car's side sill for instance.

A thin strip of deteriorated wood lines the bottom of the sill. This affects the long term stability and preservation of the car but if it were simply covered up with new car siding, it could be years before there were obvious signs of the misdeed. Similarly, adding a steel plate or daughtering another board on is convenient and expedient but does not serve the long term interests of the car or historic preservation. So what to do? Alan W., Bill H., & Michael L. spent hours with a chisel carefully removing the rotten wood and cleaning up the steel backing plate. Next week, a new piece of southern yellow pine (same species as original sill) will be carefully fitted into place and held tight with epoxy and bolts.

Using the proper ties rods and bolts is also an area of detail not lost on the project managers. Ray M. recently used the "new" 1945 vintage Monarch lathe to turn threads onto a new tie rod that will help hold the car side together. The new tie rods are exact copies of the originals and are vital to the long term stability of the car - they hold the car side together in compression from top to bottom.

So what else is happening? Crews have completed installation of all the new window posts, 50 feet of new top car side plate, all but a handful of the 170 new carlines, new intercostal blocking, and hundreds of new bolts and screws of the same size, thread pitch, and head as the original fasteners. Whew! The minut details are not for everyone, but the end product is: preservation of the methods and materials used by 19th and early 20th Century carbuilders.

Museum Volunteers tour local railroad landmark

The combined contribution of over 8,000 volunteer hours recently earned four dozen Museum volunteers a rare experience. They had the opportunity to tour the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway’s Interbay Locomotive Shop and learn about the art of locomotive maintenance. The tour was organized by Justin Q., an Interbay employee, and BNSF retirees Dan O. and John H. who conducted the tour and answered questions.

The policies concerning visitors on railroad property have changed a lot in the past decade and BNSF rarely approves tours of its facilities. Interbay features an active roundhouse (built in 1929 for the Great Northern Railway), one of only two remaining in Washington State. The ability to learn Interbay’s role in supplying modern, reliable, well-maintained power coupled with a rare glimpse inside a steam-era structure made the tour a special outing.

Dave M., BNSF Interbay Shop Superintendent, approved the tour while Power Desk Foreman Wayne P. accompanied the museum visitors. After signing in, guests had a chance to look over a collection of books, photographs, rule books and pamphlets pertaining to Interbay’s history. A comprehensive safety briefing was held before the tour began; special boots and protective gear were required too.

A highlight of the tour was a ride on the 112 foot turntable. The tour included a look into the Maintenance Building, and a walk around the service tracks where locomotives are cleaned, supplied and inspected. The group toured through the entire roundhouse, getting a close look at the back shop, giant drop pit and tables, and the middle section (with its truss rod roof construction). The diesel house, where multiple level ramps allow workers access to every part of a locomotive, was next. Museum Volunteers also had a chance to look into the carbody of a 1970s vintage road locomotive called an SD40-2 to see how components are laid out.

It is noteworthy that one of the country's most successful railroads has kept the Interbay Roundhouse in service for 80 years and it remains a useful tool.

(Thanks to Ray Rhodes for this guest post.)

Neighbors helping neighbors

As recovery from the recent flood event proceeds, I am thrilled by the sight of people helping each other by volunteering their time and energy. Over 100 volunteers have turned out in Snoqualmie. They go door-to-door, helping residents pull out carpeting and haul furniture and water-soaked belongings to the curb for pick up. Trucks circulate through town, picking up refuse and hauling it to the corner of King Street and Railroad Ave, where heavy equipment is used to load it into dumpsters. The phone calls offering volunteer assistance and donations of household items are still pouring in. The volunteers come from church and civic groups, from the nearby communities of North Bend, Issaquah and Sammamish, from Snoqualmie itself, and even further afield from Redmond and Seattle. Not only have they already been working side by side with City of Snoqualmie staff and local residents, but even more volunteers are already signed up to help this weekend.

Volunteers and City of Snoqualmie staff have been helping pick up debris along the Museum’s right-of-way. Last Sunday, for instance, 10 community volunteers collected debris from along the track that filled more than 12 steel 55 gallon drums. In the days ahead, the Museum will continue clean up of the track, the CRC, and perform track and signal repairs. We are all so grateful for the help and support, but remain mindful of the tremendous effort and continuing need that will go on for weeks and months.

This was a flood of historic proportions. The tremendous positive response by our neighbors should also be noted. It will almost certainly allow us to recover in time for our regular trains in April.

Join our volunteer staff

Yes you can volunteer year ‘round!

Just because the interpretive railway and its public train excursions takes the winter off, doesn’t mean our volunteers do! Before there was a Conservation and Restoration Center (CRC), collection care had to take the winter off because of the weather, because who likes to work outdoors?! Nowadays, those projects carry on, even in the worst of what Old Man Winter throws at us. Before Christmas when night temperatures dropped to a chilly 6 degrees, it never dropped below 45 degrees in the main work area.
This winter at the CRC projects include rehabilitation of coach 218 (work underway includes installation of new floor sills, replacement window posts, and new carlins) as well as maintenance of locomotives 4012 & 4024 and coaches 213, 276 and 272. Collection Care Manager Bill Hall is at the CRC Wednesday thru Sunday. There are two ways to get involved: if you are an existing volunteer, call Bill directly at (425) 888-3054, or if you would like to become a volunteer, call or email Volunteer Manager Jessie Cunningham at (425) 888-3030 x 204 or email jessie at trainmuseum dot org. There is a brief application process.

Come spend the winter with us at the CRC and help perpetuate our railroad history!

Jingle all the way

Santa Train® riders have been singing along with Mr. Bells for six years now. Looking jaunty in his train cap decorated with giant jingle bells, Dick S. leads carols aboard seven Santa Trains each day, for seven days. Veteran riders look forward to celebrating the holidays with Mr. Bells.

Dick boards every train ready to make merry with the passengers. His delightful resonant voice rings out over the crowd, drawing them in. You can’t help singing along.

Dick and his wife, Charlsia have been volunteering at the Northwest Railway Museum for 8 years. They teach classes at School Train and help at events throughout the year as well as Santa Train. They first began riding Santa Train with their now grown children 40 years ago and are among the select few that can say they have attended every year since the event began in 1969!

Someone's in the kitchen

The Railway Kitchen Car, that is. In October, Museum volunteers fire up the coal stove in the army ambulance kitchen car and begin baking the 25,000+ cookies given to Santa Train riders each year. Recipes are formulated by Dale C., who volunteers hundreds of hours yearly performing collection care in the Railway History Center on rail artifacts, cooking for the volunteers and baking for Santa Train.

Here's the secret recipe (I guess it's not a secret anymore!):

Santa Train Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes a whole bunch!)
¼ cup vanilla
3 lbs. butter
1 dozen eggs
16 cups flour
4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking soda
4 cups brown sugar
8 cups or to taste, chocolate chips

Preheat oven by starting a fire with kindling. Add coal until desired temperature is reached. (Takes about 1 hour.) In a 5 gallon bucket, cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla, using your drill and a mixing bit. Add flour and baking soda and blend until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for awhile; turning pans so cookies don’t get scorched by the fire. Constantly rotate pans within the oven due to uneven oven temperatures. Take out when done and cool on wire rack.

Haul Out the Holly

The season is upon us and once again, the volunteers of the Northwest Railway Museum, under the direction of Sue S. and Joyce C., have transformed the Snoqualmie Depot. Old fashioned garland and white lights hang from the eaves of the 1890 building. In the waiting room, a 12’ tree is decorated all in white: poinsettias, ribbons and lights. The mantel is hung with stockings and the windows twinkle with the lights of a miniature holiday village. The freight room is decked with garland and large ornaments. Even the locomotives on the Snoqualmie Valley Railway have a wreath on the front. The Snoqualmie Depot is open Monday - Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM, through Christmas Eve. Come see the decorations and experience the Museum at holiday time. While you're in Snoqualmie, you might want to see the holiday decorations of local merchants too!