Chapel car's travels

{Please remember to vote for the chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace today and every day until May 12 at http://www.PartnersInPreservation.org/}

Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace traveled the country for 50 years. Beginning in 1898 with its dedication at Rochester, New York, car 5 brought hope, enlightenment, and religion to hundreds of communities. Some visits were short and others were longer but by length of service the greatest impact was in the Pacific Northwest. From the first visit to Pasco, WA in August 1915 to retirement at south Everett in the summer of 1948, the chapel car spent nearly 33 years in Washington and Oregon. It also made brief visits to Idaho and California.

The Messenger of Peace’s early years in Washington were widespread and interesting. From research conducted by Norman and Wilma Taylor, we have learned a few colorful details about early visits to a variety of communities:

Car 5 visited Spokane in April 1916 where Pastor Thomas R. Gale described the church as “nearly dead, a hard proposition.”

A month long visit to Deer Park began on May 21, 1916 where the Reverend Gale provided evangelistic services and helped build a church building. This community on the Great Northern Railway was home to more than a dozen saw mills and was on what was Daniel Corbin's Spokane Falls and Northern Railway.

The remote logging communities of Wilburton and Mid Lakes received three weeks of attention from the Messenger of Peace in November and December 1916. These communities were on the Northern Pacific Railway’s belt line along the west shore of Lake Washington that until recently carried the Spirit of Washington dinner train, and fuselage sections for 737-900 aircraft unable to clear close clearances in Renton. Today, both settlements are a part of Bellevue and are anything but remote.

The bustling metropolis of Renton was another stop for car 5 in late 1916 where Reverend Gale described, “a mining camp [with] deplorable religious conditions.” Coal mines were the core of Renton’s economy in that era and churches were not plentiful.

In January 1917 the chapel car visited Issaquah for 6 weeks during a dreadfully difficult time for the community. The alien property custodians had also just arrived in town to seize what was left of a German-backed chemical plant. Adding to that was a layoff at the local Superior Coal mine. Messenger of Peace soldiered on to revive not only the Baptist church but the Methodists as well.

By March the car moved on to North Bend to help the First Baptist Church of North Bend, which continues today at the North Bend Community Church. Hear what Pastor Pete Battjes had to say on a recent visit to the Snoqualmie Depot:



The Messenger of Peace went on to visit hundreds of communities throughout the Northwest. It touched the lives of thousands of people yet its stories are nearly forgotten. The rehabilitation and restoration of chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace will help preserve and revive this exciting history. Please help support the effort by voting for the Messenger of Peace today and every day until May 12 at www.partnersinpreservation.org

More on the Messenger of Peace

Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace is competing for funding in the Partners In Preservation Seattle/Puget Sound initiative. At stake for the chapel car is up to $100,000 in funding and your votes will help decide if it gets funded! Vote today and every day until May 12 at http://www.PartnersInPreservation.org/

The chapel car is a pretty exciting project. Win or lose, it is getting a lot of attention. Check out what local officials had to say about the chapel car:

The chapel car was built in 1898 and served the American Baptist Publication Society for 50 years. Retired in 1948, the car had an after-life as a road side diner, cottage, and is now set to be rehabilitated to become a museum exhibit.

Chapel cars helped settle communities and develop the west. They helped establish community values in far-flung settlements, promote the Railroad YMCA, and revive congregation. Their story is nearly forgotten but now a surviving example - with your help - will be rehabilitated and used to tell their story.

Learn more about the chapel car at http://www.MessengerOfPeace.org/ and vote to fund it at http://www.PartnersInPreservation.org/

Vote to fund the chapel car!

A vote a day can help keep decay away!

Between now and May 12, a public vote is helping determine the outcome of Partners in Preservation Seattle Initiative. 25 historic properties in the Puget Sound Region are competing for a share of $1 million. Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace is one of the properties and, if it is selected for an award from Partners in Preservation, the Museum will have enough funding to allow substantial completion of the chapel car rehabilitation.

This initiative is also an opportunity to launch a Messenger of Peace web site at http://www.messengerofpeace.org/ and a Messenger of Peace Facebook page.

Check out the Museum's promotional video:



So what is Partners in Preservation? The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Express Foundation created this initiative five years ago and have run the program in San Francisco, Chicagoland, New Orleans, and Boston. Local projects are pre-vetted and a short list is presented to the public for a vote. The top vote-getter receives full funding. Additional projects are selected for funding by a committee set up by the National Trust and American Express; for those projects the total number of votes will be a consideration.

The Northwest Railway Museum is delighted to learn that Partners in Preservation has selected the railroad chapel car to compete for funding in the Seattle initiative. This is the first railroad car and railway museum to be involved in this five-year-old initiative, and the program is an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of this little-known but impactful part of history. In all, 25 projects are competing for a share of funding; project values range from $65,000 to $125,000. The Chapel Car is competing for $100,000.

Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace was built by Barney and Smith in 1898 and served the Baptist Publication Society, Baptist Home Mission Society and the Railroad YMCA for fifty years. It operated in at least 11 states and traveled extensively in the Pacific Northwest. After retirement, it was used in several creative ways from 1948 until 2006 including as a roadside diner, seaside cottage, and an unlicensed pharmaceutical distribution facility. In 2007 it was donated and moved to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington.

The chapel car requires extensive rehabilitation and restoration to return it to the glory of its period of significance. The Save America’s Treasures grant awarded in December 2009 will combine with a Washington State Historical Society grant, funding from 4Culture and private contributions to allow carbody work to begin. Partners in Preservation funding, if awarded, will allow substantial completion of the project including fabrication of missing pews for the sanctuary.

To learn more and vote, visit http://www.trainmuseum.org/ Be the chapel car's saviour - vote today and every day until May 12!

Now serving...

Historically, when you needed to go somewhere, you headed to the train station. Now, when you just gotta go, we’ve got you covered too: new restrooms are open in the Snoqualmie Depot. A three month and nearly $160,000 investment has resulted in awesome new restrooms for downtown Snoqualmie. This innovative strategic partnership is a first in as far as Spike has been able to discover: the Museum owns the facility, paid for with a lodging tax grant from the City of Snoqualmie, but the City of Snoqualmie maintains the facility. In return, the facility is available as public restrooms and, because the Snoqualmie Depot is staffed seven days a week, the facilities are more family-friendly than a stand-alone restroom along Railroad Ave. The Museum gets that added benefit of additional visitation that may have otherwise missed or passed up the Snoqualmie Depot. The City gets the benefit of a safe and high quality restroom, something that always ranks high in importance for families, especially those with young children.

Construction has been underway since early January; progress was detailed here and here. They were designed by Seattle's MillerHull Partnership and constructed by Mr. K's Construction of North Bend. Come and check them out! Enjoy some coffee or tea at one of the great businesses across the street such as Koko Beans or Isadora’s. When you’ve finished, the new City of Snoqualmie public restrooms can take care of your wee!

Train Shed milestone

Train Shed construction has been continuing despite delays in the arrival of building materials – such as American-made steel. Nevertheless, the new Train Shed exhibit building has completed 50% of the roof with the entire south side of the building now fully under cover. It is a modest but important victory in the construction of this major new structure to preserve the collection and provide year ‘round opportunities for programming.

Meanwhile, flashing around windows and doors is being installed paving the way for windows and doors to also be installed. The most obvious addition is the bright green moisture barrier that is being installed to keep water away from the wall insulation but allow water vapor to escape. The exterior cladding that will cover this material is now on site but will not be installed until the window flashing and roof are complete.

The Train Shed construction continues to progress while maintaining the highest standards in workmanship and general quality. Unfortunately, lengthy building material delays have had an impact on the schedule and completion has been pushed into June. It will nevertheless be a structure for the Museum and the Community to be proud of.

Improving curb appeal

Building a successful museum also means helping build a successful community which, like building a museum, takes great patience. So our congratulations to the City of Snoqualmie for their courage of conviction: nine years of effort has secured enough funding to begin the first phase of historic downtown Snoqualmie’s infrastructure revitalization. New storm sewers, underground power, new sidewalks, and new street furniture including lamp standards, seating and even garbage cans. Railroad and logging motifs have been utilized by KPG Engineering, along with many features that emphasize the beautiful setting in which the community is situated. This first phase rebuilds Falls Avenue and the north side of Railroad Avenue, across the street from the Snoqualmie Depot. Phase two (which is still in design) will rebuild Railroad Avenue directly in front of the train station and expand downtown parking.

Speaking at the offical grondbreaking on 29 March 2010, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson described the many hurdles that had to be overcome. Mayor Larson, the City Council, and the City Staff have certainly done that and then some.

The successful bidder was Sanders General Contracting from Issaquah who submitted the low bid of $2.3 million (and by just $17,000). Sanders is beginning work this week and expects to wrap up in October.

The largest single funder is the US Economic Development Administration, a unit of the US Department of Commerce who has provided a $1.4 million grant. The funding, which for Snoqualmie at times seemed elusive, was secured with the active involvement of Congressman Dave Reichert, King County Executive Dow Constantine and former Executive Ron Simms, and Puget Sound Regional Council. Not coincidentally, these same partners are helping the Northwest Railway Museum secure resources to develop public museum facilities.

Public works projects are never easy: disruption to everyday life will be significant over the next six months. This project will be different because Snoqualmie did their homework: staff and consultants met with affected businesses, property owners were invited to provide meaningful comment on the preliminary designs and input was actively incorporated into the final design, and construction activities are being actively managed to minimize impact on major events such as local athletic events, Day Out With Thomas, and Railroad Days.

Coach 218 progresses towards completion

Coach 218 has been an occasional focus of the Northwest Railway Museum Blog, and this post represents another update. It also represents our first-ever video post (a panorama shot of coach 218), so let us know what you think.

Work began in earnest in 2007 and has been progressing at a steady rate. To recap the history, the coach was built in 1912 by the Barney and Smith Car Company of Dayton, Ohio. It features composite wood and steel construction, a precursor to all steel construction that became the standard in 1913. So this coach 218 and its sibling coach 213 were among the very last cars to feature wood in their carbody structures. Coach 218 was retired from passenger service over 60 years ago. It continued to serve the railway as an outfit car for track repair crews and retired from that second life in the 1980s. The rehabilitation work now underway will return the coach to passenger service, only this time at a museum.

Earlier this month, a team of volunteers tried their hands at riveting. Lead by retired boilermaker John H., the crew consisting of Dave J., Russ S., Roger S., and Bill H. assembled the platform beam for one end of the coach. Using a propane-heated rivet oven, they heated rivets until they were red hot (approximately 1,500 degrees), picked them up with rivet tongs, inserted them into the predrilled hole, placed a bucking bar on the factory head, and then applied the pneumatic rivet gun to the buck shaft that protruded through the other side. A handful of blows from the rivet gun produced uniformly round head and a tight connection. Similar techniques were used in the construction of the car, although much of the riveting was probably performed with machines that used steam or pneumatic pressure to squeeze the rivet into the hole to form a neat, round head on the end of the buck shaft.

Check out the panorama video shot:


Other continuing progress includes application of the siding/cladding, now nearing completion. Bob M. has volunteering an average of one day per week and has been leading the installation effort. To install a single board that is less than two inches wide involves a series of tasks. It must be cut to length, placed onto the tongue of the adjacent board and forced tightly against it and then nailed in five to nine placed, depending on board length. To minimize damage to the boards, the holes to accept the cut nails are predrilled, and to minimize areas where rain can infiltrate, a bead of latex caulking rated for 50 years is being applied to the tongues before the next board is installed.

Also measuring progress is the floor deadening, the name given to the insulation under the car floor. Horse hair was the dominant insulation but had trapped moisture causing widespread issues. Much of the 1912 deadening was badly deteriorated and/or contaminated with mold. New boards were milled by a team consisting of Russ S., Bob M., and Chuck M. Manufacture and installation took place on Wednesdays and Thursdays over a period of five months and was substantially completed this week – congratulations to the crew!

Next steps for coach 218 include installation of the subfloor, completion of the “B” end platform, manufacture of new steps, application of the canvas roof, completion of siding installation and installation of window stops.