Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2016

The Northwest Railway Museum has successfully hosted another successful Snoqualmie Railroad Days!  The event was a success with the support and participation of a variety of community organizations including the Snoqualmie Tribe, Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce, City of Snoqualmie, Fort Nisqually re-enactors, and the Legends Car Club.  Steam trains, live music, almost 200 classic cars, local artists, awesome wine and beer, and timber sports demonstrations were just some of the highlights. Dozens of volunteers representing many local businesses were also an important factor the success of this event.  Check our photos of this year's festival:

Railway Education Center framing

Construction of the Railway Education Center is continuing, and its objective of improving preservation and access will soon be achieved.  This new facility will incorporate 5,000 square feet and features an archival vault, public restrooms, a classroom, admissions and program offices.  An elevator will assure accessibility in this two-story structure. 

Since the last update, building framing has begun and is now well underway.  The structure is being "built to last" so it is more likely to survive potential natural disasters, and many decades of public use.  The Snoqualmie Depot was built with similar ideas and last year celebrated its 125th anniversary!  Check out these recent images that illustrate progress on the new Railway Education Center:

Framing began in mid June 2016 with the boarding plat-

form and the outer walls.

 

Boarding platform close up.



By late June, the second floor began to appear.  The

building is being clad with plywood to minimize off-

gassing that occurs with many modern materials such

as Oriented Strand Board (OSB).



The staircase takes shape.

Floor joists are massive - the archival collection is being

located on the second floor high above the flood plain.







The end walls were fabricated horizontally and then

tilted up into position.

 

In early July the basic exterior walls were complete and

sheathed with plywood.  Work has now shifted to interior

walls and the roof.

 

Railway Education Center construction progress

Spring and early summer have been busy periods at the Railway History Center in Snoqualmie. Construction of the third phase - the Railway Education Center - is rapidly advancing, but Spike is a little behind posting photos.  Plumbing and electrical has been run inside the foundation, the concrete floor has been poured, and now framing is underway.  Here is a short gallery post incorporating some highlights of the floor construction.  Spike will follow up in a few days with another gallery post that depicts framing progress.

An excavator filled inside the stem walls with a select fill.  The

stem walls elevate the building above the flood plain.  Grade

beams and utilities are located within the walls.

 

Plumbers and electricians ran pipe and conduit below what will

be the first floor. Pipe hangers will attach these pipes and

conduit to the bottom of the concrete floor.

 

Lots of reinforcing bar is hidden in floor and foundation! The

Northwest Railway Museum is in a seismic zone and

commercial buildings like this must be designed to ensure

a minimum magnitude 7.2 earthquake without collapsing.

Substantial grade beams, the Geo Pier foundation, the stem

walls, and other features work together to achieve this

design requirement.

The concrete crew pumped concrete into the

rebar cages.

 

A large concrete pump truck simplified the floor pour by

delivering concrete exactly where it was needed.

 

The concrete pumper allowed the crew to direct concrete around

the utility pipes in an efficient manner.

A simple 2x4 board was used to level the concrete.

Hand trowels helped smooth the surface.

A larger trowel helped make the floor surface uniform.

After the concrete cured slightly, workers performed

additional surfacing to create a really smooth surface.

A power trowel smooths the surface of the floor.

The complete foundation and first floor is ready for the

framing crew!

Day Out With Thomas 2016

The Really Useful Engine has arrived in Snoqualmie!

Thomas the Tank Engine® will be shunting trucks and hauling freight, and he would like to take you and your children for an excursion too!  Day Out With Thomas® is happening in Snoqualmie on July 15 - 17 and 22 - 24, 2016. Tickets are $23 on Fridays and $25 on weekends; they include the activities and a train excursion with Thomas the Tank Engine. 

Please visit the Northwest Railway Museum web site to purchase tickets or to learn more information: Day Out With Thomas in Snoqualmie.  Toot, toot!
® Thomas the Tank Engine and Day Out With Thomas are Registered Trademarks of Thomas (Gullane) LLC.

Railway Education Center form-setting event

Period clothing worn by guests at the

form setting event.

It was a bright and sunny morning in May when a steam train full of supporters pulled away from the Snoqualmie Depot.  And many on board were dressed in Depot-appropriate period clothing dating from the late Victorian era, too.  Headed east, the passengers soon arrived at the Railway History Center campus.  That day's event was the official concrete form-setting for the new Railway Education Center, the third building planned for the museum campus, which is designed to provide preservation and access for the collection.

Snoqualmie Mayor pro

tem Bob Jeans.

More than 100 guests filed into the Train Shed.  Presentations by Snoqualmie Mayor Pro Tem Bob Jeans, King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, Museum Board of Trustees President Dennis Snook, and Museum executive director Richard R. Anderson recounted just some of the efforts required to get the project under construction.  Getting to this day took the efforts of many people more than ten years, and required support from hundreds of individuals, Foundations, Corporations, and local, regional, and State government!

In commemoration of the event,

visitors were able to sign their them on

a concrete form board.

While attending the form setting, the guests had an opportunity to sign their name on a concrete form board, which will be preserved after the project is completed.  They also had an opportunity to experience the new Train Shed exhibits, which were added earlier this year, and are part of every regular schedule train excursion.

Supporters aboard the

steam train traveling to the

form-setting event.

Kirtley Cole and Associates is constructing the new Railway Education Center that will feature public restrooms, a library and archives vault, a classroom, admissions, and program offices.  Construction is expected to continue through September, and the Museum will officially move in during winter 2017. Expanded hours of operation for the exhibit building being made possible by this new Railway Education Center will begin in 2017.


Thank you to Mitch Barchi for providing the photos used in this post. 

Technical issues prevented this post from appearing in early May as intended.