Studio Snoqualmie

Former NP stock car is positioned for

filming inside the Train Shed exhibit

building.

Lights!  Camera!  Work Extra 4024, take it ahead!  Not quite what you were expecting?  The Northwest Railway Museum was briefly transformed into a movie studio for the production of You Can’t Win, a screen play adapted from the literary work of the same name.  Filming at the Museum of this independent production took place on May 16 and 17, 2012; other scenes were filmed in the Snoqualmie Valley in the following week.

Costume specialists make last minute

 preparations to a jacket for a young

 Jack Black as extras prepare for their

 entry into the scene.

You Can’t Win is a novel published in 1926 and is the autobiography of Jack Black, a hobo and thief for more than 30 years who in later life reformed himself and became a librarian.  Black is portrayed by Michael Pitt, an American actor best known for his role as Jimmy Darmody in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.  The film is directed by Robinson Devor, a Seattle-based director.

Inside the stock car, the film crew

prepares to shoot as the train operates

between Snoqualmie Falls and Bridge

35.  Director Devor is seen in the
center looking toward the camera. Pitt
is seen at the other end of the car in
character.

The production team had a variety of “riding the rails” scenes they wanted to recreate, many dating from the late 19^th Century.  A train station scene was filmed in the Snoqualmie Depot ladies’ waiting room with locomotive 11 visible through the windows.  Several more scenes were filmed with representative freight cars from the Museum’s collection including a stock car, two former Northern Pacific Railway boxcars and a former Great Northern auto boxcar as they operated between Snoqualmie Falls and Bridge 35.

The former Great Northern automobile

boxcar is prepared for an action scene

with lighting and a blue screen.  The

car was rocked back and forth while

filming took place.

Later, the Museum’s Train Shed exhibit building proved to be a workable studio where a number of important scenes could be filmed inside the cars while they were stationary.  A“blue screen” was placed in the background and will be used to insert motion scenes later.  A crew of more than 70 specialists was involved in the production, which is expected to debut at a film festival in 2013.

Former NP boxcar was

the site of a "staged" ac-

cident.  

The Museum only rarely participates in movie production - it is very disruptive to operations and is distracting to volunteers and staff.  You Can't Win is different: it has thematic content consistent with the Museum's mission.  And license fees the Museum charged were sufficient to fund work on Bridge 35 earlier this year.  Overall, the project progressed without incident thanks in part to the Museum's great team of volunteers (more than 20 participated!), staff, and a great and respectful movie production company.

Salute!

In honor of Memorial Day, the Northwest Railway Museum is offering reduced fare train rides for members of the military: active duty, guard, reserve, retired, and their dependent families. See the splendid scenery of the Cascade Foothills through the windows of a vintage railcar.

Your current military id and $5 are all you need for a ride on the Museum’s train Saturday, May 26 – Monday, May 28, 2012.

What a great deal, and fun for the whole family, too. All are welcome of course. Check the schedule on www.trainmuseum.org. The first train departs the Snoqualmie Depot at 11:01 AM and the North Bend Depot at 11:31 AM.

Show your current military id at the ticket window of either the Snoqualmie or North Bend Depots. The Ticket Agent will issue a special ticket to you for only $5.

Clerestory windows for the chapel car

Let there be light, and some fresh air too!  One of the distinguishing features of most traditional clerestory-roofed railroad cars is the clerestory window.  Designed to provide both light and ventilation, the windows are typically elongated and have hinges that allow the windows to “roll” into the car.

Chapel car 5 - built in 1898 in an era before air conditioning - was built with 45 clerestory windows.  These windows were constructed of white oak and were glazed with double glue chip glass.  Fortunately, these windows were in comparatively good condition and 38 original windows arrived in Snoqualmie with the car.  Unfortunately, nearly all the bottom rails were badly deteriorated and some of the glazing was broken, or had been replaced with other types of glass.

Old shellac was removed with the

infrared stripper and then alcohol.

Glass and stop material was carefully

removed and saved. 

Work began in February 2011 with the removal, cataloging, and condition assessment of all the windows.  Over a period of months hardware was recovered, glazing was removed, paint and shellac was stripped, and new stiles and rails were made and exchanged as required.  Seven completely new window frames were made, and a new weather stripping reveal to hold a rubber strip against the bottom swivel face was made for all 45 windows.  The window frames were cleaned and sanded, and then set aside until the car body was completed.  The hardware and glass were carefully cleaned and set aside for reuse.

Hardware consists of a

spring-loaded latch and a

radius with detents to hold

the window in a given

position.

Hardware is easily taken for granted but without it the windows never would have performed their function.  The hinges and pivots were assemblies originally produced by the Dayton Manufacturing Company, the hardware company owned by Barney and Smith.  Some windows had slightly more modern assemblies made by Adams and Westlake, a company still in business today as Adlake!  Regardless of origin, all hardware was "cooked" overnight in a dilute soap solution.  Each item was then lightly brushed to remove varnish, paint and rust.  The hardware was coated with a gun-metal paint color.  Many of the mounting screws were replaced in kind with steel flathead slot screws each individually painted black to match.

Shellac immediately changes the

appearance of the windows.

In winter 2011, “varnishing” of the windows began.  Traditional shellac (flakes dissolved in alcohol) was applied in successive 3 lb/gallon coats until a smooth and uniform finish was achieved - typically that required eight coats with light sanding between each coat.  Shellac dries quickly and recoating is typically after 8 hours, but it is dry to the touch in 15 minutes or less.


The exterior was painted with a dark

green urethane matched to paint

samples found under the end

platform hood.



After the varnish process was completed, the outside of the frame received primer.  Then the windows were glazed and the final coats of dark green were applied to the exterior. 

Window installation was tricky: care had to be used to set the hinges in exactly the right location so the windows are neither too tight nor too loose.  Evidence that this had been a problem in the past was a serious of metal clips that had been fashioned and installed over the clerestory hinges to prevent the windows from quite literally bouncing out on rough track!  This problem was exacerbated when windows were removed for servicing (typically a fresh coat of varnish) and were not reinstalled in the same openings they came out of.  With careful installation in the openings that match the numbers on the window, the Museum expects a more precision fit and does not plan to reinstall the “aftermarket” clips.

Lead restoration worker Kevin P.

highlights the first clerestory

windows to be reinstalled.

So many hundreds of hours later, chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace has 45 rehabilitated or restored clerestory windows installed.  The car had one of its distinguishing features returned to its former glory and another category of work is completed.

Chapel car secrets Pt 2

Part 1 was published on February 27 and described a business card for H. J. Geisler's tasting room that was discovered hidden in the roof structure of chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace.  The car was built at Dayton, Ohio's Barney and Smith Car Company in 1898.  So who was H.J. Giesler?  Thanks to some clever research by volunteer Doris A., his identity is much clearer.

H.J. Geisler was Henry J. Geisler of Dayton, Ohio.  He was born in Ohio in August, 1869.  In 1893 he married Clara and by 1894 appeared in the Dayton, Ohio city directory as the proprietor of "choice wines, Liquors and Cigars." In 1895 his business was identified as the "Sample Room," which continued to share his home address.  Business must have been good because he was able to afford cutting-edge technology - by 1899 he listed a telephone number!

The Henry J. Geisler Family was listed in the 1900 US Census, which revealed a daughter, Florence, born September 1894.  Henry's occupation was listed as "Saloon Keeper."

Henry J. Geisler continued to appear in the city directory until 1905.  Sadly, in 1906, the city directory listed Mrs. Henry J. Geisler as the Sample Room proprietor.  The 1910 US Census confirmed that Clara was a widow and head of household with daughter Florence, 15 years of age, not in school.

So a small business card found in the roof of chapel car Messenger of Peace reveals a few secrets from Dayton, Ohio at the turn of the 20th Century.

From Bad to Beautiful - inspired by you

Last year, The Seattle Foundation orchestrated an incredible one-day online giving event that - thanks to you - raised nearly $19,000 for the Northwest Railway Museum. It was the most successful single day of giving in the Museum’s history.

This year on May 2, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, GiveBIG is happening again. But it's no same-old, same-old. Inspired by your recent comments on our Facebook page, the Northwest Railway Museum will direct funds raised during GiveBIG 2012 toward seats and upholstery on our interpretive railway.

FROM BAD TO BEAUTIFUL

Our last major seating effort was in 1998 when seats in coach 276 were reupholstered at a cost of more than $25,000. Now it’s time to continue the transformation. Will you participate in GiveBIG and help us raise another $25,000, so that older coach seats throughout the train may be restored to their former glory?

Each of the coaches was built about 100 years ago - between 1912 and 1915. When they were new, they were elegant. Today’s “bad to beautiful” effort will reclaim a little of that spirit and make a ride aboard the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad more enjoyable - and more authentic.

HERE’S HOW TO GROW YOUR GIFT ON MAY 2

On Wednesday, May 2, visit The Seattle Foundation’s online Giving Center between midnight and midnight Pacific Time. Make a donation of any size to the Northwest Railway Museum.

The Seattle Foundation and business sponsors will match a share of every donation made during that 24-hour period. BUT . . . the larger our percentage of the total amount of donations made to all nonprofits during that day, the larger our percentage of the matching stretch pool.

If you give just once to the Northwest Railway Museum, please give on May 2.

WANT A REMINDER?

• If you'd like to receive an email reminder on May 2, please subscribe to our (approximately monthly) e-newsletter. We'll send a brief reminder the morning of May 2.
• We'll also post The Seattle Foundation's online Giving Center link on our website and on our Facebook page on May 2.
• RSVP on the GiveBIG 2012: From Bad to Beautiful event page we created. We'll send a brief reminder message via Facebook.
  

Thank you for participating in this “bad to beautiful” transformation! Thanks, also, to event sponsors, including JP Morgan Chase & Co, Microsoft, Seattle International Foundation, and Seattle Sounders FC. Over the years, The Seattle Foundation has given the Northwest Railway Museum several generous grants in support of general operating expenses and the Railway History Center Train Shed capital campaign. They have our continuing gratitude.

Trains are running again!

The Jackson tamper was introduced in

the 1950s on the Northern Pacific

Railway and continues in a new role

at the Northwest Railway Museum.

It has been an unusually long winter in the Northwest but spring weather has finally arrived.  Track machines and crews have been working on the railroad and trains are running again between North Bend and Snoqualmie Falls.  Check out this season’s schedule here; regular trains are operating on Saturday and Sunday through the end of October.

Vibrating work heads pack ballast

(rock) under the ties.

There are many aspects to a operating a railroad that are not apparent to the casual observer. Whether historic or contemporary, railroads have a right of way to maintain and it is a significant responsibility that consumes the majority of a railroad's resources. Bridges are "big ticket" items but even the ubiquitous tie (at the Museum there are more than 3,000 per mile) are valued at more than $100 each to purchase and install.  Signals and railroad crossings also require significant resources to inspect and maintain in compliance with Federal regulations.

A hyrail excavator from RailWorks

installs a new stringer in one of the
Museum's bridges.  Each timber is
9 inches x 18 inches and can be over
30 feet long.

Over the winter, volunteer and community work crews changed more than 150 ties and tamped them, performed maintenance along the right of way including brush cutting, and performed annual, periodic and monthly maintenance on signals. Bridges were inspected and bridge maintenance performed. In addition, the locomotives were check out, oiled and fueled.  Coaches had minor repairs and were cleaned. Now the Museum is ready for an estimated 50,000 guests who are expected to ride the railroad this year.  Come up and visit this weekend and take a trip back in time!

Chapel car secrets Pt 1

Rehabilitation of a landmark property invites many opportunities to learn from the object.  The chapel car rehabilitation is no exception  - the structure has been largely untouched since it was built at Dayton, Ohio in 1898 and there is much to learn from it.

Work on the car's roof began in January 2012 and in late February an unusual discovery was made: a business card for H. J. Geisler at a Dayton, Ohio saloon was found in the car's roof sandwiched between the soffit, blocking, and roof decking.  The Sample Room advertised "fine wine, liquor, and cigars," and claimed "Kentucky whiskey a specialty."

The American Baptist Publication Society ordered Messenger of Peace from the Barney and Smith Car Company in early 1898. Eugene Barney was a lay Baptist minister and supported the church - his company built all seven Baptist cars. Baptists strongly advocated temperance and it is easy to believe the placement of the saloon's card in the roof was both intentional and in spite of the church's values, yet "why" cannot be proved with the evidence at hand. As wood railcar experts, however, Team Chapel Car has strong evidence to suggest that the placement of the card in the roof was intentional.

So when, who and how did the saloon calling card find its way into the roof of a Baptist chapel car?  Here is what Spike knows:

1. This area of the car has been inaccessible since 1898.  The decking was covered with Terne roofing material that was nailed to the deck with all the seams soldered in situ.  There was only one set of nail holes in the roof decking and they match the nails protruding from the bottom of the Terne metal. 
2. The card is about the same width as the soffit so it had to be carefully placed parallel with the outer edge as the roof deck was fastened in place.  It was located along the edge of the upper roof deck and was accessible to Barney and Smith's car builders.
3. Messenger of Peace served in at least 11 States but car records assembled by Wilma Taylor in This Train is Bound for Glory do not show a return visit to Dayton after the car departed for its dedication in May 1898.

1898's Dayton, Ohio was a bustling industrial center.  Mary and Robert Steele wrote Early Dayton : with important facts and incidents from the founding of the city of Dayton, Ohio, to the hundredth anniversary, 1796-1896.  It mentions anachronistic milestones such as the the birth of the first white male baby, the many churches, numerous railroads and traction companies, and the successful railcar building enterprise of the Barney and Smith Car Company.  The statistical index lists 81 churches by denomination and admits to 399 saloons; the text does not describe any of the latter or their locations.

So what do you think is the story of the wine, liquor and cigar ad in the roof of the chapel car?  Write us a story about how the card got in the roof and send it to us; the Museum would be delighted to publish any interesting theories!