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| VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF TRANSPORTATION |
April 2010 |
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Mark your calendars! |
April 2: VMT's birthday, $6 admission for all
April 17: Dedication of the Threlkeld Walkway, time TBA
May 8: Roanoke Rails celebrating National Train Day
May 19: Annual Membership Meeting, 4pm
June 19: Advance Auto and VMT celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Class J 611 | |
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Greetings!
It's our birthday on Friday, April 2! We're celebrating 48 years with a special promotion--everybody's a kid on our birthday. No matter your age, admission on April 2 is the kids' rate, just $6. Please come see us!
The Museum got its start on April 2, 1962, when Roanoke City Council passed a resolution to develop a transportation museum and railroad center in Wasena Park.
Today, the Virginia Museum of Transportation is an independent non-profit organization and welcomes guests from across the nation and around the world. We'd sure like you to join our team.
We're always looking for volunteers, but right now we really need cheerful, train-loving folks who could help sell tickets and greet our visitors. If you are interested, please call 540-342-5670 and ask for Susan Loveman.
 Come see us soon!Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr.
Executive Director
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Now on display: a Class J cab arrives  in the Rail Gallery
The Museum's newest exhibit arrived last week: an authentic cab for a Class J locomotive like the 611. This cab was constructed as a spare and has been in the Norfolk Southern Roanoke Shops, likely, for the last fifty years or more. Most recently it was used as an office. The cab can now be seen in our Rail Gallery beside our popular Norfolk Southern SD-40 diesel cab.
As a spare, the cab was never outfitted with controls, but it does give us a great exhibit. We'll be making changes, so stay tuned!
Many thanks to Norfolk Southern for the donation of the cab, to Lanford Brothers for repairing and moving it, and to Cavalier Equipment in Troutville for the great paint job. |
 Virginia invites you to become a Time Traveler!
The Virginia TimeTravelers program has always encouraged children to enjoy the great experiences that museums offer. For 2010, the Virginia Association of Museums is expanding the program to include a passport book/travel guide suitable for the entire traveling public - children, adults and senior groups - anyone with an interest in Virginia history and museums.
This colorful and easy-to-use guide to Virginia museums and historic sites is available for purchase in Destinations, our Museum Store, for $5.99. The guide is a great way to plan trips around Virginia and to learn what is available in your own backyard. |
 Mark your calendar now for "Roanoke Rails" and celebrate National Train Day: May 8
The three rail museums in Virginia's Rail Heritage Region are teaming up on May 8, 2010 to provide special National Train Day activities for train fans of all ages. Visit the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge and the O. Winston Link Museum and the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke for a complete rail experience. In addition to many special exhibits and activities, visit all three on National Train Day and save $7 over individual museum admission. A joint ticket for the day is just $12 for a very full day of rail-related fun! As part of the collaboration and to provide a truly unique experience for rail fans, the Virginia Museum of Transportation is loaning perhaps our most prized exhibit--the Norfolk & Western Class J 611 steam locomotive--to the O. Winston Link Museum to serve as the centerpiece of the Link Museum's celebration. For the first time in several years, the 611 will be back on mainline tracks, being moved by Norfolk Southern Corporation to the O. Winston Link Museum on Friday May 7 and back to the Virginia Museum of Transportation on Sunday May 9.
Details will be posted in the May newsletter, including upcoming plans to rearrange some of the rolling stock in our Rail Yard in order to provide better photography of the Class J 611.
National Train Day celebrations in Virginia's Rail Heritage Region are made possible by Norfolk Southern Corporation, xpedx, Graham-White, Roanoke Gas, and David and Susan Goode; volunteers from the Norfolk & Western Historical Society and the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society; and media sponsors WDBJ-7 and Clear Channel Communications. |
Virginia Museum of Transportation seeks YOUR ideas
As part of our planning process for the Norfolk Southern Challenge, we've been asking for YOUR ideas about what this Museum should be and how we can make it better. Over 100 people attended our public input sessions, and four hundred people--from 28 states and seven foreign countries--have completed our survey!
We've received hundreds of great ideas, which we are beginning to compile and will share with you soon. If you haven't completed a survey, it's not too late to submit your ideas and be counted: click here to complete our NS Challenge survey. |
Great things to do and see in Virginia's Rail Heritage Region!
Conversations with Photographers: Night Photography with Christine Carr. In this hands-on workshop at the O. Winston Link Museum, Carr--a museum exhibitor and Hollins photography professor--will take this class outside and into the dark. April 8, 6:30-9:30pm. To register, please email Leah Gardner or call 540-982-5465. $25. The Archives Committee of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society holds its next work session April 8-11. To participate, email NWHS President Ron Davis. Mark your calendars: the NWHS National Convention will be held June 17-20 in Front Royal, VA.
The C&O Historical Society in Clifton Forge is also having an Archives work session April 21-24. To participate, email or call 540-862-2210. Just a few seats remain on the bus from Lynchburg to Richmond's Main Street Station for the Blue Ridge Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society's Circle Tour around Virginia on Saturday, April 24. Enjoy a train trip to Alexandria and back to Lynchburg with free time in Richmond and Alexandria. For bus tickets, email NRHS Trip Coordinator Lee Hawkins or call 434-522-6704. Bus tickets are $35 per person; AMTRAK tickets are additional. AMTRAK passengers must bring a picture ID.
The Roanoke Chapter, National Railway Historical Society is sponsoring an Amtrak excursion train ride to the Nation's Capital on Friday, May 14. Buses will leave the Virginia Museum of Transportation at 5:45am and return around 10pm, providing five hours of free time in Alexandria or Washington, DC. Tickets are Adults/$115; Seniors 62 and over/$105; and Youth under 16/$65. All AMTRAK passengers must bring a photo ID. To order tickets, call the Roanoke Chapter NRHS at 540-774-0611 or send a check to PO Box 13222, Roanoke, VA 24032. Include the first and last names of all passengers as shown on their ID. | |
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