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| VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF TRANSPORTATION |
December 2010 |
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OWN A PIECE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY! |
We've got great books, DVDs, toys, and gifts for train, car, or plane lovers, including unique and hard-to-find items.
Come in and see a replica of the N&W Shop sign that used to light up Roanoke at night. It is available by custom order. The Museum Store is open Mon-Sat 10-5 and Sun 1-5. You don't have to pay admission to the Museum to come in and shop! |
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Greetings!
The Virginia Museum of Transportation has had a great year, and we hope you did, too. Financially, we are operating in the black, largely with the help of many wonderful volunteers. Our attendance is up 20% over last year, and we've started work on rail car restoration, a new aviation gallery, and an exhibits plan to guide our future. We are so encouraged by all the people who really care about the trains, cars, planes and other vehicles that have defined our history and who we are today. We value all our fans and supporters and wish you joyous holidays and a great year to come! Please come see us! Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr.  Executive Director |
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 | | Pewter J611 Ornament with the Mill Mountain Star |
Great gifts in our Museum Store!
With free shipping on our 611 ornaments!
If someone on your list is a fan of trains--or if YOU are a fan of trains--we've got an assortment of really unusual items to celebrate the railroad, and in particular, the Norfolk & Western!
We've got not one, but two great new ornaments to celebrate the great Class J 611! Both are high quality pewter ornaments. Select from a number of DVDs featuring actual video and audio of N&W steam trains, or save and if you get the whole set. We also offer a wide selection of books, and a great train simulation program that lets you build and run your own modern-day railroad.
For children, we've got great, high-quality wooden trains with lots of different cars available for imaginative play. We also carry educational children's DVDs and fun items like cake and muffin tins shaped like trains and tractors.
 We strive for quality, American-made products, and every purchase helps the Museum in our mission to preserve our transportation heritage.
Please visit our store to see everything (including gifts for car and aviation fans), or chose from some of our favorite items on our web site. We are working hard to set up online ordering, but until then, please call us at 540-767-4651! |
 One of Roanoke's 'baby stars' comes home December 14, 5:30pm: Free Program
In 1949, the year that the Mill Mountain Star first shared its glow with the Roanoke Valley, one hundred baby stars were also made to adorn street lamps throughout Downtown Roanoke. Decades after their disappearance, one baby star has come home to Roanoke for permanent display at the Museum. The star will be lit in a ceremony to recognize its festive holiday heritage on December 14 at 5:30 pm. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Both the big, beloved neon star on Mill Mountain and the baby neon stars were made by the Roy C. Kinsey Sign Co. for the Roanoke Merchants Association. The baby stars were used as Christmas decorations in Roanoke through the 1960s, when 23 were sold to the Town of Floyd. The stars illuminated Floyd for two decades, but were eventually discarded. Their existence was rediscovered last year during the 60th Anniversary Celebration for the Mill Mountain Star.
The Town of Floyd very generously donated one of the stars to the Museum in honor of a much-beloved chapter of Roanoke's history. The star has been restored by Budget Signs and will hang in the Museum's Advance Auto Parts Auto Gallery, to shine down once more on cars from the forties, fifties and sixties as it did during the holidays long ago. |
Holiday Model Train Open House!
Saturday October 18, 10am - 1pm
The Roanoke Valley Model Engineers Club has been working on several layouts in the Museum's basement for years, but they are rarely open to the public.
 Come see an HO scale layout featuring the Norfolk & Western, Chesapeake & Ohio, and Virginian Railways; an On30 scale layout depicting narrow gauge mountaineering in the Rocky Mountains; and a creative N scale layout. All three represent imaginative works in progress, with significant attention to detail in all scales. Concurrently, the Club will hold a model railroad yard sale and offer giveaway items.
The Club's layouts are located in the basement of the Museum, just off the Railwalk at the rear of the building around the corner from the rocket.
The Museum will be charging regular admission that day, but admission to the Open House is FREE. For information about the Open House, or about joining the Club which meets Tuesdays from 6:30 - 8pm, call Rick Anderson at Rick's Hobby Shop: 540-362-7033. |
 | | Seagle Ambulance/Hearse |
Rare Ambulance/Hearse now on display
The Virginia Museum of Transportation announces the arrival of a rare vehicle that holds a unique place in Virginia history, a 1936 Siebert Ford Combination Ambulance/ Hearse. The exhibit now on display in the Museum's Advance Auto Parts Auto Gallery is made possible by Mickey Seagle of Pulaski, VA.
Purchased by the Seagle Brothers Funeral Service to replace its 1907 horse-drawn funeral coach, this combination vehicle also served as the first ambulance in Pulaski. In small towns in the 1920s and 1930s, local undertakers received the same medical training as fire department personnel, supplying emergency transportation in the days preceding rescue squads. When the vehicle was used as a hearse, a canvas bag covered the bumper-mounted red light.
The Seagles' Ambulance/Hearse served the community until 1953 when the owner of the family business retired and sold the coach. His son, the late Oscar Seagle, purchased the coach in 1990 and completed its award-winning restoration. The vehicle won over eighty first place trophies in car shows. In 1994 in Pittsburgh, PA, it won first place in competition with 103 other vehicles in the ambulance/hearse class. |
 Rail Fan Trip to the Colorado Rockies
In partnership with Collette Vacations, the Museum presents a special guided tour, Trains of the Colorado Rockies.
The trip includes nine nights accomodations while you visit the Colorado Railroad Museum, Estes Park, the Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde National Park; and a vineyard including a winemaker's dinner. Ride on the Georgetown Loop narrow gauge railroad, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad, Canyon City's Royal Gorge Railroad with spectacular scenery, and Pike's Peak Cog Railroad, the world's highest railroad, to the top of the Peak.
The package includes air fare from Washington, DC (check for other departure cities), and thirteen meals including several special dinners.
The price is $2,609 per person based on two people sharing a room. To reserve a space or for more information, call Ginny Savage at World Travel 540-982-2200. |
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