CELEBRATING ROAD. RAIL. AIR. AUGUST 2011 |
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Dear (Contact First Name),
The final days of summer are upon us. As you're squeezing in the last trip to the lake or that last fun family fling, be sure to squeeze in a visit to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, too.
We've had a fabulous summer. Walking through the Museum and seeing families enjoying themselves always makes us smile. From the mighty N&W 1218 and N&W 611 in our Rail Yard to the classic auto gallery and everything in between, we're simply a place where families can connect and learn.
May your last days of summer be the very best.
Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr.  Executive Director |
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Your story is powerful. Tell us about it.
The "Power of Our Stories" is an ambitious oral history project designed to collect and archive the Commonwealth's transportation stories. The Museum will use your stories and memories to design new exhibits and educational programs.
You have a story.
 Your stories are the Commonwealth's transportation stories. This is your chance to mark your place in history. Your story will give people a glimpse into life in Virginia throughout the years.
We want to hear from you if:
- You worked on the railroad in any capacity.
- You were involved with aviation in the Commonwealth. Did you help build one of our airports? Did you pilot a plane over Virginia? In other parts of the United States or the world? Did you build airplanes?
- You collect and restore cars, truck or busses. You fix cars, trucks or busses. You helped to build the auto industry in Virginia.
- You drove a bus from town-to-town, reuniting people and places.
- You were a mail carrier, either by foot, rail, road or air.
- You delivered goods all over Virginia from far away places. Or you trucked goods from Virginia to other parts of the country.
- You stood on a train platform, or in a bus station, or at the airport waiting on a loved one to come home.
- You were a passenger or a driver, using transportation to discover new worlds.
Road. Rail. Air.
Tell us about it.
If you have a story or a memory to share, please call the Museum. We'll book a time for you to come in and talk with a member of our staff. We will record your story on video or audio or both.
If you have memorabilia you'd like to donate or show, please let us know.
How to tell your story:
Call the Virginia Museum of Transportation at 540-342-5670 and ask to speak to one of our historians. You can also email us!
The Power of Our Stories is made possible by the Raymond C. and Anna T. Johnson Foundation and the Roanoke Public Library Foundation.
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 Vote for the N&W 1776 Locomotive!
The Museum's Norfolk & Western SD45 Diesel Locomotive #1776 is among candidates for "Top 10 Endangered Artifacts" by the Virginia Association of Museums.
Starting August 15, please go to www.vatop10artifacts.org to vote for the 1776! If the 1776 Locomotive is one of the top 10 artifacts in the Commonwealth, then we'll receive publicity and tools to help restore her to her original glory!
You can also help restore the 1776 by making a donation.
About the 1776 Locomotive
In the mid-1970s, the Norfolk & Western Railway boldly painted a locomotive-the number 1776-red, white, and blue to celebrate the USA's Bicentennial of national independence and to demonstrate the railroad's commitment to America's strong future.
Today, the 1776 is one of the most beloved diesel engines in the Museum's collection. The locomotive's last restoration was in 1991, and her paint and her glory now are fading. The Museum has set a goal of $10,000 to bring back the engine's true colors.
"When state support ended a decade ago, our restoration efforts came to a halt, until now," said Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., the Museum's executive director. "We have completed the cosmetic restoration of several pieces of rail stock in the past year, and are now preparing to begin work on this locomotive that is a true rail fan favorite and national icon. It's time to restore her proud gleam once again."
In 1974, the Norfolk & Western SD45 diesel locomotive 1776 received its distinctive paint scheme in honor of the 200th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1976. From 1974 through 1978, the engine proudly headed trains across the 14-state N&W system.
The cab of the locomotive featured an eye-catching circle of thirteen stars on a blue field representing the original thirteen colonies that declared their independence from England in 1776. Striking red and white stripes ran the length of the locomotive.
In 1978, the engine was repainted N&W black, and it wasn't until 1991 when Norfolk Southern Corporation donated the 1776 to the Virginia Museum of Transportation that it was once again painted in its patriotic red, white and blue.
The 1776 was built in 1970 by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division, one of 115 of its type purchased by the N&W. The 1776 was retired from service on Leap Day in February 1988.
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Hollywood Star Cars extend their stay
Due to popular demand, Hollywood's Star Cars will extend their stay at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. This never-before-seen exhibit was originally scheduled to leave the Museum on July 31, but will now stay through September 5, 2011.
Special cars on display include:
- The moonshine-running General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger, driven by Bo (Sean Williams Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke in the 2005 film Dukes of Hazzard.
- Boss Hogg, a Cadillac driven in hot pursuit of the Duke cousins by Burt Reynolds in the 2005 film The Dukes of Hazzard.
- The tricked-out 2000 Ford Crown Victoria taxi driven by Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon as they recklessly chased criminals through the streets of New York in the 2004 movie Taxi.
 Jeff Gordon's1993 Dupont-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo (reproduction) featured in the 2003 movie Looney Tunes Back in Action. The Monte Carlo is on loan from Warner Brothers Studios.
- Sylvester Stallone pursued a serial killer with an army of psychopaths in a suped-up 1950 Mercury in the 1986 Rambo-style movie Cobra.
- The 1959 Cadillac ambulance Ecto 1 used in the promotion of the 1984 movie Ghost Busters. Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray careen through the streets of New York in the Ectomobile in search of pesky poltergeists, ghosts, and other spirits.
- The distinctive red and white 1974 Ford Gran Torino from the second season of the crime-fighting TV drama "Starsky & Hutch," which premiered in 1975.
The exhibit is courtesy of The Lindisfarne Collection and is sponsored by Grand Home Furnishings.
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Blue Skies ahead for Wings Over Virginia
The Wings Over Virginia Aviation Gallery is on-track to open soon. This summer, staff and volunteers have been designing and planning. Here are just a few of the fantastic happenings: - A rigger will soon hang our experimental aircraft to make room for exhibits. Once that job is completed, the walls will go up and the Gallery will take shape.
- We're redesigning a portion of the Gallery for a new, exciting, and very unexpected exhibit: a 1968 Jet Commander, donated by William C. Cranwell. General Manager of Landmark Aviation, John Wilson, and President of Cycle Systems, Jay Brenner, are donating their resources to prepare the cockpit and cabin section of the airplane so it can become an exhibit in the Gallery. The fuselage will be painted prior to exhibition.
- We have also partnered with NASA Langley! They are currently designing exhibits that will help us educate guests on aviation science and technology. They've also offered the Museum many of their vast resources to help us make Wings Over Virginia a must-see-and-learn destination.
- Mrs. Linda Harry donated Colonel William Harry's extensive aircraft model collection. This will make an excellent exhibit that will be enjoyed by all.
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 Celebrating Grandparents! We're celebrating Grandparents on
Saturday, September 10. Free Admission for Grandparents!
$5/person admission for the rest of the family. Craft Station for kids! We'll also have our Power of Our Stories booth open so you can record your oral history and memories about transportation. What a great way to connect generations! |
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Happenings: Road. Rail. Air.
August 11 - 14: Norfolk & Western Historical Society Archives Work Session: he Archives Committee works Thursday - Sunday on the second weekend of each month. The Committee is willing to show you around and assist you with any reasonable research request you may have. Send an email or call 540-342-5506 for more information. August 12 - October 31 at the O. Winston Link Museum: This Great Nation Will Endure is a look at the photographic works generated by Roosevelt's New Deal. Putting artists, photographers and writers to work under the Farm Security Administration, this project created one of the most telling documentary bodies of the Great Depression. Faces tell the story, captured timelessly through the photographers' vision. August 13: "All aboard" for this year's Lynchburg Rail Day, presented by the Blue Ridge Chapter of the National Railway Society. This annual model train show -- with operating trains! -- is a Lynchburg tradition. Newcomers and veterans alike will love this event. Enjoy the trains, browse the vendor tables and stay for lunch!
9 am - 4 pm at the Boonsboro Ruritan Club, just off of U.S. 501 North. Admission: $6/person; $10/family; children 12 and under free with a paying adult.
September 10: Celebrating Grandparents at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Grandparents enjoy free admission. Discounted admission for the rest of the family. Power of Our Stories oral history booth will record your personal transportation stories and memories. A day designed so generations can connect and learn. September 23-25 and September 30 - October 2: Day Out With Thomas at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Thomas fans rejoice! Thomas the Train and his friends will visit the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. October 2: Railroads in the African American Experience. Book signing and author talk at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. The history of the American railroads cannot be separated from African American history. Author Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., will take readers on an illustrated tour of the black railroad experience from slavery to Amtrak. With almost 200 images many never before published, Mr. Kornweibel examines the significant contributions of African Americans to the building, maintenance, operation, and profitability of the American railway system.
October 29: Tickets are now on sale for the Virginia Autumn Special, an Amtrak excursion from Spencer/Greensboro, NC to Roanoke sponsored by the NC Transportation Museum Foundation and the Watauga Valley Chapter, NRHS. Passengers detrain just blocks from the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
November 5-6: Mark your calendars for Fall Amtrak Excursions to Abingdon, VA and Bluefield, WV sponsored by the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. (Tickets are now on sale and going fast!)
Weekly - Tuesdays: The Roanoke Valley Model Engineers work on their ON3, HO, and N scale layouts each week in the basement of the Museum. The entrance is on the back of the Museum around the corner from the Jupiter Rocket. 6:30-8pm. New members welcome. For information, call Rick Anderson at Rick's Hobby Shop: 540-362-7033.
Monthly -- Second and Fourth Thursdays: The International Plastic Modelers' Society, Roanoke Valley Chapter hosts building and business meetings at the Museum each month, and competes in area shows. The entrance is on the back of the Museum just off the Rail Walk and around the corner from the Jupiter Rocket. 7pm. For information, email Tim Ward, Chapter President.
Monthly - Second Wednesday: Blue Ridge National Railway Historical Society meets at Charley's Restaurant, 707 Graves Mills Road, Lynchburg, VA. Dinner begins at 6 pm. Official chapter meeting begins at 7:30 pm.
Monthly - Third Thursday: Roanoke National Railway Historical Society meets in the O. Winston Link Museum at 101 Shenandoah Avenue in the former N&W Passenger Station located adjacent to Hotel Roanoke.
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