CELEBRATING ROAD. RAIL. AIR. SEPTEMBER 2011 |
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Dear Friend,
The Virginia Museum of Transportation holds hints of our past -- the trains, the antique automobiles, the history of flight in Virginia. But we also give visitors a glimpse of the future.
We recently installed the first electric car charging station in downtown Roanoke. Alternative energies and fuels have a place in the future of transportation and we're proud to showcase one such technology.
We invite you to visit us this fall. You'll see more special events, educational programs and exhibits. Enjoy the crisp air, the changing leaves and the shorter days.
Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr. 
Executive Director
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 Grandparents Day at the VMT! Celebrating Grandparents and Grandchildren and everyone in between.
Saturday, September 10 10am - 5pm Free admission for Grandparents and children under three. $5/person admission for the rest of the family. Parking in the Brandon Lot is free for the day. Fun for everybody, featuring... FREE TRAIN RIDES by the Roanoke Chapter NRHS, a Craft Station so kids can make something special for their grandparents, and facepainting. From 10-2, enjoy the imaginative HO, N, and ON3 layouts the Roanoke Valley Model Engineers are building in our basement. They only hold an open house a few times each year. The entrance, accessible by stairs only, is located on the back side of the Museum near the rocket. |
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VGN Electric Rectifier |
Virginian Rail Day
Celebrating the historic Virginian Railway
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Virginian Railway was a remarkable railroad, completed in 1909 to transport coal from southern West Virginia to the port at Hampton Roads. An important railway in the Commonwealth's history, the Virginian was merged into the Norfolk & Western in 1959 but has never been forgotten. Former Virginian employees and historians will be on hand to share stories and interpret the Virginian equipment and artifacts in our collection.
- Virginian Class SA #4, the only Virginian steam engine still in existence (1910)
- Virginian GE EL-C #135, an electric engine known as the Rectifier (1956)
- Virginian Class C-10 Caboose #321 (1949)
- the Ellett (VA) Virginian Railway operator's station
- the Virginian gallery in the Museum which displays VGN artifacts and photos
 On view for Virginian Day only will be the 90-year-old Virginian Sheffield motor car recently restored by Aubrey Wiley. The car will be presented in "living history" fashion and outfitted as though it is in service in the mid 1950s, complete with a signal maintainer of the period.
September 24 is also Smithsonian Museum Day. Download a free admission ticket for two to the Virginia Museum of Transportation or to one of hundreds of museums across the country. |
 Museum installs Electric Car Charging Station
The Virginia Museum of Transportation recently installed an Eaton Level 2 Pow-R-Station electric vehicle charging station at the Museum in downtown Roanoke.
The charging station is part of the Museum's efforts to highlight the past and future of transportation throughout the Commonwealth. "Alternative energies and fuels have an important place in the future of transportation," says Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., executive director of the Museum.
Some industry forecasts predict an annual volume of 400,000 battery-operated electric vehicles in North American by 2020. These electric vehicles will require substantial residential, commercial and public infrastructure to support them.
"We're thrilled to have the first charging station in downtown Roanoke," says Fitzpatrick. The charging station is mounted in front of the Museum. The Level 2 Pow-R-Station will easily fill a depleted all-electric vehicle battery in as little as four hours and willaccept credit cards.
The installation of the Level 2 Pow-R-Station was made possible by the office of Senator Mark Warner, Virginia Clean Cities, Eaton Corporation, the Davis H. Elliot Company, City Electric Supply, and Advance Auto Parts. |
 | | Still time to vote for the 1776! |
Your votes can help us save the N&W 1776!
The Museum's Norfolk & Western SD45 Diesel Locomotive #1776 is a top contender in the race to be recognized as one of Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts. Your votes now through September 20 for the 1776 will demonstrate the importance of this historic engine. If selected as one of Virginia's most endangered artifacts, the recognition will help us in our efforts to restore the locomotive to her Bicentennial glory!
You still have time to vote! Go to Virginia's Top Ten Artifacts to vote for the 1776! The contest is sponsored by the Virginia Association of Museums.
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 over a decade ago, 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.
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 Railroads in the African American Experience
Book Signing and Author Talk
Sunday, October 2; 2 pm - 5 pm
The history of 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.
Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., is a professor emeritus in African American history at San Diego State University and an award-winning author.
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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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Happenings: Road. Rail. Air.
Through September 11: Norfolk & Western Historical Society Archives Work Session: The 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.
Through 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. Note: the O. Winston Link Museum is currently closed due to storm damage, scheduled to reopen September 18.
September 18: Blue Ridge Chapter, National Railway Historical Society Annual Chapter Picnic. English Park, next to the former Virginian Railway mainline, Altavista, VA. Noon - 4 pm. The Chapter will supply the fried chicken, drinks and ice. Attendees are asked to bring a covered dish or dessert to share with others. Guests are welcome. Please RSVP to Norris Deyerle by Sunday, September 11.
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, Spencer, NC.
October 5-9: C&O Historical Society Archives Work Session at the headquarters at 312 E. Ridgeway St. in Clifton Forge.Send an email or call 540-862-2210 for more information.
October 6-9: Norfolk & Western Historical Society Archives Work Session: The 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.
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: Tickets are on sale and going fast for the Fall Amtrak Excursions to Abingdon, VA and Bluefield, WV sponsored by the Roanoke Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. NEW TOURS THIS YEAR: FreightCar America's Roanoke shops and the Ghost Rails of Roanoke, on Friday November 4. Tickets for these very scenic trips are now on sale online, by calling 540-774-0611, or at the Virginia Museum of Transportation or O. Winston Link Museum.
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 Chapter, 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 Chapter, National Railway Historical Society meets in the auditorium at the O. Winston Link Museum at 7:30 pm.
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