|
|
This Saturday -- July 7 -- 10 am to 5 pm
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1776!
Help us welcome home the
N&W SD-45 1776 Locomotive! A symbol of our nation's spirit and freedom
Our beloved 1776 Locomotive is rolling home after her cosmetic restoration and we're celebrating in grand patriotic style! PARTY LIKE IT'S 1776! will be filled with trains, music, history and family fun. - Dedication ceremony at 11 am for the Norfolk & Western 1776 and Chesapeake & Western Locomotives.
- Revolutionary War re-enactors and historical interpreters will be
in our Railyard showing off their muskets and telling stories
about life in Virginia during the Colonial days. - Kids are invited to design their own flags with Betsy Ross.
- The music group "NS Lawmen" will perform in our Railyard
at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. - Patriotic music throughout the day.
- Country Cookin' will be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs all day.
- Model train displays!
- New activity for the Passport Program (a fun scavenger hunt throughout the Museum).
- The all-new Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car will be on display!
REDUCED ADMISSION: $5 per person. Museum Members and infants 2 and under admitted free. Norfolk Southern employees (with ID) and their families are admitted free! Free parking at the Brandon Parking lot across the street for the day. In 1974, 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. For years, she led trains across the N&W system, securing her place as a national icon. The 1776 Locomotive was the recipient of the 2011 Trains magazine Preservation Award and a People's Choice Award in the Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts competition sponsored by the Virginia Association of Museums and the Virginia Collections Institute. Rail fans across the country also donated to her restoration. PARTY LIKE IT'S 1776 is made possible by the Taubman Foundation and Norfolk Southern. Funding for the 1776 Locomotive made possible by Trains magazine and generous donors throughout the country. Thank you for your support! Another beautiful restoration! Chesapeake & Western 662 Baldwin Diesel
In 2009, Virginia Scrap Iron and Metal Company donated nine old pieces of rail equipment that had been in its yard for decades to the Museum. One was the rusted pile of steel that used to be the Chesapeake & Western DS-4-4-600 #662. Known as one of the "Lost Engines of Roanoke," the locomotive was held together by rust and memories. Through a valuable partnership with the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, the 662 Locomotive shines like new again. The Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS is made up of talented railfans who worked on the restoration on nights and weekends - all while working full-time jobs. Three painstakingly years later, the locomotive is ready to be rolled into the VMT's Rail Yard for permanent display.
Three Heritage Units are coming!
Three Heritage Units are coming! Three Heritage Units are coming!  FOR ONE DAY ONLY! On Saturday, July 7, the Virginian, Interstate and N&W Heritage Units will be on display! As part of its 30th anniversary celebration, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives in commemorative schemes that reflect the heritage of the railroad's predecessors. The Heritage Unit project celebrates the hundreds of railroad companies were built, merged, reorganized and consolidated into what eventually became Norfolk Southern. All this and more on Saturday, July 7! |
From our Executive Director
Celebrating friends, partnerships, restorations and gifts
This month, we're celebrating the friendships we've forged, the significant partnerships we've made and the completed restoration projects.
Congratulations to the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. After three years of hard restoration work, we will be able to display the Chesapeake Western #662 Locomotive. We're also celebrating the return of our beloved Norfolk & Western 1776 Locomotive. Her red-white-and-blue paint scheme has been refurbished and she looks as good as new. Thank you to Trains magazine, Norfolk Southern and the many rail fans across the country who donated to her cosmetic restoration.
Our Advance Auto Parts Automotive Gallery also received a marvelous gift: A 1914 Ford Model T from the Bennett family. We are grateful for this wonderful addition to our Automotive Gallery.
Come see both of these beautiful engines this summer. And keep your eye tuned for a Model T event. We'll be glad to see you!
 Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr. Executive Director |
Roanoke family donates 98-year-old Model T
to the VMT during Star City Motor Madness
The Model T wasn't just any car. It was THE car. It was the symbol of freedom, movement and the industrial revolution in America. That's why the VMT is proud to say that we now own one of the finest examples of America's first love affair with the automobile.
On Saturday, June 30, during Star City Motor Madness, the Bennett family of Roanoke and a long-time supporter of the VMT, donated a pristine 1914 Ford
Model T Touring car to the Museum.
The Model T was originally purchased in Staunton, Virginia, at the Beverly Garage on South New Street, a building that stands to this day. The car cost $550 and weighed 1,200 pounds.
The original owner was a family in Harrisonburg who took the car on a cross-country trip to the West coast. (This is quite the challenge considering the condition of the roads at that time.)
In the late 1920s, George Biler of Mt. Crawford, Virginia, became the second owner. Biler, a farmer, never drove the car far from home. He parked it in the late 1930s when he acquired a more modern car. The car sat in an open garage for decades. A hen made her nest in the car, complete with eggs!
The car was sold to Willis Clemmer, now of Staunton, in 1971 and he undertook a seven-year restoration of the car.
The restoration project included disassembling the spokes of each wheel, sanding, repainting and reassembling. The car's engine only required a tightening of the bearings.
After the restoration, Clemmer used the car in local parades and showed it at Antique Automobile Club of America shows. Its beauty and restoration won Clemmer some of the highest antique auto awards attainable.
In 2002, Robert Bennett of Roanoke purchased the car. Through this generous donation to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, visitors will be able to enjoy this spectacular example of the Model T, the car that helped transform the United States from a agricultural-based nation into an industrial nation.
Thank you to the Bennett family for this generous donation!
The VMT is currently making arrangements to bring the Model T into the Museum for permanent display. Stay tuned for more details!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Happenings: Road. Rail. Air.
Now to September 4: The O. Winston Link Musuem: Show by Harry Horenstein.
Wednesday, August 8 - Sunday, August 12: C&O Historical Society's 43rd Annual Conference. Hilton Alexandria Old Town (Northern Virginia).
Thursday, August 9 to Sunday, August 12: N&W Historical Society Archives Work Session.
Saturday, August 25: The Roanoke Valley Mopar Club is celebrating their Silver Anniversary at the All Mopar Show at the Roanoke Civic Center. Free to attend as a spectator. Cost to register your car is $20 - $25.
August 11: Lynchburg Rail Day sponsored by the Blue Ridge National Railway Historical Society. 9 am to 4 pm. Celebrating the past and present of railroads. See the history of the railroads and model railroading in various scales (electric and live steam). Collectors of railroad artifacts and memorabilia welcome! Door prizes and refreshments. Held at the Boonsboro Ruritan Club. Applications for vendors being taken now.
Monthly - Every third Saturday from April - October from 5 pm to 9 pm: Advance Auto Part Pit Stop Cruise In. Hosted by Advance Auto Parts and the Roanoke Valley MOPAR Club. Come see hundreds of automobiles -- everything from antiques to modern muscle. Free to attend. Free to show your car. Held in the parking lot of the Advance Auto Parts Corporate Offices. Food, music and fun.
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. 7 pm. For information, email Tim Ward, Chapter President.
Weekly - Tuesdays: The Roanoke Valley Model Engineers work on their ON30, HO, Lionel and N scale layouts each week in the basement of the Museum. The entrance is at the back of the Museum around the corner from the Jupiter Rocket. 6:30 pm to 8 pm. The club also invites younger members ages 8 - 18 to learn about model railroading. New members welcome!
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
