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Saturday -- August 18
10 am to 3 pm
SAFETY DAY
FREE ADMISSION!
Learn how to keep your family safe!
The VMT wants you to be safe -- no matter how you travel through life. On Saturday, 
August 18, we're opening our doors and showcasing area community organizations who will give you the information you need to keep your family safe.
Featuring:
- The BB&T Distracted Driving Simulator: This is a wonderful opportunity for new and experienced drivers alike to understand the dangers of distracted driving.
- YOVASO (Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety) will reach out to teen drivers.
- Police and Firefighting vehicles will be available for the public to view. Officers and firefighters will be on hand to answer questions and to pass out materials.
- Virginia Tech Transportation Institute will give attendees an inside look at their cutting-edge safety research and how they're working with auto manufacturers and the US Government to help build safer cars.
- Virginia State Police will bring their HEAT program! Attendees can have their VIN numbers engraved on their vehicle, making a stolen vehicle much more likely to be tracked and recovered. They will teach car owners how to keep their cars from being stolen.
- Operation Lifesaver will showcase the dangers that can be found on and around railroad tracks.
- The AARP will have its popular "It's time to talk" program on hand. This program will help adults talk to their elderly parents about handing over the car keys for good.
- AND MORE! Click here for all the details, including advice about parking.
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From our Executive Director
What a wonderful summer! We dedicated our SD-45 1776 and the Chesapeake Western 662 Locomotives on July 7. We had a wonderful -- and very large -- crowd celebrate the day with us. The locomotives add so much to our collection! The Museum continues to make improvements to our facility -- new exhibit spaces have been added to the Rail Gallery, our Wings Over Virginia Aviation Gallery continues to prepare for takeoff in November, and new windows are being installed in the Advance Auto Parts Automotive Gallery made possible by support from Star City Motor Madness.
Because of the Taubman Foundation and other community sponsors, we have a full calendar of special events and activities scheduled for this fall and winter. We invite you to join us. We're going to have a great time!
 Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr. Executive Director |
 VOTE and help save the Pullman Lake Pearl!
Last year, your votes helped to cosmetically restore the N&W 1776 Locomotive by making the engine a People's Award Choice winner in the Virginia Association of Museum's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts Competition. This year, we need your votes to help us raise awareness of the need to restore our 1923 Lake Pearl Pullman Car, a deluxe sleeping car from the golden age of passenger rail travel. A Pullman sleeper tells a powerful story of life in America: romantic stories of luxurious passenger travel, economic stories of the growth of commerce made possible by overnight travel, and, most significantly, political stories of the rise of the civil rights movement.
This competition doesn't provide any direct funding, but really helps with grant applications. Click here to vote: scroll down until you see the Lake Pearl (we're third from the bottom) and vote! You can vote as many times and as often as you like, through August 29. Right now, we're running a distant fourth in the public voting. Our friends at the Allegheny Historical Society have nominated the "Merry Widow," Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Locomotive 701, circa 1911. We'd like to see it restored, too, so feel free to vote for the 701 as well! |
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Experience the beauty of a
Blue Ride Autumn from the comfort of a train!
Again this year, the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, in cooperation from Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, is pleased to offer two fine excursion trains in Southwest Virginia.
The excursions will roll through scenic Virginia vistas on the weekend of November 10-11. On Saturday, November 10, an excursion train will depart the former N&W passenger station in Roanoke bound for historic Abingdon, Virginia. On Sunday, November 11, the train will travel to lovely Shenandoah, north of Roanoke, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Since this weekend is Veteran's Day the Chapter is pleased to offer a 10 percent discount on a veteran's ticket.
Tickets are on sale now! Coach, Dome Class, Lounge Car Class are ONLY sold via the Roanoke Chapter NRHS: call 540-774-0611. Coach tickets are available online, or by calling the O. Winston Link Museum at 540-982-5465 or the Virginia Museum of Transportation at 540-342-5670. These trips are the major fundraiser for Roanoke Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Inc. a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the preservation of rail history in Western Virginia. Funds raised from past excursions have been used in the restoration of Roanoke's Virginian Railway Passenger Station and the Museum's Chesapeake Western engine 662. |
Preschool Potbelly Days at the VMT
Beginning Tuesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesdays AND Wednesdays, 10 am to 11 am
Preschool Potbelly Days are designed to engage preschoolers in hands-on learning, experimentation and creativity in an unsurpassed learning environment.
Designed for children 3- to 5-years-old and their caregivers,the program will teach and reinforce many preschool-themed topics.
They'll also learn about different forms of transportation on display at the Museum.
Preschool Potbelly Days are aligned with Virginia's Foundation Blocks for Early Learning.
Members: $5 per child; Non-Members: $10 per child
Caregivers are not charged for the program.
SAVE: Play&Learn Passes!
Purchase a series of 10 Preschool Potbelly Days!
Members: $45 for 10 visits
Non-Members: $90 for 10 visits
Caregivers are not charged for the program.
More information can be found at vmt.org or by emailing Courtney Plaster, education coordinator at the VMT. For preschool or homeschool groups with five or more students, please arrange special sessions with Courtney Plaster.
* Preschool Potbelly Days follow the Roanoke City School schedule.
Sessions will not take place when Roanoke City Schools are on break.
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Like Model Trains? Join the Club!
 The Roanoke Valley Model Engineers invites you to indulge in model trains! The club meets in the basement of the VMT each week to work on their ON30, HO, Lionel and N-Scale layouts.
Join them! They're fun, nice and welcoming. No experience in model trains is necessary. Meetings are on Tuesdays from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The entrance is at the back of the Museum around the corner from the Jupiter Rocket. The club invites everyone ages 8-80 (and older).
Contact the VMT for more information! |
Wow!
Norfolk Southern
30th Anniversary Heritage Pin Set  Norfolk Southern's heritage units are beautiful, and so are these pins! All 20 units are represented in this collection that was specially created for Norfolk Southern's 30th anniversary. The presentation box measures 7 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches. The pins are approximately 1 inch x 1 inch depending on shape. The inside cover of the box gives a brief history of each railroad represented. The box is black and comes in a white protective sleeve. This collection is a MUST for all rail fans!
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Wednesday, August 22: Submission deadline for "In the Style of Link," a juried show hosted by the O. Winston Link Museum. Download an application here!
Friday, August 24, 6 - 8 am: Early Morning Light Workshop. This workshop will explore the qualities of morning light and how to capture it. The workshop will meet at the O. Winston Link Museum and will incorporate a walking tour of downtown while seeking the best morning sunshine. Free for Link members, $15 for non-members. Please call to reserve your space at 540.982.LINK.
Saturday, August 25: The Roanoke Valley Mopar Club is celebrating its 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.
Saturday, August 25: Blue Ridge Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society will join Amtrak's Northeast Regional #156 train ride to Manassas, Va. Departs Lynchburg's Kemper Street Station at 9:59 AM and arrives in Manassas, Va. at 12:39 PM. Returning on train #147 from Manassas at 4:53 PM arriving back into Lynchburg's Kemper Street Station at 7:39 PM. The approximate cost will be $44.00 per person. Earlier reservations are recommended to get the best price for the round trip ticket. This will be the 150th Anniversary of the Second Battle of Manassas. You may make your reservations by calling Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL, www.amtrak.com or by calling the Lynchburg /Ticket Agent Office at 434-847-8247.
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.
Monthly - Every third Saturday from April - October from 5 pm to 9 pm:
Advance Auto Parts 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.
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.
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