Event Calendar

Sunday, July 20, 2008, 1 – 4 p.m.
N scale model train display provided by NVNTRAK

Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Forum speaker John Carter
Author, historian and educator, John will discuss the letters of his great-great-grandfather, PVT William C. McClellan, who served in the 9th Alabama during the Civil War.  This unit participated in many battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, traversing the local Northern Virginia area many times. Pvt. McClellan was a soldier and a prisoner of war who died shortly after the war. His letters reveal his true feelings about life in the Army of Northern Virginia.  He held very strong opinions about the generals and his fellow soldiers. The letters speak freely of events during that time and the war itself. Mr. Carter has assembled the letters into a book and adds enriching historical context. The book will be available for purchase and author signing.

Sunday, August 17, 2008, 1 – 4 p.m.
N scale model train display provided by NVNTRAK

August 31 & September 1, 2008, Labor Day Weekend
HO and N scale and Lego trains will be on display
Sunday, 12 – 5 and Monday 12 – 5

Special event of a Children’s Book Signing of “The Train to Maine.”
Come join us as we also celebrate the publication of the new children’s book, “The Train to Maine” by the award winning illustrator, Rebecca Harrison Reed.  “The Train to Mine” (Down East Books) is a universal story of a family summer train vacation along the east coast.  Rebecca will provide personalized autographs for her books on Sunday and Monday from 12 – 5.  One of the story’s characters, a jolly train conductor, will also be on hand with great giveaways for kids!  Rebecca Harrison Reed is a local children’s book author and illustrator residing in Clifton, VA.  “The Train to Maine” is based on Amtrak’s Downeaster train that runs between Boston, MA and Portland, ME.

Sunday, September 21, 2008, 1 – 4 p.m.
N scale model train display provided by NVNTRAK

Saturday, October 4, 2008, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Our annual Civil War tour will be a Tour of Alexandria Civil War Logistics, Defensive and Railroad Sites. Van transportation from a predetermined site. Rain or shine. See Civil War Tours for all of the details.

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 1 – 4 p.m.
N scale model train display provided by NVNTRAK

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Forum Speaker Bill Etue
Bill Etue’s topic is Devereux & Haupt, The Magician Engineers of the US Military Railroad. John H. Devereux started his career as a surveyor in Ohio and then became a railroad superintendent prior  to the Civil War. Once the Civil War started, he volunteered his services to the US Government and was assigned to the United States Military Railroad (USMRR) where he served as Superintendent of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from March 1862 until he left the service in March 1864. He went on to have an outstanding career as a railroad man in the Mid-west. Herman Haupt was a 19th Century railroad genius who had already established his credentials prior to the war. The Secretary of War personally requested him to work for the USMRR. He served without pay from April 1862 to September 1863 and only left when after being promoted to a Brigadier General, the military required him to join the regular army which he refused. He resigned instead. Both Devereux and Haupt established procedures, rewrote policies and developed the USMRR into a branch of the service critical to the war effort. The presentation will discuss many of their successful exploits.

Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1 – 4 p.m.
N scale model train display provided by NVNTRAK

Saturday and Sunday December 6 & 7, 2008
Saturday 10 – 5, Sunday 12 to 4
The 19th Annual Model Train Display
Come and join us at our largest train show of the year.  This is the REALLY BIG ONE that everyone in the area looks forward to each year.  Almost all scales are represented by our model train clubs: Lionel, HO, O, N, Standard, Z and Lego inside the museum and caboose, and the Garden scale outside encircling the museum.  Santa will be there, and if the weather cooperates, we also will have numerous antique cars on display.  Adults $4 and children $1.  Bring your kids and/or grandkids, but especially yourself!

Sunday, January 18, 2009, 1 – 4 p.m.
Garden scale train display, provided by the Washington Virginia & Maryland Garden Railway Society.