Rail Museum grand opening is Saturday, August 27

After 52 years, and more than 40 of those years at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, the Inland Empire Railway Historical Society has a permanent home! Formed in 1976, the group rebranded itself two years ago as the Inland Northwest Rail Museum to more clearly define the goals of the organization. The primary goal was to find a home for the group's collection of railcars and historical memorabilia.

Roughly two years ago (August 2014), excitement began to build as construction started on the Lee Tillotson Restoration and Conservation Center on 30 acres located two miles west of Reardan. The first dirt was turned over after almost a year of plan revisions to hold down the cost of the first building in the overall vision for the site to keep within the available funds. It was necessary to scale back the original $2.5 million project to stay under $2 million. To do so, the square footage was scaled back, amenities were put off until later and landscaping was left to future funding efforts. The immediate goal was to create a shop/restoration area first, followed by a small museum and observation gallery. Space was needed to work on restoration projects, as well as have a protected area for the last existing Spokane streetcar that has been restored by the group.

The official groundbreaking took place September 13, 2013, so it took almost a year to get funding in place to move forward. It was a 12-year process from when the 30-acre site was purchased. Money was not the only controlling factor. The group had to determine what parts of the building to build first, what could be finished later and which parts were an absolute necessity to make the building functional as a shop first, then a museum. The project has taken more time that anyone anticipated, but most good things do.

From beginning to completion, there was an eight-month window in which the shell of the building was to be completed before the snow hit the ground last fall. Fortunately, the area had a mild winter, with little snow, so construction could continue. Unfortunately, the group hit a snag with financing that made it necessary to shut down construction in March. To restart construction it was necessary to resubmit paperwork, make design changes for accessibility requirements for the handicapped and negotiate a new loan. With all the paper shuffling completed, construction continued with a new start date of November 2016. Now the building is ready to go, and the official grand opening is set for August 27, 2016.

Members were not idle before or during the move, and are not idle now at the site. Years of work were required to build a railroad and display tracks for the collection of railcars that have been moved from Spokane to the Reardan site. In addition, crews also built tracks for a new two-foot gauge train ride that covers almost a quarter mile that was carved out of the landscape.

The Inland Northwest Rail Museum is now open for the public to enjoy. Normal operating hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April 1 to October 31. You will have a chance to ride on the two-foot gauge train, tour the museum, visit with railroad historical groups, ride the parade train and look around the shop. There will be additional special-events days that you can check out on the museum's website or sign up for the email newsletter. The group is also seeking volunteers to run the museum, work on restoration projects and even be supporting members of the museum.

Join the conversation about the museum at http://www.facebook.com/inlandnorthwestrailmuseum or visit their website at http://www.inlandnorthwestrailmuseum.com for notification of special events. The museum is located 25 miles west of Spokane at the junction of State Hwy 2 and 231 South (23700 Sprinkle Road, Reardan). The mailing address is, PO Box 471, Reardan WA 99029. Phone: (509) 796-DEPOT.