Make a gift

The Inland Northwest Rail Museum utilizes donations to maintain our facilities, restore our collections, and serve our community by providing our visitors the best possible experience. As the public arm of the Inland Empire Railway Historical Society, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit in the State of Washington, we greatly appreciate your support. Our current special projects include restoring two classic diesel engines, Great Northern #598 and Spokane, Portland & Seattle #804. You can support our general operations or either one of these ongoing fundraising endeavors via the gift designation menu in the giving form below.

We also encourage families to consider donating their collections of railroad memorabilia and model railroading equipment to the museum. Items that we are unable to display or do not fit our collecting parameters may, with donor permission, be sold to support the ongoing work of the museum.

Finally, please remember to include the Inland Northwest Rail Museum in your estate planning. For additional information about bequests, planned gifts, or endowed funds, please call 509.796.3377.

Volunteer

Our museum has many ongoing projects. We have a job for everyone! In our Lee Tillotson Conservation and Restoration Center, we have room to work on two railroad cars at a time. The grounds need help to preserve and improve our landscaping, and there is always track work and maintenance, as well. If you love rail history, you can bring your passion to life by working in our library, or by researching special projects. Our volunteers make a visit to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum a fun and memorable experience.

Specific projects we need help with include: our 2-foot train ride, gift shop, restoration facility, parade train, mechanics, landscaping and more. In addition, we have special events throughout the year that require extra help, such as Opening Weekend, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, our annual quilt show, Halloween, Senior Day, Christmas, and school events.

If you like railroad history, you can become a docent (guide) helping to share the stories of our collection, museum train and railroad history in the Inland Northwest. The are even opportunities to speak to regional groups about railroad history and the museum. We try to match your interests to museum activities, and best of all, it’s a lot of fun!

Coming soon, you can even volunteer to assist with our train rides as a conductor, brakeman, docent or even apply your acting skills as a train robber.

To get started, request a volunteer application by emailing [email protected] or call 509-796-3377.