Back in May, there was a post on Trainorders.com about the end of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train departing from their Renton base to the Columbia Winery in Woodinville. A highway reconstruction project without the money for the railroad underpass doomed that route and the last run was held on July 31st, 2007. A few weeks later, a new route was announced using Tacoma Rail's former Milwaukee Road line up Tacoma Hill to Lake Kapowsin. I called and received the first reservation on this new route, but one I had ridden over before.
Knowing that I would be up here for a weekend, I started checking into some other new activities. Friday, the Northwest Railway Museum would be open and I might be able to check out the train at Remlinger Farms in Carnation, Washington. Back in Tacoma, I could ride the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle and return on the Sounder to Tacoma before the Dinner Train. In addition, Tacoma Light Rail could also be ridden. On Saturday, a trip on the Lake Whatcom Railroad was possible. My acquaintance from Trainorders.com, Andrew, wanted to accompany me on the Seattle roundtrip, while Bob and Elizabeth wanted to do the Dinner Train and Lake Whatcom Railroad with me. Bob offered me his spare bedroom in Lynnwood and I called Carole Walker at Bella Vista Travel to get my rental car and I was all set. I worked every day at the McFadden/Carr Summer School and was ready for a good extended weekend in Washington before my big National Railway Historical Society convention journey in just over a week!
Alaska Airlines 481 to Seattle 8/2/2007My mother drove me to the Orange County Airport and the security ccanner did not like my roll-on deodorant, but I went through it with a flash of my smile. I waited at Gate 10 to board but the aircraft arrived late from Seattle and our departure time was pushed back to 3:30 PM. At 3:15 PM, I was boarded onto this 737-800 and it took about twenty minutes to board everybody else. We took off at 3:57 PM after waiting for five other planes to take off.
Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbour.
Downtown Los Angeles.
Soledad Canyon where the Lancaster Metrolink Line leaves the Los Angeles Basin.
Bealville, on the world-famous Tehachaphi Loop rail line.
The Guenzler Family ranch in Woody, near Bakersifled.
Yosemite Valley.
Both ends of Lake Tahoe, the first time I had seen this unique lake.
The California Zephyr route east of Truckee heading for Reno.
Beckworth Pass on the former Western Pacific.
Mt. Jefferson.
Another peak in Oregon.
Mount Hood.
The Columbia River Gorge.
Mount Adams.
Mount St. Helens.
Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams.
Mount Rainier. After a very interesting viewing flight, we touched down at SeaTac at 6:02 PM and I deplaned and walked out of the terminal to find the Hertz Rental Car counter where I received a Hyundai Elantra. I drove out to Interstate 5 south to Fife and checked in at the Travelodge there for two nights then went to Subway to get dinner and returned to my room to relax for the rest of the night.
8/03/2007 I slept in until 7:00 AM then drove southeast in search of the Meeker Southern Railroad. I found Meeker east of Puyallup, then followed the railroad to the south end, looking for the locomotive. Not finding it, I returned north to Meeker and turned onto a side road and spotted my prey.
Meeker Southern Railroad SW9 103, nee Weyerhaeuser Timber Company 303 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951. I then drove north on Washington Highway 187 to State Route 18 which I took north, stopping at Covington for a breakfast of hot cakes and sausage then made my way to Snoqualmie to start my day of railroading action. I parked across the street from the Northwest Railway Museum.
Northwest Railway Museum 8/3/2007Founded in 1957 as the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association, today the Northwest Railway Museum provides the public a place for visitors to experience the excitement of a working heritage railway and to learn how the railway changed everything. Through this public programming, the Museum has become a vibrant and sustainable cultural institution.
From its beginning as an enthusiastic group of volunteers passionate about maintaining and operating a train to its reimagining as the Northwest Railway Museum, the institution has grown in scope and magnitude. Now a nationally acclaimed museum, the NRM serves its community through its Special Events, exhibit galleries, preservation of railway artifacts, and achieving landmark status for key pieces while it continues to interpret Northwest Railway history for its expanding audience. As the Museum looks to the future, its vision is to continue its efforts of conservation and restoration while creating more interpretive spaces that immerse visitors in how the railway changed everything!
None of this would be possible without the generous support from the many donors, sponsors, and local community members that allow the Museum to achieve its goals. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our ever-growing community.
The Snoqualmie station 56.2 miles from Seattle, which has been restored to its turn-of-the-century grandeur and functions as an operating train station. Museum visitors travelling on the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad can view the railroad history exhibits in the former gentlemen's waiting room and freight room. A railroad history-themed gift shop (The Depot Bookstore) is housed in the former ladies' waiting room. Public restrooms occupy a portion of the original freight room, and replace the privy originally located just to the east of the structure.
The station was constructed by the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway in 1890. Six years later, it was reorganized as the Seattle International Railway, and by 1901 the railway and the depot were absorbed into the Northern Pacific Railway. The Snoqualmie Depot remained in active service until the Burlington Northern Railroad absorbed the Northern Pacific in the 1970 merger with the Great Northern Railway, and in the mid-1970's, began re-routing trains to Snoqualmie over the Milwaukee Road. At the time of its building, the Depot was unusually elaborate when considering the modest population of Snoqualmie.
Yet through its years of service and multiple ownership changes, the Depot underwent so many renovations that it was no longer recognizable as a train station. In 1975, the Burlington Northern officially abandoned the line, and donated the depot building and several miles of track to the Northwest Railway Museum. The Snoqualmie Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a City of Snoqualmie and King County Landmark.
Station Scene.
The museum's excursion train has a consist of United States Army RS-4TC 4024 with Spokane, Portland and Seattle wooden coach 213, Spokane, Portland and Seattle steel coach 276, United States Army kitchen car 89061, Spokane, Portland and Seattle combine 272 and Oregon-Washington & Navigation Company observation car 1590.
Kennecott Copper tool car 451, nee United States Army Medical Service ambulance kitchen car 89601 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1953. It was based on a World War II-era car design utilized by the Army Medical Service and the Army Transportation Corps and was part of an order for kitchen and ambulance cars that were produced to replace cars shipped to Korea.
The purpose of an ambulance kitchen car was to prepare meals on ambulance trains. Ambulance trains were used to move wounded soldiers from a port of entry to bases or other facilities throughout the continental United States. Kitchen facilities include a double oven coal-fired stove, ice boxes, food storage lockers, a hot water heater, three sinks, a pressurized water system and even a shower.
The car was stored at Fort Lewis for over 20 years and was retired without ever entering service. Soon after the new ambulance trains were delivered to the Army, long distance air travel quickly supplanted ocean liners as the predominant transoceanic transportation. During the next major conflict (Vietnam), most travel involved jet aircraft. After retirement, many similar cars were converted into "shorty" baggage cars for Amtrak. Car 89601, however, was sold to Kennecott Copper who developed plans to convert it into a tool car for use at a Utah mine. Instead the mine was shut down and the car was donated to the Northwest Railway Museum.
Yard scene.
United States Army RS-4TC 4012, nee United States Army 4012 built by Whitcomb in 1954. It was purchased in 2001 from General Services Administration.
Boxcar of unknown origin.
Great Northern baggage car 485, ex. Burlington Northern work service 950190 1972-1986, exx. Burlington Northern work service 968060 1972, exxx. Burlington Northern baggage 485 1948-1970, exxxx. Great Northern tourist-sleeper 1056 \ 1941-1948, nee Pullman sleeper "Epicurius" 1921-1941 built by the company in 1921. It was retired in 1986 and purchased by the museum.
Snoqualmie Valley 44-seat chair car 2945, ex. Amtrak 4548, nee Santa Fe 2945 built by Pullman-Standard in 1950.
J.H. Baxter Company gasoline-mechanical 6-C built by Whitcomb in 1925, originally 36" gauge. It worked on a dam construction site in Magma, Arizona and was then bought by the Southern Pacific, converted to standard gauge and employed at a tie treating plant in Oakland, California. It was later sold to J.H. Baxter Company and used in the company's wood treating plant in Alameda, California until transferred to the Renton, Washington plant in 1960. After the plant closed in 1981, the engine was bought by the museum and restored in 2000.
United States Army 45 ton switcher 7320 built by General Electric in 1941. It was leased from Washington State Parks in 1976 and last operated in 1994 at the Northwest Railway Museum.
Water car.
United States Plywood 2-6-6-2 11, ex. United States Plywood Corp 11 (1953-1961), exx. Kosmos Timber 11 (1950-1953), exxx. M. Bloch & Co 1950, exxxx. Weyerhauser 5 (1939-1950), nee Ostrander Railway & Timber 7 (1926-1939) built by Baldwin in 1926. It was displayed at University of Washington in 1961 then in 1974, passed to Washington Parks & Recreation then leased to NWRM and pulled the museum's trains for several years. It steamed under on power to Kenmore and was last steam engine to operate in Seattle until the American Freedom Train in 1975.
Skagit River Railway trailer car 40 built by Pacific Car & Foundry in 1928. It was a gift of the Charles G. Morrow estate and restored in 2001 to its 1940's appearance.
I walked into the station and was informed of their stored equipment awaiting restoration three blocks north down the tracks so I went to explore.
Log car in the Centennial Log Pavilion. Although not part of the railway museum, it indicates the importance of the lumber industry to the town. During the 1850's, English settlers moved into the area that would become Snoqualmie and began farming, but others soon saw the commercial potential of the huge stands of fir, spruce, hemlock and cedar in the adjacent mountain forests. The first lumber mill was established at the mouth of Tokul Creek around 1872 by Watson Allen. Five years later, there were twelve logging operations on the Snoqualmie River and, within fifteen years, logging and mill work was employing one hundred and forty men and sending millions of board feet of lumber down the river. The Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company (later the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company) opened a mill about a mile north of Snoqualmie in 1917, and the wheeled carriage is similar to one used at the mill to push 10-15 foot diameter logs through a massive bandsaw, cutting timbers for a variety of uses, from flooring to timber trestle bridge.
LF Company box cars 368 and 361.
Northern Pacific box car 207721.
Northern Pacific coach 1361, nee Northern Pacific smoker coach 1151 built by Pullman in 1915. It was purchased in 1989 from Hively.
Stored equipment behind fences.
Northern Pacific stock car 83296 built by Ryan Car in 1930. It was purchased in 1982 from Burlington Northern and restored to its 1930 apperance in 1983. This car has two decks which were used to transport smaller animals such as pigs and sheep. Located in most areas in earlier days were loading chutes where the animals could be loaded and moved to market. With the development of larger trucks, the stockcar disappeared from the railroads.
Puget Sound Railway Historical Association 2-8-0 529, ex. Edward Hines Lumber Company 529 1949, exx. Union Pacific 2-8-0 529 1936, exxx. Oregon Short Line 529, nee Oregon Short Line 969 built by Burnham, Williams & Company in 1903.
Canadian Colleries 4-6-0 14 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1898. It spent its life working on Vancouver Island, hauling coal from mines on the island to a giant coal dock at the deepwater port of Union Bay on the east coast. In 1910, Canadian Collieries bought out the Union Collieries of British Columbia, owner of the mines, along with the railroad that served them, including 14 and another locomotive, 17. In 1960, both locomotives were sold to the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association.
Northwest Railway Museum 0-6-0 924, ex. Inland Empire Paper Company 924, exx. Northern Pacific Railway 924, nee Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad 74 built by Rogers Locomotive Company in 1899. It was retired in 1969 and donated to the Northwest Railway Museum.
Northwest Railway Museum two-truck Heisler 4, ex. Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company 2, exx. National Pole and Treating Company 2, nee Ohio Match Company 4 built by Heisler Locomotive Works in 1923. It was used on their logging operations near Hayden Lake, Idaho. Known as the Burnt Cabin Railroad, this 25 mile logging railroad ran eastward from Garwood, past the north end of Hayden Lake, ending at the Burnt Cabin drainage. The steam engine last operated in 1958 and in 1967, the locomotive was purchased by the Northwest Railway Museum.
Northwest Railway Museum 2-6-6-2 6, ex. Weyerhauser Timber 2-6-6-2 6, nee Mud Bay Logging 8 1928. Retired in 1960, it was displayed at Weyerhaeuser's Klamath Falls, Oregon headquarters then donated to the museum in 1965 and restored to working order in 1969 and operated on the museum's interpretive railway until 1974.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway 75 ton wrecking crane X-5 built by Industrial Works in 1908. Wrecking cranes were used to clean up after train wrecks and the crane would lift the locomotive up and place it back onto the track. It was powered by a two-cylinder steam engine and used two lifting cables. The steam was provided by an oil-fired vertical boiler and the crane was capable of swinging 360 degrees (but would have to be stabilized to work within this arc). A train would need to move the X-5 to the site of a wreck, since the crane was not self-propelled. It was retired once larger cranes became available with the creation of Burlington Northern and was gifted to the museum in 1972.
Northwest Railway Museum 3-truck Shay 1, ex. S.A. Agnew Lumber 1, exx. Eastern Railway and Lumber Company 1, exxx. Cramer Kay Machinery Company (dealer), nee Newhouse, Copper Gulch and Sevier Lake Railroad Company 1 built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1904. It last operated in 1951 and was gifted to the museum in 1964. It is the second-oldest surviving three-truck Shay.
Western Steel Casting 35 ton switcher 7587, nee United States Army 7587, built by Plymouth in 1943. It was donated to the museum in 1985.
I continued to walk along the bicycle path and crossed a creek where I found two more railroad displays at the far north end.
Northern Pacific Railway rotary snowplough 10 built by Alco-Cooke in 1907. Built as a coal burner, the plough was converted to burn oil in 1947 and the original wood body was replaced by a steel body some time later. The steel rotary blades were never changed. It spent most of its working life clearing snow on Northern Pacific's Stampede Pass in the Cascade Mountains. Summers were spent cold (i.e. without being fired) in Auburn, Washington. In winter, it would move to Lester up near the pass. It was gifted to the museum in 1968 and is listed on King County Register of Historical Places.
A semaphore signal, then I started to walk back to the station.
Shell Oil Company tank car SCCX 1246 built by General American in 1929. In November 1929, the car was assigned to service out of Martinez, California and was designed to transport heavy petroleum products such as bunker oil. The car is insulated and equipped with steam heating pipes to aid the transfer during cold weather. After 40 years of service from California to Washington, the car was repainted and refurbished by Shell before being donated to the Northwest Railway Museum in 1971. In 1972, the car was placed into service hauling waste oil for the steam locomotives from Seattle to Snoqualmie and was assigned reporting marks PSHX 1246.
I returned to the station and thanked them for letting me look around and would be back in the future to ride their train. I next drove to Snoqualmie Falls.
Snoqualmie Falls. After enjoying the views for a few minutes, I drove north to Remlinger Farms in Carnation.
