After a very enjoyable NRHS convention trip aboard the Northwest Railway Museum, Chris Guenzler and I stopped at Remlinger Farms in Carnation to ride the Tolt River Railroad. I had never been here before so this was an unexpected bonus. It is a family farm with U-pick strawberries and raspberries when in season as well as a country store, restaurant and several children's rides. The Tolt River Railroad is a 24" gauge railroad that operates two Crown 4-4-0 steam locomotives with steel open air coaches. The track consists of two balloon/reverse loops with a stretch of single track main running between them.
One of the two 4-4-0s, Hank, which was built in 1964 and originally operated at Idle Wild Park in Maryland.
The water tower.
My first view of the Tolt River Railroad.
Tolt River Railroad 4-4-0 2 "Floyd" leading the train past our location and into the tunnel.
Arriving at the station. Once the passengers had de-trained, Chris and I boarded.
Myself on board the Tolt River Railroad, ready for a new adventure.
Leaving the station and taking a curve on the 20 lb. rail which is from Michigan.
"Floyd" rounding a curve on the route.
Former Milwaukee Road right-of-way, now the Snoqualmie Trail, as seen from the train. In 1910 the Great Northern Railway built a branch line from Monroe to Tolt. The Snoqualmie Valley line was sold to the Milwaukee Railroad in 1917. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Co. build their branch line from Cedar Falls north to Monroe along the east side of the Snoqualmie River. The Milwaukee reached Tolt in 1911. Passenger service ended by the end of the 1930's, the depot remained open until 1949 until it was sold and moved to East Entwistle Street. The last freight train through town came in the 1970s. The former railroad tracks are today's Snoqualmie Valley Trail.
We enjoyed our ride and here is Floyd at the end of the line.
Inside view of Tolt River 4-4-0 2. We left here and started the drive back to Lynnwood, but stopped in Duvall.
The 1912 Milwaukee Road station in Duvall which can be rented out.
Side of the station.
The plaque on the station wall. From here it was off to Country Village, a unique series of shops and restaurants in Bothell, which opened in 1985 and closed in 2019.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle caboose 792 "Sweet Hummingbird Lane" built in 1902.
Clay Works East is housed in a former Great Northern passenger car.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy coach 344 was home to another business.
Great Northern caboose X-549. After the closure of Country Village, the caboose was purchaed at auction and moved to the City of Tenino with the assistance of a $10,000 Thurston County Heritage Grant. It was to be displayed opposite the Tenino Depot Museum, on a section of track located on the very line where the original Northern Pacific Railroad track was laid in 1872 and only two blocks from the end of the line where the first depot was built. X-549 began its service in Saint Cloud, Minnesota in November 1923 and was one of 47 built in that year, but later retired in 1967.
To finish the day, we returned to Lynnwood, relaxed a bit then went out to dinner at Arnie's Restaurant in Mukilteo where the rear of the restaurant overlooks the tracks. It was a lovely surprise when we saw a ten-hour late Empire Builder come through with Amtrak 156, one of the first heritage locomotives, on the point. This was the first time any of us had seen one of the heritage units.
The rear of the Empire Builder on its way to Everett, Edmonds and Seattle.
Amtrak Cascades 516 came through a little later. We returned to the house and relaxed for the rest of the evening. More fun and adventures beckoned tomorrow.
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