Northwest Railway Museum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Snoqualmie Depot
|
|
Snoqualmie Depot
|
|
 Location in Washington (state)
|
|
| Location | 38625 S.E. King St. Snoqualmie, Washington |
|---|---|
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1890 |
| Built by | Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway |
| Architectural style | Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001963 |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1974 |
The Northwest Railway Museum (NRM) is a cool place in Snoqualmie, King County, Washington, where you can learn all about trains! It's a museum about railroads that has a special old train line, a historic train station, an exhibit hall, a library, and a place to take care of its collection. More than 130,000 people visit every year!
The old train line is five miles long. It was built way back in 1889 by the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (SLS&E). This railway was Seattle's way of competing when another big railway chose Tacoma as its main stop. Later, the Northern Pacific company bought the SLS&E.
Contents
Snoqualmie Depot: A Historic Train Station
The Snoqualmie train station, called a depot, was built in 1890 by the SLS&E. This depot is a great example of the kind of buildings found in almost every town across the country. Having a nice-looking building was good advertising and made the company proud. This station used to be the main stop for people visiting a popular vacation spot.
It was designed to be both a place for freight (goods) and passengers, but it also had fancy decorations. This was because many visitors came from Seattle to enjoy hunting, fishing, and trips to Snoqualmie Falls.
The station is a large wooden building, about 125 feet long and 50 feet wide. It has wide eaves (the part of the roof that hangs over the walls) that are about 9 feet wide. There's a special bay window where the telegraph operator used to work. The north end of the building is shaped like a half-circle, which makes it unique. Wooden pillars and diagonal braces support the eaves, and pretty scroll work decorates where these parts meet.
The building looks a bit different now than it did originally. The bay window used to go all the way up through the roof, forming an eight-sided tower. This tower had windows on each side and a steep roof with fancy shingles. There was also a large dormer (a window structure sticking out from a sloping roof) over the freight area. The roof was decorated with cast iron cresting and more fancy shingles. The freight dock, where goods were loaded, was much wider before. Now it's a small porch in front of a single sliding door.
The Snoqualmie depot is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special historic site!
Northwest Railway Museum: All About Trains
The Northwest Railway Museum started in 1957. Back then, it was called the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association. In 1999, the museum changed its name to the Northwest Railway Museum.
The museum's main goal is to show people how railroads helped the Pacific Northwest grow. They want visitors to experience the excitement of a real, working railroad!
The museum has many different railway cars and locomotives (train engines). These show how trains developed in Washington from the 1880s to the 1990s. One special item is the Messenger of Peace Chapel Car, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum also has a huge library with over 3,000 books and old documents. These focus on the history of railroads in the Northwest and how trains are built and engineered.
Collection: Amazing Trains and More!
The museum has a fantastic collection of trains, from old steam engines to modern diesels.
Steam Locomotives
| Locomotive | Type | Status | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Pacific 924 | N.P. Class L-5 0-6-0 | Operational | Built in 1899. It was restored in 2020 and sometimes runs special trips! | |
| Great Northern 1246 | Great Northern Class F-8 2-8-0 | Static | Built in 1907. It was on display at a zoo for many years. It came back to the museum in 2023! | |
| Canadian Colleries 14 | 4-6-0 | Static | Built in 1898. The museum bought it in 1960. | |
| Canadian Colleries 17 | 2-6-0T+T
(Formerly 0-6-0T) |
Static | Built in 1891. The museum bought it in 1960 along with #14. | |
| S.A. Agnew Lumber Company 1 | Lima 3-Truck Shay | Static | Built in 1904. It was donated to the museum in 1969. | |
| Ohio Match Company 4 | Heisler 2-Truck | Static | Built for a logging company in Idaho. The museum bought it in 1967. | |
| Union Pacific 529 | U.P. Class C-57 2-8-0 | Static | Built in 1903. It was given to the museum in 1965. It's waiting to move to another museum. | |
| United States Plywood Corporation 11 | Logging Mallet 2-6-6-2 | Static | Built in 1926. It ran until 1990 and was cleaned up in 2005. | |
| Weyerhaeuser Timber Company 6 | Logging Mallet 2-6-6-2 | Static | Built in 1928. Donated in 1965. It ran from 1969 to 1974. | |
| Olympic Portland Cement Company 7 | H.K. Porter 0-4-0T | Static | Built in 1918. It was used by the Navy and cement companies. It came to the museum in 2017. |
Diesel Locomotives
| Locomotive | Type | Status | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snoqualmie Valley Railroad 4012 | B-L-H RS-4-TC | Operational | Built in 1954 for the US Army. The museum bought it in 2001. It's painted maroon. | |
| Snoqualmie Valley Railroad 4024 | B-L-H RS-4-TC | Operational | Built in 1954 for the US Army. The museum bought it in 2001. It's orange with the museum's logo and is used often! | |
| Weyerhaeuser Timber Company 1 | Fairbanks-Morse H12-44 | Static; Operable | Built in 1951. The museum bought it in 1987 and made it look like new. | |
| Northern Pacific 125 | ALCo. HH660 | Under restoration | Built in 1940. The museum bought it in 2001. It's the oldest surviving diesel engine from the Northern Pacific railway! | |
| United States Navy 7320 | GE 45-ton switcher | Static | Built in 1941. It last ran in 1994 and is now on display at the Snoqualmie Depot. It's known as Cecil the Diesel Mascot! |
Gasoline-Mechanical Locomotives
| Locomotive | Type | Status | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. H. Baxter Company 6-C | Whitcomb MO12 | Static | Built in 1925. It was restored in 2000 and is on display at the Snoqualmie Depot. | |
| St. Regis Paper Company 463 | Plymouth ML-6 | Static | Built in 1943. It was given to the museum in 1977. |
Passenger Cars
The Northwest Railway Museum has 18 passenger cars! These cars were made between 1881 and 1998. Most of them were built by famous companies like Barney and Smith, St. Louis Car Company, or Pullman. Some of these old passenger cars are still used today for special train rides on the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad!
Freight, Industrial, and Maintenance Equipment
The museum also owns 39 other pieces of railway equipment. These include freight cars (for carrying goods), industrial equipment, and tools used to maintain the railway tracks. Some of the maintenance equipment is quite old, dating back to the 1950s!
Heritage Railroad: Ride a Historic Train!
The Northwest Railway Museum runs a special old train line called the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. This is a heritage railroad, which means it's an old train line kept working for people to enjoy.
This 5-mile route lets museum visitors ride on antique train coaches, some built as early as 1915! Trains usually run on Saturdays, or both Saturday and Sunday, depending on the time of year. They also have special trips for groups. More than 60,000 people ride this train every year!
The railroad hosts many fun events. One popular event is "Day Out with Thomas" every July, where kids can meet Thomas the Tank Engine. Other events include Christmas and Halloween train rides, wine tasting trips for adults, and special trips for schools or companies.
Railway History Center: Fixing Up Old Trains
In 2006, the museum opened a new building called the Conservation and Restoration Center (CRC). This is the first part of their bigger Railway History Center project.
The CRC is a special place where they fix and restore the museum's trains, including locomotives, passenger cars, and freight cars. It's a huge building, about 8,200 square feet, with two long pits under the tracks. This allows workers to get under the trains, just like in old railroad workshops. They have all sorts of tools for woodworking and metalworking, so they can even make parts that haven't been produced since the 1960s!
See also
- List of heritage railroads in the United States
