About Northwest Railway Museum
The Northwest Railway Museum was originally founded as the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association in 1957. It is the largest railway museum in the State of Washington. Each year the museum welcomes over 80,000 visitors to explore the history of the Snoqualmie Depot, Railway Education Center, Train Shed as well as the Conservation and Restoration center.
The Snoqualmie Depot
Originally built in 1890, it has been restored and functions as an operating train station. Museum visitors can purchase boarding passes at the original ticket window, and are encouraged to view the railroad history exhibits in the former gentlemen's waiting room and freight room. A railroad history-themed gift shop is housed in the former ladies' waiting room. The Snoqualmie Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a City of Snoqualmie Landmark.
Railway Education Center
Newly opened in 2017, the education center was created to too allow access to historical documents. The classroom is open for special programs and the reading room available by advanced appointment for researchers. This is a unique opportunity to provide materials to support classroom educational programs as well as grant access for researchers to view engineering records, books and photographs.
Conservation and Restoration Center
This building is where the staff and volunteers perform collection care on a number of larger objects such as freight or passenger cars and other artifacts such as locomotives. As of the writing of this article the team was working on a major restoration project for the Pacific Steam Locomotive 924. In order to be able to explore the work being done here you must attend the Train Shed Tour Package as it is an active work site that requires an appointment prior to your visit.
Train Shed
This building’s purpose is to protect various locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars and other large objects from most of the weather related damage. This is a large building that has both restored and original condition cars that help keep them in great condition for years to come.
Come and Visit
The Snoqualmie Depot is open 7 days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM, except on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. There is no admissions charge, but donations are encouraged. The Railway History Center is open to drive-up visitors April - October, Thursdays through Sundays, 11am-4pm and via regularly scheduled trains departing from the Snoqualmie and North Bend Depots. Located ath 9320 Stone Quarry Rd in Snoqualmie, visitors access the Train Shed Exhibit Building to see the locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars and maintenance equipment stored in the Train Shed while learning about the role and impact of railways in Northwest development.
Special Events
There are a number of special events each year that attract all ages to enjoy an educational and interactive program. Please note that most of these events sell out very quickly so if you are interested in attending I recommend visiting the events page on the Northwest Railway Museum.
Day out with Thomas is a wildly popular event every summer. It should be noted that regular access to the Museum and Depot is restricted to only those with event tickets and not general public.
Halloween Train - Typically held the two weekends prior to Halloween. You regularly see visitors dressed in their halloween costumes as they board the special Halloween Storytelling Train.
Santa Train - The four weekend after thanksgiving, take a ride on the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad to visit Santa Claus.
Virtual Exhibits
Not a local resident of the Greater Seattle area? You are not planning a visit to the Western Washington area anytime soon? No problem. Here are some useful links to more digital media for you to enjoy more about the Northwest Railway Museum.
Video of Northwest Railway Museum and locomotive ride
Additional Northwest Railway Museum Online Resources
Northwest Railway Museum - Homepage
Northwest Railway Museum - Blog
Sources:
Northwest Railway Museum. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://www.trainmuseum.org/
Northwest Railway Museum. (2017, September 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:44, November 6, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northwest_Railway_Museum&oldid=798678844
Photo’s by ThunderHorse Productions [http://www.thunderhorseproductions.com/]
