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The Grand Tour Package is the premier tour offered at the Northwest Railway Museum. It is a docent-led experience that begins at the Snoqualmie Depot in historic downtown Snoqualmie.
Your docent will give a brief tour of the Depot before you board the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad for a short ride to the Train Shed Exhibit Building. There, you will detrain and enjoy a 30 minute tour of the 25,000 sq. ft. hall that includes large and small artifacts, and several exhibits including the award-winning Wellington Remembered exhibit.
Your docent will escort you through chapel car 5: Messenger of Peace and the 001 caboose! Next you will walk over to the Conservation and Restoration Center for a first hand look at current restoration projects, including steam locomotive 924. Both of these experiences are unique to the Grand Tour - this is the only opportunity to see inside the chapel car, and is a very rare opportunity to visit inside the Conservation and Restoration Center.
Next, you board the train again and travel west to the top of Snoqualmie Falls where you will view water cascading over the top of Snoqualmie Falls, and a beautiful view of the valley and river below the Falls. Your docent will accompany you during your trip to the Falls, interpreting the scenery and providing both historic and contemporary context. The Package ends when the train returns to Snoqualmie Depot. This round-trip experience lasts approximately 2.5 hours.
Dates and Times: Saturdays @ 12:30pm, on August 3, September 7 and 14, 2019. Visit Shop.TrainMuseum.org to purchase your tickets in advance.
Additional dates: you may reserve a Tour on any other operating day for groups of 10-20 people by emailing the Museum.
Cost: Adults $24, Seniors (62+) $20, Children* (2-12) $12, under 2 no charge. *The Tour Package is not recommended for children under the age of 5.
July 12 was the first Day Out With Thomas for 2019 at the Northwest Railway Museum. Thousands of children and their families came to see and experience Thomas the Tank Engine at his very best. Check out these scenes from the first day; tickets and information are at Thomas.TrainMuseum.org
Steam locomotive 924 is a former Northern Pacific Railway switch engine that operated in the Seattle area from 1901 until 1924. It is listed on the King County and City of Snoqualmie Landmark Registers, and is a property truly representative of our collective history in the settlement and development of the region.
The 924 has been undergoing a major rehabilitation and restoration inside the Museum's Conservation and Restoration Center in Snoqualmie, WA. Despite several unanticipated setbacks in the project, it has moved forward and real progress is becoming evident.
This past week, the last major known work on the 924's boiler was performed. Seattle Boiler Works visited the Museum to remove the portion of the throat sheet that supports the blow down valve. A patch had been installed here with patch bolts at least 70 years ago, and the "new" material had wasted in places almost 50% of its original thickness. So replacement was definitely warranted.
The original patch was removed, which also required three rivets in the mud ring to be cut out. Then the affected area was cut out, and the perimeter was beveled to allow for welding. A dye penetrant was used to check for cracks and other flaws.
Seattle Boiler Works installed a flush patch and welded a coupling for a new blow down valve. The process involved a full penetration weld, and preheating of the native material to about 350 degrees. Repeated passes, grinding, welding, and continual evaluation took a full day, but the results are impressive.
Up next: three replacement rivets, two new stay bolts, and more.
Your docent will give a brief tour of the Depot before you board the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad for a short ride to the Train Shed Exhibit Building. There, you will detrain and enjoy a 30 minute tour of the 25,000 sq. ft. hall that includes large and small artifacts, and several exhibits including the award-winning Wellington Remembered exhibit. 
Your docent will escort you through chapel car 5: Messenger of Peace and the 001 caboose! Next you will walk over to the Conservation and Restoration Center for a first hand look at current restoration projects, including steam locomotive 924. Both of these experiences are unique to the Grand Tour - this is the only opportunity to see inside the chapel car, and is a very rare opportunity to visit inside the Conservation and Restoration Center.
Next, you board the train again and travel west to the top of Snoqualmie Falls where you will view water cascading over the top of Snoqualmie Falls, and a beautiful view of the valley and river below the Falls. Your docent will accompany you during your trip to the Falls, interpreting the scenery and providing both historic and contemporary context. The Package ends when the train returns to Snoqualmie Depot. This round-trip experience lasts approximately 2.5 hours.
