Curve at Snoqualmie Falls

The Museum's railway extends between Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend, but the most spectacular view is at Snoqualmie Falls.  A tight 11 degree 30 minute curve thrusts the railroad out onto a bridge high above the Snoqualmie River.  Yet this curve - and others no longer in place - represented significant maintenance efforts for the track workers on the Northern Pacific Railway.

This tight curve is built with 100 pound per yard rail last renewed in the 1950s. Tight curves create resistance, and that means wear.  When a wheel set navigates a curve this tight, one wheel - the one on the outside of the curve - has to travel further than the one on the inside.  That extra motion causes wear, which widens gauge and reduces the size of the rail head.  Despite the light and infrequent use the Museum makes of this curve, after more than 40 years and at least 500,000 passengers, the high or outer rail was completely worn out.

In a project planned out in 2019, RailWorks was hired to replace the outer rail with relay rail the Museum acquired from Union Station in Seattle in the early 1980s.  The 100 pound rail pulled from those platform tracks once supported Milwaukee Road electric locomotives and Union Pacific stream liners. Like all rail replacement projects, work began by pulling spikes. 

The relay rail had worn bolt holes so the project included cropping and drilling the rail ends.  This work was performed as each length of rail was laid.

  

The project also included replacement of 25 cross ties, important in ensuring the curve maintains gauge.  A hyrail excavator aided the work, which was completed in one day.  The new ties were cut from Douglas fir, treated with creosote, and cost more than $60 each.  They are physically similar to the ties they are replacing, which are an average of fifty years old.  New ties are expected to last at least 25 years.

This major capital project was planned and initiated prior to escalation of the Covid 19 crisis, and represents one of the Museum's major 2020 projects, and an investment of more than $20,000.  Donations to the Museum's general fund help support this important work and are gratefully accepted.  When the Museum is able to reopen after expiration of the Governor's Executive Order closing public venues including Museums, service to Snoqualmie Falls will be able to immediately resume.  Monitor the Museum's web site at www.TrainMuseum.org for updated information about when the Museum will be able to reopen.  

We are working on the railway . . . 2020 version

45 degree power poles?

Winter storms in the Pacific Northwest can yield hurricane-force winds and torrential downpours, and so far the winter of 2020 has not disappointed!  Already rain and wind events have caused falling trees to knock down power lines, rain to trigger land slides, and even a little snow to add some extra days off for local school kids.  Normally, the Train Museum is able to avoid major impacts, but not this year.  

The ballast shoulder was displaced by the
tire of a large truck that drove up the track.

Two separate incidents involving contractors working for the local power company resulted in damaged track when the bucket trucks used to work on overhead lines drove up the tracks.  If the trucks had been equipped with hyrail attachments (railroad wheels), there would have been little impact.  However, the weight of the truck tires surcharging on heavily saturated soils pushed down many otherwise effective ties so they were no longer supporting the rail, displaced the ballast shoulder so it no longer provided lateral support, and broke the back of several dozen railroad ties.

A hyrail excavator
removing damaged ties.

Early in March RailWorks arrived to begin repairs in zones at Snoqualmie Falls and just east of historic downtown Snoqualmie.  In all, 38 ties are being replaced and approximately 350 feet of track is being surfaced, lined and dressed.  Even on small project like this one, most of the work is being performed by machines including a hyrail excavator, tamper, and grapple truck.  The work is expected to take approximately four days and will wrap up by March 15.

Reconstructing a railroad crossing

Crossings are the interface between a railroad and a roadway or trail. The Northwest Railway Museum has 23 crossings; 13 of those are public crossings of local streets, arterials, or major thoroughfares including a State highway. All of these crossings require ongoing maintenance; the majority of the wear and tear is caused by truck and automobile traffic. To meet the needs of today's heavier trucks and increased traffic, when it is opportune crossings are being rebuilt to withstand greater weight and use.

Among the busiest of the public crossings in Snoqualmie is Meadowbrook Way SE, a road that opened in the 1920s. It was last reconstructed after the great flood of 1996 using asphalt. The roadway was heavily impacted by flooding in 2007 and again in 2009, and is scheduled for repaving (overlay) in late summer 2011. The Museum has been working with the City of Snoqualmie for more than four years to secure funding that would allow reconstruction of the crossing along with the overlay. Fortunately, a portion of funding from the Snoqualmie Tribe’s Snoqualmie Casino designated for area road improvements has allowed the project to proceed.

The Museum has rebuilt nearly 1/2 of its public crossings in the last 15 years. All of the recent projects have been reconstructed using concrete panels similar to those used on railroads throughout the Northwest. These panels last longer and take the weight of today's trucks better than older-style asphalt or timber crossings. But the concrete panels are only the most obvious element of a crossing reconstruction. Reconstructions also often involve upgrading the size of the rail and improving the subgrade conditions by excavating out the native soil to a depth of 41 inches and replacing it with railroad ballast. (This makes the crossing more resistant to settlement caused by the passage of trucks and busses.) It also involves the use of longer railroad crossties to improve stability and to support concrete panels. All these improvements together allow reconstructed crossings to last at least 25 years.

RailWorks of Chehalis, WA was awarded a contract and began work on July 5. The existing crossing was removed and the subgrade was excavated to a depth of 41 inches. Larger replacement rail (115 RE, which means it is 115 pounds per yard, as opposed to the existing 90 RB rail, which is 90 pounds to the yard) was welded together using the thermite process to eliminate rail joints from the crossing. Geofabric was placed as a new base at the bottom of the excavation. New railroad ballast was placed as subgrade and new oak crossties were placed on 18 inch centers. The welded rail was double spiked in the crossing and rail anchors to resist creep were installed. Concrete panels manufactured by Omega Industries of Vancouver, WA were installed on the new ties, and Asphalt by George patched the space between the new panels and the existing roadway. The City of Snoqualmie provided additional project support by assuming responsibility for the temporary closure of Meadowbrook Way SE. Project value was $38,000 and work was completed in 3 days.

Photos/Video:

(video) Scenes from the Meadowbrook Way SE crossing reconstruction project

(top photo) Completed crossing on July 8, 2011

(upper middle photo) New concrete crossing panel is lowered into place. Large lag screws driven into the white oak cross ties will hold them in place.

(lower middle photo) A jig is used to align two lengths of rail prior to thermite welding.

(bottom photo) Special compromise joint bars transition between the new welded rail and the existing rail. (Note the different height.)

Rehabilitating track at Snoqualmie Falls

The world's first underground power generating station is located at Snoqualmie Falls. It was opened in 1898 by Charles Baker, who just a few years earlier was a civil engineer for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway. Fast forward to 2010. Puget Sound Energy owns the Snoqualmie Generating station and began a major reconstruction of the 112 year old plant. Scope of work includes new penstocks and replacement of a 1910 era generator. (The original 1898-built generators will return to service after project completion.)

In August 2010, efforts to construct a retaining wall above the water intake did not go as planned. Soil conditions and other factors caused movement of the hillside. Unfortunately the hillside also supports the Northwest Railway Museum’s railway, the former Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern. Train service was immediately suspended and additional geotechnical investigation began. Changes in construction techniques, longer soil anchors, some clean ballast for the railroad, and two years of monitoring are among the mitigation measures that have been adopted.

In late March 2011 rehabilitation of the railway began. Railworks of Centralia, WA was the successful bidder and are reconstructing over 400 feet of track in a difficult location. Their crews are dismantling track, excavating old ballast and installing new, and rebuilding the track. Work is expected to take two weeks and will allow regular trains to operate on April 2, 2011.

Please enjoy this two minute video illustrating the work:


Photos:

(Top) Railworks hyrail excavator at Snoqualmie Falls spreading new ballast; Salish Lodge and Spa is across the river in the distance.

(Bottom) Video shot at Snoqualmie Falls illustrating track reconstruction.

Landslide!

The Northwest Railway Museum has a train load of experience managing natural disaster recovery operations. The Museum has successfully recovered from major floods, moderate earthquakes, hurricane-force wind storms, and even landslides.

The Museum applied its experience again this week with a minor landslide at Snoqualmie Falls. Late on Monday, 3 May 2010, about 150 cubic yards of mud and rock and a dozen trees came down the hillside near bridge 31.3. The largest of the trees landed on a gondola car the Museum uses as an end of track bumper. This presented a few minor challenges for School Train scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and a concern for the success of Mother’s Day weekend trains.

The track on both sides of bridge 31.3 sits on a ledge cut into the hillside by 19th Century railroad builders 300 feet above the Snoqualmie River. Slides are inevitable and safely collecting and disposing of debris can be difficult. For this type of challenge where safety and critical timelines are factors, the Museum sometimes turns to contractors.

Railworks is based in Chehalis and is the largest rail contractor in the region. They were involved with the Museum’s 2009 flood recovery and have several hyrail excavators (hyrails are devices that allow non-rail vehicles to travel on railroad tracks). Railworks sent a hyrail excavator and hyrail dump truck and they arrived on site on Thursday. The machines immediately went to work clearing debris.

Also participating was Clayton Littlejohn from North Fork Enterprises. Littlejohn is an expert logger from a family of loggers and the most experienced person in our community for untangling a timber mess. He made quick order of the trees, some more than three feet in diameter. Loggers are an increasingly rare breed in the Northwest as business focus continues to shift away from forestry. The Museum has a close tie to logging - railroads not only made logging viable, but profitable. The railroad allowed Snoqualmie to develop as a successful Weyerhaeuser community and when the mill closed, the railroad left.

In the tight confines of the ledge that the railroad sits on, much of the slide debris had to be removed from the site. Thom Weber of Mt. Si Quarry agreed to accept mud and disposed of 30 tons of material. Clayton Littlejohn of North Fork Enterprises accepted all the woody debris and ground it up for use as hog fuel.

This section of rail line was originally constructed in 1889 and after this minor repair is again ready for service. It will continue to captivate visitors with panoramic views of the valley below and help educate about the challenges 19th Century railroad builders faced when they reached the mountains.