Back to the Snoqualmie Depot

The Snoqualmie Depot is the most iconic structure in historic downtown Snoqualmie, and the most recognizable object in the Museum's collection.  It was built in 1890 for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway by the firm of Anderson and Scott in just two months, but in keeping with 1890 technology it did not have electricity, indoor plumbing, or even insulation.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a King County and City of Snoqualmie Landmark.

The structure was extensively rehabilitated and restored between 1979 and 1981, and it remains the centrepiece of historic downtown Snoqualmie.  The rear of the depot was particularly difficult to rehabilitate and restore because there was just one photo illustrating that portion of the building.  Now there are two. 

Thanks to a tip from Kent S. from the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association, the Northwest Railway Museum was able to purchase a "new" rear view of the Snoqualmie Depot.  It shows perspective that would have been from within the footprint of today's Woodman Lodge, itself a King County and City of Snoqualmie Landmark, and built in 1903.  The photographer is not identified, but the photo was taken during the period when the Kinsey Brothers lived in Snoqualmie and were learning the trade. 

The "parlor card" was exposed in the early 1890s and it is reassuring to note that the only "big" difference is incorporation of the accessibility ramp into the raised platform, which was installed in 1980.  The listing on Ebay had just one day remaining and fortunately the Museum was able to secure this important image.  Thank you Kent!

New exhibit installed in Snoqualmie Depot



Dark wood frames

were chosen to blend

with the existing

wood work.

The Museum has just completed and installed the “Depot RE-Interpretation project” in the Snoqualmie Depot’s men’s waiting room. The 4Culture-funded project is an eight-panel exhibit on the history of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway – the company that built both the original rail line to Snoqualmie and the Snoqualmie Depot.

Using historic photographs, maps, and railroad documents, the exhibit describes the process of building the railroad from Seattle to Snoqualmie, as well as several other lines, and the eventual absorption into the Northern Pacific Railroad. The final exhibit panel is all about the Snoqualmie Depot construction.

A combination of vertical and hori-zontal panels were used to get the most out of the available wall 

space.

The challenge with any exhibit is finding a balance between too much and not enough information. There is always more that can be said, but all authorities on exhibits say, “less is best.” So how do you tell the story without too many words? The strategy used with this exhibit was to utilize large font (48pt) for the key points of each panel and smaller font (22pt) for supplementary information for those interested in knowing more. Part of that strategy is also to use only around 50 words to make main points, so the bulk of your text is in the supplementary section of content.

Seating was removed from under 
the exhibit panels to encourage guests to walk up to the panel to investigate the small details and images up close.

The exhibit is in the men’s waiting room at the west-end of the Snoqualmie Depot and can be viewed Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Guests arriving to purchase train tickets on the weekend can enjoy the exhibit while they wait in line. In addition, since the Depot is free to visit, so is the exhibit. The companion website for this exhibit will be available by September 1^st at TrainMuseum.org.

A 4Culture Heritage Special Projects Grant funded this exhibit. 4Culture is the Cultural Development Authority for King County, Washington. Using Lodging Tax and 1% for Art funds, 4Culture has four program areas to serve the county: arts, heritage, historic preservation, and public art. For more informaton on 4Culture, visit their website at 4Culture.org.

Snoqualmie Depot floors

Douglas fir.  Almost every stick of wood that was used to build the Snoqualmie Depot (the shingles are red cedar) was cut from Douglas fir, a species of softwood native to the Northwest, and vital to the forest industry.  And the Depot's contractor didn't have far to search far because in 1890 tall stands of Douglas fir adjoined the mainline of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway almost all the way to the foot of Western Avenue in downtown Seattle.  So clear Douglas fir lines the walls, ceilings and floors of the Snoqualmie Depot and is an important part of its character.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and continuing efforts to preserve the Snoqualmie Depot, the most iconic structure in historic downtown Snoqualmie.  The interior flooring was last refinished in the early 1990s.  Despite a very hard finish, some of the surface was beginning to wear through to bare wood.  So Hardwood Specialties was hired to sand, repair, and refinish the waiting rooms floors.

Refinishing the floors in what is now better known as the Depot Bookstore required moving the retail operation out of the room it has occupied since 1982.  The Depot Bookstore was moved in its entirety to the women's waiting room, right next door to the Gentlemen's waiting room it has occupied for the past 33 years.  Then, in late September and early October 2015, the floors were sanded, filled, resanded, sealed, and coated.

There are a variety of floor finishing systems to choose from, but many are ill-suited to a floor that sees almost 134,000 visitors per year. The "Swedish Finish" system was selected, which is a modern, long-lasting finish.  Three coats - two sealer coats and one top coat - were applied and allowed to cure.  The sealer coats are a type of epoxy similar to what is used in the railroad car preservation work.  For the finish system, a full cure takes approximately three weeks.  Now the Snoqualmie Depot waiting room floors are ready for another 25 years of service!

Snoqualmie Depot celebrates 125 years!

Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2015 included a special celebration, one that occurs just once in an historic structure's life cycle. Sunday, August 16, 2015 commemorated the 125th birthday of the Snoqualmie Depot.  

It was a beautiful day in historic downtown Snoqualmie.  The temperature was in the low 70s and there was not a cloud in the sky.  More than 125 people gathered before the Snoqualmie Depot's distinctive octagonal turret to hear a dedication by Museum Board President Dennis Snook.  Surrounded by historic reenactors dressed in their late 19th Century finery, President Snook spoke of the Depot's construction in 1890, how it was completed in 90 days, and cost just $4,200. Constructed by the firm of Anderson and Scott, the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway commissioned this unusually elaborate depot designed in the late Queen Anne style.    

City of Snoqualmie Councilmember Bob Jeans presented a proclamation from Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson acknowledging the Depot's birthday, its importance to the community's past, present, and future, and declaring Sunday, August 16, 2015 as Snoqualmie Depot Day. The success of the Depot as the centerpiece of historic downtown Snoqualmie has been a cornerstone of the redevelopment of the district and the City of Snoqualmie has been an important partner with the Museum.

The next presentation was by Mike Seal, one of the founding partners of Sigillo Cellars in Snoqualmie.  They dedicated a special limited bottling of wine in commemoration of the Snoqualmie Depot's 125th anniversary.  "Cab 125" is 2013 vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon available at Sigillo Cellars in Snoqualmie (right across the street from the Depot) for $25 per bottle until it is sold out.  The spectacular artwork was developed by Sharon D. Siegel and donated to the effort.

The event was capped off with a splendid "coming together" of steam and diesel in front of the Snoqualmie Depot.  Snoqualmie Valley Railroad locomotive 4012 and Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 made a ceremonious coupling to the delight of all in attendance.  Then all attendees were invited to join the Museum's Board of Trustees for cake and lemonade. Happy 125th Anniversary Snoqualmie Depot!

Photos courtesy of Dave Honan.  Special thanks to the Northwest Railway Museum Board of Trustees for organizing the Snoqualmie Depot 125 Celebration.

Happy Birthday, Washington State — remix

Five years ago, we took credit on these pages for Washington State's 120th birthday. Well, we won't do that again.

Instead, we'll take credit for its quasquicentennial!

We said it then and we'll say it again: it was no coincidence that railroad builder D. H. Gilman signed this Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company stock certificate in 1888, and that U.S. President Benjamin Harrison signed Proclamation 294 admitting Washington into the Union the following year.

Today, we think the pace of life has rapidly increased with electronics, computers, smartphones — instant this and instant that. And so it has. But that's just what it felt like as the final decades of the 19th Century hurtled toward the 20th. The railroad turned a laborious multi-day journey from Seattle to Snoqualmie into a picnic. Literally. An excursion to Snoqualmie Falls became a recreational day trip. And folks in Snoqualmie? Whatever they wanted could be brought in by rail. Quickly. Life was transformed. So resist that sleepy historic town stereotype and let the flavor and flourish of those days swirl around you. The Depot and other wood buildings from the period can help you picture it.

President Harrison. Courtesy FCIT.

Trains have operated out of the Snoqualmie Depot — the same building — since 1890. The sound of our footfalls may be different without lace-up boots and hard heels. But the creak of the boards would be familiar to those who stepped across the platform and into the ladies' waiting room to purchase their tickets. Incidentally, lengths of rail currently in front and back of the Depot pre-date the building. So if you step over the track to get to the platform, you may touch the very rail that was here when President Harrison signed that proclamation on November 11, 1889.

What else was here then? The two-story building behind the Depot was built not long after — in 1902 — for the Modern Woodmen's fraternal organization. Across King Street, the tavern is the original first floor of a two-story hotel built in 1910.

Across the main street from the Depot, at 8096 Railroad Avenue, another wood building harbors stories of Snoqualmie dating from 1909. And not much more than a block away at the corner of River Street and Falls Avenue, the hip roof porch and posts are among the features that maintain the historical appearance of another 1909 building, although additions and changes have been made to the structure since its original construction for Reinig Brothers General Merchandise.

Is the Snoqualmie of today — a main row of businesses facing the Depot, with additional enterprises peppered around neighboring streets, all in the shadow of Mount Si — so very different from the Snoqualmie shown here in 1897? The Depot-centered activity that greeted Washington's birth as a state has its echoes in activity surrounding the Depot today. More than 1,000 people rode the train during the last weekend of October. And the Northwest Railway Museum recently launched a steam program. So when you board the newly rehabilitated coach 218 with its mahogany paneling and mohair-covered seats, you might have an opportunity to ride in the wake of a steam locomotive. Just like the passengers who looked out those coach windows when the State of Washington was just a whippersnapper.

Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 pulls coach 218 in 2014.

Snoqualmie Falls historic area museum open

A new museum at Snoqualmie Falls is opening to the public this month.  The exhibits are housed in the historic carpenter shop and Snoqualmie Falls depot, and chronicle the Charles H. Baker's 1898-1899 development of the world's first underground power station.  The Museum will be open for just 12 days, a trial that is allowing owner Puget Sound Energy to evaluate and refine the program. (More information is included at end of this post.)  A more comprehensive operating schedule is being planned for summer 2015.

So why is there a power station in Snoqualmie Falls?  Charles H. Baker was a civil engineer who built the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway to the Cascade foothills, and platted the town of Snoqualmie.  While surveying and constructing the track at Snoqualmie Falls, he recognized the tremendous hydro electric potential and pursued its development. Having a key role in building the railway, creating the town and developing the power station, Baker had a truly remarkable impact that continues to define the community. And adding to the railroad history connection, is the significance of one of the power company's most important customers: the Puget Sound Electric Railway, the electric interurbans that operated between Tacoma and Seattle for 26 years.

Baker convinced his well-healed father to underwrite construction of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company. 268 feet of vertical drop is greater than Niagara Falls and offered some generation economies.  All the supplies and machinery arrived by rail, which was by then reorganized as the Seattle and International Railway. 16 months of construction were required to build the plant, including excavation of the cavity right behind the base of Snoqualmie Falls.  It was carved out of andesite, the remains of an ancient volcano's caldera. 

Late in 2013, owner Puget Sound Energy completed a major rehabilitation effort on the original power station.  Many components including the four original generators are continuing in service, producing power more than 114 years after entering service.  A component of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission re-licensed project adaptively reused the original carpentry shop and train depot as interpretive centers.  This new museum tells the story of the power station.

Saturdays and Sundays through the end of August offer free guided tours of the new museum. In addition, Friday, August 15 and Monday September 1 will also offer public access. Saturday and weekday tours are being offered at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:30 PM and are scheduled to last 90 minutes; they are free.  On Sundays tours are offered at 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM.  All tours depart from the Snoqualmie Falls park Upper Plaza at the sandwich board kiosk titled "Snoqualmie Falls Historic Area Museum Tours" and last a total of 90 minutes. Tours accommodate a maximum of 14 people and are recommended for ages 12 years and older.

A special additional tour option is also being offered: a train excursion followed by the museum tour.  This two hour 30 minute tour costs $20 per person, which includes the train excursion, and departs at 12:30 PM from the Snoqualmie Depot at 38625 SE King Street in historic downtown Snoqualmie.  With space for just 15 participants per tour, the Northwest Railway Museum recommends advance purchase of train and tour combination tickets, which will be available at will call in the Snoqualmie Depot at least 30 minutes prior to departure.

125 years of excursions

President Snook 
addressed the crowd 
before the train
departed.

July 4, 1889 marked the inaugural passenger train excursion from Seattle to Snoqualmie Falls along the lines of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company. Hosted by the ME Church Society, tickets cost $2 return, which was a veritable fortune for people living in Washington Territory during that era. 125 years later, on July 4, 2014, the Northwest Railway Museum commemorated the anniversary with speeches, a ribbon cutting, and two special trains to Snoqualmie Falls.  

Reenactors from Fort Nisqually made the anniversary trains
come alive and joined Mayor Matt Larson and President
Dennis Snook for the ribbon cutting.

157 tickets were issued for the anniversary trains, and many of those visitors joined the dedication speech and ribbon cutting that began on July 4 at noon.  Marketing Director Peggy Barchi welcomed everyone and Museum President Dennis Snook gave an inspirational talk that helped set the mood for the anniversary trains. City of Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson praised the Museum's preservation efforts and highlighted the importance of the railway in local history.  Historic reenactors dressed in Victorian-era clothing attended too and added an element of authenticity to the Century-old excursion train.

Vintage clothing added to the event.

Reeneactors pose for photos while riding on coach 218.

Coach 218, which is nearing completion in an extensive
rehabilitation effort made a brief appearance too.

The pinnacle of Snoqualmie Falls.  In 1889 there was no lodge,
power station, or dam.

Train Shed steel

The Train Shed construction is continuing to proceed but some of the most impressive work takes place in a manufacturing facility. Take the steel columns and girders as an example, part of the Varco-Pruden brand building designed for the Museum. They are being fabricated at Wick Constructor's subconcontractor BlueScope Buildings NA, Arlington, Washington facility, about 90 minutes north of the Museum.

Ironically, the BlueScope Buildings NA facility is located adjacent to the BNSF Railway and a section of former Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway that is just about the same physical distance the Train Shed is being built from the Museum's section of former Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway. And for the record, mill steel is still delivered to the BlueScope facility by rail however the Train Shed is being built with components fabricated from American-made sheet and roll steel delivered by truck.

A recent tour of the BlueScope facility conducted by mill manager Phil S. revealed a plant dedicated to quality and safety. Much of the welding is performed by automated machines however due to the custom design of many buildings there were a number of welders manually completing the fabrications by hand. The actual Train Shed components were on the floor in fabrication and it was really interesting to see the transformational process from basic steel plate to finished column or girder. At the end of the production line, the components were physically dipped into primer to ensure full coverage of all surfaces.

The Train Shed fabrications are nearly complete and structural steel is scheduled for shipping to the Northwest Railway Museum on Friday, 4 December 2009. Train Shed erection will begin on Monday, 7 December 2009; assembly will take approximately three months.

Additional images are available for viewing on the Museum's WASteam web site.

Happy Birthday, Washington State

Why be modest? We’ll take credit for Washington State’s 120th birthday.

Washington became the 42nd state when President Benjamin Harrison signed a proclamation on November 11, 1889. It’s not coincidental that D. H. Gilman was signing Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company stock certificates (shown here) in 1888, or that investors were planning the town of Snoqualmie in 1889, or that the Snoqualmie Depot was built in 1890. Railroads were crucial to Washington Territory’s development and statehood.

Before railroads, you got here by wagon or ship. The first trains began operating in Washington Territory in the 1870s. In 1883, a spike driven in Montana completed the second transcontinental railroad, this one reaching the Pacific Northwest. (The first connected the East Coast to California.) Washington State’s population surged to 357,232 by 1890, a five-fold increase in 10 years. (In case you’re wondering, we’re past 6 1/2 million now.) Seattle's population grew from 1,107 residents in 1870 to 3,533 in 1880 . . . to 42,837 in 1890. Trains, of course, didn’t only bring an influx of people. Trains carried goods and materials essential to the region’s growth and development.

The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern connected Snoqualmie to Seattle in 1889, the year Washington became a state. Does the Northwest Railway Museum have any artifacts from that era?

The Snoqualmie Depot, shown here around 1896, was built in 1890. About 150 feet of original track remain in front of the depot today. The final image shows original SLSE rail laid in 1889. This was the main track until about 1963. Rail behind the depot is also from the period. However it wasn’t laid here until 1999. It came from local logging lines.

Bridge 35 over Snoqualmie River’s South Fork provides a view of the most common bridge design of that period. The through-pin-connected Pratt truss bridge was built in 1891, although it spanned a river in Montana before being relocated to North Bend in 1923.

The Northern Pacific day coach 889 is considered the oldest railway car/large object in the Museum’s collection. It was purportedly built in 1881, though it could have been built a few years later. (We have no definitive research yet.) The Canadian Pacific 25 was built in 1881 but didn’t find its way west until the 1890s.

You can see a picture of a steam locomotive built in 1885 (not in our collection) on the Washington State Steam Railroads and Locomotives website.


Sources:
Secretary of State blog
Seattle History Examiner
History Link
Seattle Times
Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: Oregon, Washington, by Donald B. Robertson