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Americana Journal

Snoqualmie Falls and A Railroad Museum

This railroad museum we didn’t just run into, but found on the maps and in the guidebook.   Near the end of our recent summer vacation, we decided to stop on our way back toward Seattle to see Snoqualmie Falls in WA (http://snoqualmiefalls.com/).   It is an impressive cataract, higher than Niagara.  The viewpoint park was under reconstruction so we could not quite see it to best advantage.  In addition, the water was lower in August, so it did not show the power it would have in the spring.   But it still was very impressive.

On our way out to the falls, there were two tracks of old railroad equipment collected by the museum there, including numerous engines.  So JoAnne hung out at the falls park while I returned to the train museum.  A few pieces had been restored.  Many others were awaiting attention.  One of the most unique engines, in my view, was parked in the back where it could not be seen very well.  It was a large tank engine.   One usually thinks of tank engines as being smaller.   However, the curator at the museum answered that in the West larger tank engines were not that uncommon. Near the museum grounds was an example of the logs that where originally cut there. As you can see from the picture, it was huge.   You would think it was a redwood but it was not, it was just a big spruce. 

The depot itself was impressive and very well preserved.  Behind it was an old building, originally a lodge building, currently holding a restaurant/bar.  It had been preserved too and was fascinating inside.  I had a glass of Snoqualmie Root Beer on-tap there.   There was a mount of a mountain lion in the corner and a chromed wood stove. The old bar still had water running in the trough spittoon at its base.    I could only imagine how gross it must have been when that was actually in use. 

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Americana Journal

A Rural Railroad Surprise

We had stopped to get gas in the middle of nowhere.   As I pumped gas, I looked to the left of the station and noticed a small railroad station and yard, only a couple tracks and a sideline or two.  But they looked like they might belong to a branch line or a tourist railroad.   So I walked up the street and checked it out.   The pictures show what I found.    It was obviously rather rural as the mule deer ate right beside the tracks.    I found a couple websites for it too.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4alxKVJ4eVk  and http://www.trainweb.org/rosters/WURR.html.

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Americana Journal

An old Shay locomotive

One night we were searching all over for a motel.   It was at the end of a long travel day and we were both tired.  We hadn’t made reservations since this stop was about 10 days into the trip and we weren’t positive we could keep up our planned itinerary.    When we arrived at Glacier, hotels were full and in Kalispell, the nearest big town since the State Fair was in town, so the situation was compounded.  

But, sometimes good things happen, even when you are frustrated over something else. We turned up a street in Columbia Falls, Montana, looking for that elusive room.   As I started to turn around, there at the end of the street was a railfan’s dream, an old lumber locomotive, a Shay.   It was all alone in an end-of-the-street park.  Of course, I jumped out and took the picture.  Online, I found a webpage about it  (http://claytondeerparkhistoricalsociety.com/photo_11.html). 

It’s easy in life to get so focused on the frustrations that we miss the gifts that come at inopportune times and unexpected moments.  One of the great skills in life is to be tuned in to the rarity of the moment so that we don’t let the urgency of the mundane – like searching for a room – make us miss experiencing something rare, like a parked Shay, or a special spiritual moment.