Everybody Loves a Train

This last weekend I was on-call at work and required to be in on both days.  This left me with the inability to hit the road early. I had a primary goal of getting my Monthly Scavenger Hunt photos worked on.   I spent the Saturday being totally domestic (translation...doing laundry) and paid a visit to the Redmond Saturday Market where I bought some treats for myself.

A print from Stephanie Johnson.  This amazing and talented student has art work that always catches my eye.

www.stephaniekjohnson.com

I think you will agree she is an amazing talent.

I also bought myself a treat from Wildflour Bakery.  Gluten Free.  Unfortunately they do not have a shop, but only sell at Farmers Markets right now.  They are in the process of getting bar code registration so they can vend locally.  Their blueberry lemon cupcake was less a conventional Mom's cupcake and more a tea cake.  Totally wonderful.

On to the Scavenger Hunt Photos

Subject : Comfort Food. I consider all baked goods the ultimate comfort food.

Subject : Something Musical

A fiddling group called The Onlies, busking to raise money to go to "fiddler camp".  They were very good.

Subject: Summer event

Vine ripened heirloom tomatoes at the Saturday Market.  Only in Summer, around here.

Sunday I knew I would visit the Snoqualmie Railroad Days since one of the challenge subject was "seen at the bus or railway station"  That is a hard one since here in America, bus and train stations are not that common.

But I knew I could enjoy a mid-afternoon with a train ride on the historic tracks that run from Snoqualmie Falls to North Bend.

Railroad Days is a Summer event celebrated in the town of Snoqualmie, just east of where I live.  At its heart is the Northwest Railway Museum   www.trainmuseum.org

This area was timber country and the railroad line through here serviced the timber concerns.  West of town is Snoqualmie Falls one of the most impressive waterfalls in the region.  I visited the valley area early in 2010 and you can see a picture of the Falls in pretty full roar here.

http://meanderingwa.blogspot.com/2010/01/rain-rinse-repeat.html


We start at the historic depot, built in 1890.

The ticket lobby was a wonderful collection of wood panels and squeaky floors. While waiting for my ticket I noted that there was a can of Nallys Lumberjack Syrup in a display case. I had a mini-flashback of very distant childhood.

The train had one engine and two cars.  I selected this 1915 era "hard" passenger car.

It was beautiful but still in need of renovations. I soon appreciated the joy of a well padded dress/bustle or corset.

I loved watching everyone and their reactions to being on the train. Some things are timeless. Parents and children; hard to know who had the most fun.

Everyone waves. We wave out

People wave back...and smile

Mr Conductor (who did not look like Ringo Starr) punched tickets and answered questions.

There was a lot to see along the way.

Pretty houses, back streets, and a lot of blackberries. For the back story on train tracks and blackberries, visit this entry from August of 2009

http://meanderingwa.blogspot.com/2009/08/rite-of-summer-blackberries.html

The engine pushed us eastbound to North Bend. Some of the children were confused as to why we were going backwards. They were the ones sitting in the backward facing seats.

Fans of the Television show "Twin Peaks" will recognize this sight.

After picking up passengers we held up traffic while we returned via Snoqualmie and headed to the falls. The town was hosting an auto show and it was fun to watch the fancy cars and the visitors as we trundled past.

The museum has many old train cars awaiting restoration. They are placed along the tracks and as you roll past you get a too close look at them. It will take a lot of work to restore them all. The museum has a dedicated facility and corps of volunteers who make this all possible.

Around here it is not unusual to find ramps and bridges over creeks made from train flatcars. It is not until you get below them that you can see that they are old train bases. This is an old Burlington Northern car base.

We wind up our trip right at the brink of the Snoqualmie Falls. The foliage on the trees obscure much of the view right now but you can still see a part of the power generation plant and the mitigation Puget Sound Energy is doing to preserve this area. The river valley below this spot is one of the big flood areas of the state.

That large tree is right at the brink of the Falls.  It has been there some time, sooner or later it is going to go over.

After a pause, the engine pushed us back the direction we came. We got a chance to see the collection of old train cars. There was even a snowplow engine. Near the depot a traditional "big log" to try to count rings on.

After leaving the train I wandered about to collect my train station picture. I settled on this detail of a 1926 Mallet steam locomotive piston and wheels. I liked the color the metal has taken on with the lichens and weathering.

Subject: Something I saw in the train or bus station.

Walking along the rows of fancy restored cars I found the perfect subject for what I thought might be one of my biggest challenges.

Subject: Something with a big nose.

A 1941 Willys Coupe.

Driving home after my day out, I realized that I forgot to put a penny on the tracks.

Another opportunity to make mayhem missed.