The Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway Historical Association held their 2016 annual convention in Fife, Washington. Field trips included a trip to the Northwest Railway Museum at Snoqualmie, Washington to see the rehabilitation work that has been recently performed on Spokane, Portland and Seattle coach 218, combine 272, and coach 276.
The SP&S Railway Historical Society is based in the Northwest and has a mission to preserve the history of the once-proud railway that was jointly owned by the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern Railways. The mainline in Washington extended between Vancouver and Spokane, with a branch south from Wishram to Bend, Oregon, and another from Portland, Oregon to Seaside, Oregon. The Oregon Electric Railway division operated between Portland and Eugene, Oregon.
The visit included a tour of the entire railway line. Naturally, this included travel on rehabilitated Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway coaches. The 1912-built coach 218 and 1915-built 272 traveled from North Bend to Snoqualmie Falls and return. The beautiful 75 degree weather made the experience all the better too!
The SP& S Railway Historical Association has been very supportive of the Museum’s rehabilitation efforts on SP&S coaches. This visit was an opportunity to share the successes in preserving SP&S’s history, but also the efforts on other artifacts including chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace. Participants were able to walk through the cars and talk with the collection technicians that performed the work.
The tour also included a visit to the Train Shed exhibit building where participants were able to view a variety of rail history artifacts guided by a trained docent.
I am glad to see that all the collection technicians that performed the work on the Messenger of Peace" were there to answer questions about its restoration.
Certainly shipwright Gary J. and carpenter Bob M. were present. Kevin P. would have been welcome too but he does not at present work at the Museum. Thanks for writing.