Washington Railroad Museums (2026): A Complete Guide

Published: October 16, 2026

Washington’s railroad museums follow the roads that reached Puget Sound. The Northwest Railway Museum at Snoqualmie keeps the 1890 depot and 5.5 miles of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, and steam is off there for 2026. Mount Rainier Scenic, at Elbe, is a logging railroad again under the Western Forest Industries Museum. Chehalis-Centralia still boards on the old Milwaukee Road, behind a diesel while Baldwin No. 15 is under repair. Reardan holds the Inland Northwest collection, including Union Pacific No. 3206. Toppenish is the Northern Pacific depot, and No. 1364 moved under its own power on February 21, 2026.

The Northwest Railway Museum, located in the 1890 Northern Pacific depot in Snoqualmie, and also preserves several pieces or railroad equipment. Museum photo.

Ride dates are on the Washington scenic-train guide. American-Rails does not sell tickets. Confirm which locomotive is assigned before you go.

On this page: At a glance · Washington railroads · Snoqualmie · Elbe · Chehalis · Reardan · Toppenish · Related reading

At a glance

Place	Town	What it is known for	Site
Northwest Railway Museum	Snoqualmie	Founded 1957. The 1890 depot and 5.5 miles of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern. Northern Pacific No. 924 is the steam engine. Diesels are assigned in 2026	trainmuseum.org · 38625 SE King Street
Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad	Elbe	Western Forest Industries Museum since August 2022. Polson Logging No. 70, a Baldwin 2-8-2 of 1922, when steam is assigned	Mount Rainier Scenic · 54124 Mountain Highway E
Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum	Chehalis	Founded 1986. Baldwin 2-8-2 No. 15, of 1916, is under repair. Diesel No. 6 is the assigned power	steamtrainride.com
Inland Northwest Rail Museum	Reardan	Inland Empire chapter since 1967. Opened on this site in 2016. Union Pacific 4-6-2 No. 3206	inlandnwrailmuseum.com · 27300 Sprinkle Road N.
Northern Pacific Railway Museum	Toppenish	The 1911 Northern Pacific depot. Opened July 4, 1992. No. 1364, a Baldwin 4-6-0 of 1902, moved under its own power on February 21, 2026	nprymuseum.org

Washington railroads

The statistics box on the state page names the Cascades Portage Railroad of 1851 as the first, a peak of 5,587 miles in 1920, and 2,891 miles in 2020. BNSF holds the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle mains, and with them the container traffic off Puget Sound. The Milwaukee Road did not reach Seattle until 1909. Union Pacific is in the state through the old Oregon Short Line. The state account is the Washington railroads page. Neighbors with their own museum pages are Oregon and Idaho.

Snoqualmie

The Northwest Railway Museum was founded in 1957 as the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association. It works out of the Snoqualmie depot at 38625 SE King Street, completed in 1890 by the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern. The railroad was Seattle’s answer to the Northern Pacific’s choice of Tacoma. The Northern Pacific absorbed the line in 1901. Burlington Northern gave the depot and several miles of track to the museum in 1975, and the building was put back to its 1890s appearance in 1981. It is on the National Register, and it is a City of Snoqualmie and King County landmark. The museum calls it the oldest train depot in the state still in continuous use. The ride is 5.5 miles of the 1889 grade, between Snoqualmie and North Bend.

The steam locomotive is Northern Pacific No. 924, an 0-6-0 built by Rogers in 1899 for the St. Paul & Duluth as No. 74 and numbered 924 when the Northern Pacific took that road in 1901. It was donated in 1969 and returned to steam in 2020. As of the scenic guide’s October 2, 2026 visit, the museum had taken steam off for the year, and the named power was diesels 4012 and 4024. The calendar is on the scenic guide. The depot itself is free to walk into. Hours are the museum’s to post.

Elbe

The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad boards at the depot at 54124 Mountain Highway E in Elbe. The Western Forest Industries Museum took the operation in August 2022, after American Heritage Railways closed it. When steam is assigned, the scenic guide names Polson Logging No. 70, a Baldwin 2-8-2 of 1922. A diesel may be substituted. The train is a logging railroad in the foothills. It does not enter Mount Rainier National Park. The museum at Mineral is not fully open. The railroad’s own page is the Mount Rainier Scenic profile, and the dates are on the scenic guide.

Chehalis

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum began in 1986 as the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Association. Local people set out to restore a 1916 logging locomotive that had sat in a Chehalis park. Passenger trains started in 1989 on former Milwaukee Road track in Lewis County. The association took the museum name in 2006. No. 15 is a Baldwin 2-8-2 built in Philadelphia in 1916. It came to the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade in 1928 and hauled logs until the middle of the 1950s. The museum’s engine page says the repairs have no return date, and that diesel No. 6 is pulling the excursions until the steamer is ready. The dinner guide, on September 28, 2026, recorded the boarding point as 1101 SW Sylvenus Street. The October dates and the Christmas trains are on the scenic guide and the Chehalis Polar Express page.

Reardan

The Inland Northwest Rail Museum is at 27300 Sprinkle Road N., Reardan, at State Route 2 and State Route 231. In 1967 a group of railroad people formed the Inland Empire Railway Historical Society, a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The first large job, in 1970, was cleaning and painting Union Pacific No. 3206 where it sat in Spokane’s Highbridge Park. That engine was the first piece moved to the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, in 1978. In December 2002 the society chose 30 acres west of Reardan. The building was finished in 2016, and the grand opening was August 27 of that year.

No. 3206 is a 4-6-2 built by the American Locomotive Company in 1904 for the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company. It spent its working years on Union Pacific branches in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, went to the City of Spokane in 1955, and was deeded to the society in June 1978. The collection also includes Spokane, Portland & Seattle No. 860. A two-foot-gauge ride is on the grounds. Full-size trips are special events, not a standing timetable. Hours are the museum’s to post.

Toppenish

The Northern Pacific Railway Museum is the brick depot the Northern Pacific built at Toppenish in 1911, in place of an earlier wooden station. Passenger service ended in 1961. After the Railway Express Agency failed, the building was boarded up in 1981. In 1989 railfans formed the Yakima Valley Rail and Steam Museum Association. The city helped lease the depot in 1990. The grand opening was July 4, 1992. In 1993 the depot and the freight house were bought from Burlington Northern, and in 2000 the museum division took the Northern Pacific name. The waiting room, the telegraph office, and the Railway Express room are the interior exhibits.

Northern Pacific No. 1364 is a Baldwin 4-6-0 of 1902, class S-4. The museum’s own page records its retirement on January 1, 1954, after years on the Tacoma Division and, later, a long display in a Tacoma park. It moved under its own power on February 21, 2026. The account of that day is the site’s No. 1364 page. A 1909 Pacific, No. 2152, is also on the grounds. The Lake Whatcom Railway, farther west, is not given a section. On October 2, 2026, the scenic guide still found that railway’s newest posted events dated 2018 and 2019. Confirm it before you treat the line as running.

Sources

Northwest Railway Museum, history page and the Snoqualmie Depot essay, trainmuseum.org.
Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum, about page, the No. 15 page, and the engine-histories note, steamtrainride.com.
Inland Northwest Rail Museum, about page and the No. 3206 essay, inlandnwrailmuseum.com.
Northern Pacific Railway Museum, depot history and the No. 1364 pages, nprymuseum.org.
American-Rails.com, Washington railroads, statistics box, last revised September 7, 2024.
American-Rails.com, Washington scenic-train guide, last revised October 2, 2026. Ride dates, the 2026 Snoqualmie power, Polson Logging No. 70, and the Lake Whatcom note stay there.
Trains, February 23, 2026, and the museum’s own statement, for No. 1364’s move on February 21, 2026. The site account is No. 1364.

Confirm hours and which locomotive is on the property before you travel.

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