Steam over Snoqualmie Falls
It's been 25 years since a steam engine last ran in Snoqualmie, but the 2014 Railroad Days festival heralds the return of steam-driven locomotion to the Northwest Railway Museum. Stathi Pappas, the museum's new Curator of Collections and head of its developing steam program, has moved his Porter 0-4-0T, Santa Cruz Portland Cement No. 2, to Snoqualmie, and the small but powerful steamer will haul this weekend's revenue trains. This scene captures the drama of the line's scenic climax as a test train rolls past the top of 268-foot-tall Snoqualmie Falls. Next to the train is the head house for Plant 1 of the Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project, still in operation more than 110 years after being constructed. On the near side of the falls is the fabulous Salish Lodge.