Snoqualmie’s Northwest Railway Museum has been awarded a John D. Spellman Award for achievement in historic preservation. Also, after designating the Northern Pacific Railroad Locomotive 924 as a city of Snoqualmie landmark, the museum received a certificate of designation from the King County Historic Preservation Program.

The John D. Spellman award is named after a former Governor and King County Executive, who created the King County Historic Preservation Program in 1978. The Northwest Railway Museum was one of four recipients of the 2016 award.

The railway museum was chosen for the award for its stewardship of the 1890 Snoqualmie Depot, its restoration of historic train cars and expansion into education about the history of the industry in the Valley.

Other winners included Monica and Dave Brethauer for restoring Renton’s 1954 Cortona Building, the University of Washington’s Department of Architecture for working on downtown revitalization in various county cities (including Snoqualmie), and the Neely Mansion Association for restoring a 1929 bath house in Auburn.

The Northwest Railway Museum, which has been preserving a large piece of history in the Valley since 1957, has recently done more work to expand its reach by constructing a Train Shed to house historic trains in 2005 and a Railway Education Center in 2016. The organization is restoring multiple historic trains including the 1907 Messenger of Peace chapel car and Locomotive 924.

The museum also opens its doors to visitors looking to learn more about the history of the railroad in the Valley. They hold weekend train rides from April to October and themed train events for holidays.

For more information on the Northwest Railway Musuem, visit trainmuseum.org.