The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust has awarded a $7,500 grant to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie in support of the Northern Pacific Railway parlor car 1049 restoration. The award will support fabrication and base coat painting of replacement ceiling panels for all non-original interior ceilings. The completed car will be used to allow the public to experience travel in a historically significant artifact on a historic Northern Pacific branch line.

Parlor car 1049 is an all-wood car constructed in 1901 by Pullman for the Northern Pacific Railway and intended for service on the Lake Superior Limited, a train that operated in the very competitive Twin Cities-Duluth corridor.

By 1912, it was moved to Seattle for use as a first class (extra fare) day-use car on the North Coast Limited between Seattle and either Yakima or Spokane, depending on variations in the train schedule. The car was retired in 1939 from this service.

In 1940, it was purchased by a retired railroad worker and moved by barge to an island on Puget Sound where it was stripped of its trucks and truss rods and adapted for use as a cottage right on an ocean beach. In 2017, it was donated to the Northwest Railway Museum and moved by barge to the mainland, and then by house moving dollies to Snoqualmie.

Parlor car 1049 has been under restoration for more than four years, and work has already restored the car body structure, end platforms, roof, wheels, and some of the mechanical systems including couplers. To date, more than $400,000 has been invested in this rare surviving all-wood Pullman car.

The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust was created by John Emery, a native of Chicago, and a lover of the classic passenger trains of America. The trust was founded as a way to support Emery’s interest in the passenger trains of the 1920s through the 1950s. The trust operates as a tax-exempt foundationand focuses on helping to re-create and preserve, to the extent possible, the rail passenger travel experience as it was in the U. S. from approximately 1920 through 1960, preserve and restore to working order rolling stock and other working artifacts from the “Golden Age” of the U. S. rail passenger service, and ensure that organizations offer the general public an opportunity to ride historicallysignificant equipment over historic rail lines.

About the Northwest Railway Museum

Founded in 1957, the Northwest Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in Washington state. Popular family programs include: Santa Train, Day Out With Thomas, Halloween Storytelling Train, Snoqualmie Wine Trains, and Toddler Train Storytimes.

The Northwest Railway Museum operates a nationally-significant museum and heritage railway where the public experiences captivating exhibits and educational programs that confront the impactful and challenging history of railways in shaping the Pacific Northwest, actively engaging the community and inspiring future generations to preserve this transformative heritage.

The museum heritage railway excursions operate through the Upper Snoqualmie Valley and include visiting interpretive exhibits that illustrate the railway’s role in the settlement and development of the region. Its collection includes over 70 examples of locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and specialized railway equipment. The Northwest Railway Museum’s most recognized landmark is the 1890 Snoqualmie Depot, the oldest continuously operated train station in Washington State. For more information, visit TrainMuseum.org or email info@TrainMuseum.org.

Photos Courtesy of Northwest Railway Museum This photo illustrates the one surviving section of ceiling dating from 1901, and represents what the entire parlor car interior ceiling will look like when all the work is completed.

This photo illustrates the one surviving section of ceiling dating from 1901, and represents what the entire parlor car interior ceiling will look like when all the work is completed. Courtesy of Northwest Railway Museum