Heat was just a state of mind Saturday, as people shared their shade and enjoyed the festivities of Railroad Days in Snoqualmie. Then the marching band appeared, to make things even cooler.

Easily the most popular entry in the grand parade, the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Marching Band got people on their feet for a few minutes of drumming and dancing.

Other entries got people up, too, notably the American Legion color guard and the Washington Civil War Association’s marchers, but no one else could make them dance.

The 78th annual Railroad Days celebrated Northwest Railway Museum director Richard Anderson as the parade’s grand marshal, and provided the stage for professional timber sports athlete David Moses Jr. and associated to show off their skills. While people waded in the river at Sandy Cove Park, artists were busily capturing the scenic nature of the low water levels for the Plein Air Paint Out. Over at the Snoqualmie Depot, visitors were lining up to catch a train, play with old-time toys at the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum booth, or learn about camp life as a soldier during the Civil War.

Next door, a few tested the surface of Snoqualmie’s synthetic ice rink.

By the afternoon, the plein air painters were cooling off at an artist reception at the Black Dog Cafe.

There, Beverly Fatheringham was declared the first-place winner of the Paint Out. Her watercolor work of the Meadowbrook Farm elk in morning fog will be the image on the poster for next year’s event.

The heat let up slightly on Sunday, for the Legends classic car show, living history displays at the Snoqualmie Depot, and another timber sports show down in Sandy Cove Park.

See more Railroad Days photos online at https://www.flickr.com/gp/142402127@N06/7wZ5nL.