Looking for travel tips in the Seattle, WA area-

Already have the Snoqualmie Valley lined up and am considering a day trip to Portland on Amtrak's Cascade service (is it worth it for the scenery?)

Also, I see the Mt Ranier RR is shut down, but can one wander around any facilities or equipment?

Any comments, tips, etc, appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Matt Bumgarner

If you take the Cascades to Portland (and yes it’s a lovely ride!) you can take the light rail in Portland over to Oregon Rail Heritage Center and visit the 4449 and 700. They have a really nice gift shop as well.

Powell’s books in Portland is a huge used bookstore with lots of railroad books, many hard to find and out of print.

And a bonus is Portland Union Station - a wonderful restored station.

Also in Seattle is the Seattle Monorail - an original Alweg monorail that runs to and from the space needle.

Seattle itself has Link Light Rail which goes from Northgate (North Seattle) to Angle Lake (south of SeaTac Airport), a 25 mile route.

There is also Sounder commuter rail which has a northern line from Everett to Seattle and a southern line from Seattle to Lakewood (near Tacoma).

King Street Station is a beautifully-restored 1916 Great Northern station which is well worth a visit. Opposite is Union Station which is the offices for Sound Transit, the region's transit system.

East of Everett, along Highway 2, is Skykomish where the Great Northern and Cascade Live Steam Railway is located. They operate on weekends and holiday Mondays until the end of October.

Staying with the smaller gauge railway, the Kitsap Live Steamers operate on the second and fourth Saturdays, and are located in Port Ochard.

There used to be a trolley operation in Issaquah but that shut down in 2020 or early 2021.

In Lynnwood at Heritage Park (a small city park), there is an interurban car on display.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but will post others if they come to mind. I lived in Lynwood (20 miles north of Seattle) for ten years.