The Northwest Railway Museum’s shining star was once a failed project. The Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern Railway (SLS&E) fell short of its mission to link Seattle and Spokane, puttering to a stop at the bright red North Bend station. But the rail line nonetheless became an essential thoroughfare for passengers and freight starting in 1890. Today it has a new life: an immersive step back to the days long before I-90 backups and craft breweries.

“Oh boy, the train is coming!” a toddler shrieks. We're in modern day North Bend, where the Northwest Railway Museum is a red train station modeled after the original. It stands watch over the town’s steel tracks, facing Scott’s Dairy Freeze and towering Mount Si. These days the train's purpose is scenic rides; a two-hour tour for $28 per adult, departing from North Bend or Snoqualmie. 

The orange engine inches forward, letting out whistle blasts announcing its triumphant return to the terminus of its 5.5-mile journey. I could be looking at the pages of a storybook as a bearded conductor in striped overalls waves to the passengers awaiting pickup.

On board, each coach car offers a different atmosphere. In one, mint green lounge chairs are on top of black and white tiles (back in vogue these days), while burgundy velvet benches reminiscent of church pews sit under windows of colored glass in another. There are simple wooden benches in the furthest.

The interiors—save one car—are all original. Designed by Barney and Smith Car Company in the early 1900s, their historical resume is evident in the rips and exposed foam. The Northwest Railway Museum is in the midst of a complete restoration of that storied upholstery, having mohair woven and dyed in the Carolinas and tapping a local artisan to reupholster the seats. The project isn’t a small one; the cost to restore just one coach comes in well over $100,000.

As we pull out of the North Bend station, restaurant patrons at the nearby establishments wave and scramble to find phones to photograph the passing spectacle. We were hard to miss: The ride resembles a fairground kiddie coaster as it jostles up to speed. I quickly realize the merit of the earplugs offered at the ticket window as the 130-year-old mechanisms creak and clang down the tracks, steam wafting by the window.

That steam powered us toward the ride’s marquee sights, including the scenic South Fork of the Snoqualmie River valley, quaint downtown Snoqualmie and its historic depot, and meadows that give way to Cascade peaks. Just past Snoqualmie Falls (though the tracks are too high to offer a good view of it), the train reverses course back toward North Bend.

There's a pit stop at the Railway History Campus, where I follow dozens of families—this is a kid-friendly experience—and history-hungry groups into a warehouse stocked with displays and full-size train cars. The whole track and working train are technically part of the Northwest Railway Museum, but this part feels like a museum.

A photo hunt and toy trains occupies children while displays showcase advertisements, refrigerated cars, and outfitted cabooses from the train’s heyday. But it's not exclusively about the Snoqualmie Valley’s SLS&E line: Panels outline the deadly Wellington Disaster near Stevens Pass, and a car from the Puget Sound Electric Railway between Seattle and Tacoma boasted coastal transport of yore.

Settled back into the plush seats after our educational stop, it's easy to imagine boarding the coach in early-1900s North Bend, jostling on a creaky four-hour ride toward the rapidly growing big city of Seattle. The railroad changed transport for the region, putting Woodinville, Issaquah, and Snoqualmie on the map for tourists—as well as hop pickers commuting to fields throughout the Puget Sound region. In a world without Amazon, catalog-ordered goods from East coast factories showed up at local train depots. 

Now, the Northwest Railway Museum, with its historic trains, exhibit hall, and depot form an immersive taste of days past. During the holidays, themed excursions include a trick-or-treat Halloween train, the Yuletide Express (with Santa on the train), and the Santa Limited (with a longer stop that includes refreshments).

There's a visceral thrill to putting a face up to the opalescent glass and watching employees shovel wood into the engine’s firebox. Instead of traffic jams, passengers experience rocking side to side with the train’s movement. You simply don’t get that experience reading panels in a history museum.