Washington weekend, Post 3: Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad

Continuing on from the previous post...

After the meeting on Sunday, we headed 40 minutes south to Elbe, WA, to ride a steam train on the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad.

A few metres from the train station in Elbe stands one of America's smallest church buildings, just 18 by 24 feet. It was constructed in 1906 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.


We had a few hours to pass before our 4pm departure, so we watched the train being prepared for the 1pm departure, and then went for a drive to find a vantage point from which to photograph it as it went past.









A few hours later, it was our turn!

















And here's a video compilation of our journey! Rather than sifting through the hundreds of American train songs I could have chosen, I thought I'd give some exposure to an Aussie country music artist I once met when he performed in the town I grew up in. This is "Trains" by Troy Cassar-Daley...

It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours, and quite a bargain thanks to the $11 tickets we'd purchased via Groupon a few weeks before!

That night we ate dinner in Puyallup at the thoroughly recommended My Greek and Italian Restaurant, before heading back to our B&B.

Our B&B - the DeVoe Mansion - was a 1911 Colonial mansion listed on the National Historic Register. It was the home of Emma Smith DeVoe (1848-1927), one of the USA's leading activists for women's suffrage (voting rights). She became a suffragist at the age of 8, and the guiding principle of her campaigns was "always remain good-natured and cheerful". Her efforts helped give voting rights to Idaho women in 1896, Washington women in 1910, and all American women in 1920. She was quite a remarkable woman!