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!

The Bluebell Railway

Last Saturday we had no plans, so we decided to take a ride on the Bluebell Railway. This is a 125-year-old steam train railway running along a 9-mile stretch of the border between East Sussex and West Sussex. These days it is mostly staffed by volunteers and has only three stations, but steam trains still run on a regular timetable as it's a popular tourist activity or family day out.

We drove to Sheffield Park Station (about 40 minutes from home) and purchased first class tickets to the first station and back (a 9-mile round trip). This cost about the same as the fare to travel the full 18-mile round trip in third class, so we decided to cover less distance so we could see what first class was like!



Anyway, I ended up being quite glad of this... First class was nothing fancy, but it consisted of compartments along one side of the train, six seats in each. A sliding door opened onto the corridor. We had a whole compartment to ourselves, which was excellent as there were some very excited and noisy kids on the train. :) As we steadily chugged through the English countryside, now starting to get really green again after the winter, steam billowed from the train and the driver would occasionally sound the hooty whistle.

Yup, right out of Harry Potter or what?! I half expected a lady to come along with a trolley of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans any second. :D



After reaching Horsted Keynes Station, we got out and had a simple lunch from a canteen on the platform. We had planned on exploring the village but it turned out to be a 1.5-mile walk away so we gave up on that idea! We had a look through a couple of old carraiges that had displays about historical trains, and then found one that was filled with an amazing number of second hand books and magazines about trains. We actually found a nice coffee table book for ourselves ("Mind The Gap" - it's about what's at the end of all the London tube lines!) and also a present for Dad there!



After that, we rode back to Sheffield Park in the same steam train and had a bit of a look around the shop there. Bought some funny Clives Cats drink coasters and discovered that someone has actually written an entire book (non-fiction) called Lichens - yes, everything you ever wanted to know about that fungus/algae stuff that grows on rocks and trees!!

Later, we had a look through the pleasant town of Lewes, which is where those mad Bonfire Night celebrations we went to in November were held. It was considerably quieter this time. :) There is an awesome 15th century bookshop in Lewes - see photo below. And that was our nice relaxing day!