Northern Pacific Railway Museum
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Northern Pacific Freight Train Toppenish, Simcoe & Western Railroad
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Dates and Hours of Operation: Open May through October: Wednesday to Saturday, 10AM to 4 PM, Sunday Noon to 4 PM, closed Monday and Tuesday. Winter hours November through April by special arrangement and see schedule for special events. Contact Museum director. All operations are now at the depot with caboose rides offered with special events. Admission:
Location: 10 South Asotin Avenue, Toppenish, WA 98948. Follow this link for a map of Toppenish Virtual Tour: A virtual tour is offered. Be patient as it will take approximately 80 seconds to download with a 28.8 modem.
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History:
The old 1911
Northern Pacific Railway depot in Toppenish, Washington has been reopened as the
Northern Pacific Railway Museum. The railroad closed this depot in 1981 and
it was
boarded up for nearly 10 years before the formation of the Yakima Valley Rail
and Steam Museum Association (YVR&S) in 1989. The group was formed to
take advantage of the circumstance of having a depot, engine and track
all available for use. John Birmingham, owner of Great Western #51,
was searching for a place to operate his engine. Toppenish happened to be
on the old Northern Pacific (NP) route which had been sold to the cooperative Washington Central
Railroad. This combination of depot, track and locomotive led to several
years of successful steam operations. When the Great Western #51 was taken to
California in 1992, the museum group put its efforts into the restoration of the
depot. As restoration efforts proceeded and artifacts began to accumulate,
the Northern Pacific Railway
story began to develop.
Because of this focus, the museum has been renamed the Northern Pacific Railway Museum.
The attempt is being made to recreate the
ambience of the 1930 Northern Pacific Railroad. The depot has been restored to its early appearance and gives an
opportunity for the visitor
to view many aspects of early railroad transportation. Its many artifacts help to demonstrate the importance of railroad transportation to the
development of our community and the entire Western United States.