Western Railroad Discussion > Skykomish, Washington

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went on a road trip which included a stretch of US2 through the Cascades. We saw some amazing color but I was hoping for some color and BNSF in and around Stevens Pass.

Sadly, the weather had other things in mind and it poured rain for the 2 days we were in the area. As we descended the west slope on US2, we passed Skykomish. I happened to glance up quickly (it's easily missed) and saw the "Rocky Says:" sign. One must turn off US2 and cross the Skykomish River to reach the tiny town. But it's evident this town is quite proud of their Great Northern history. Rocky stands guard next to the tracks. BNSF keeps a flanger stationed at their small outpost in town.

This would have been a wonderful starting point to follow the former GN mainline east through Stevens Pass. But that will have to wait for next time.

daniel

---

---

---

Reminds me of the time my daughter visited Glacier Nat'l Park and came back with photos of real, live mountain goats.

I take it they are done moving each house so they could replace the contaminated dirt with clean dirt?

Yes, that project is done. At least that is what one of the locals told me when I was there this summer.

All the streets, sidewalks and curbs are brand new.

There's a great old multi-story hotel building there, but it's slowly decaying in the elements.

This little town seems like a great place for a railfan hotel or B&B.

There was a fire in the hotel in 2008. An electrical short caused about $100,000 damage. This was during the environmental cleanup. I don't know if the hotel was re-opened after that.

Skykomish was always a railroad town, and never seemed to make the transition from RR town to ski town (Stevens Pass Ski Area). The neighbor on the east side of the pass, Leavenworth, seems to have taken to wearing the ski hat, among others. My gut feeling is that Skykomish never really developed as a ski center because Stevens Pass doesn't have snowmaking, so business is controlled by the weather.

walstib Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> This little town seems like a great place for a
> railfan hotel or B&B.


Indeed it would. The city seems to be making an effort to restore the old GN station. The view of Railroad Street from the station parking lot shows the white 3 story building I believe is referred to in the above post. It seems some kind of damage occurred inside. The exterior is in fair condition but that won't last much longer.

We spent the night in Leavenworth. A little slice of Bavaria. We escaped just as Oktoberfest was getting underway.

daniel

---

---

---