Spirit of Washington Dinner Train

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The Spirit of Washington dinner train was a dinner train that operated for 15 years out of Renton, Washington, with trips heading from Renton to Woodinville and back, and then for ten months out of Tacoma, with trips heading from Tacoma to Lake Kapowsin near Mount Rainier. On October 29, the operators of the dinner train announced that they would be shutting down the Tacoma route due to poor ridership.

Contents

[edit] History

The Spirit of Washington dinner train operated for 15 years out of Renton on the Woodinville Subdivision starting in the summer of 1993, with trips heading from a restored depot Burnett Station on Burnett Avenue in Renton to the Columbia Winery in Woodinville and back. In the summer of 2007, the Train was forced to change starting locations when the owners of the Woodinville Subdivision, BNSF Railway, would not extend their contract. BNSF Railway allowed King County to move forward with improvements on I-405, which broke the link between Woodinville and Renton.

[edit] 10 Month Tacoma Pilot

Although the operators had wished to move the train to run between Woodinville and Snohomish, negotiations broke down, causing the train to relocate to Tacoma. It operated from August 3, 2007 until October 28 with Tacoma as the starting point. It serviced central Pierce County, on the line going from Tacoma to Lake Kapowsin near Mount Rainier and back.[1]

[edit] Cancellation

Due to poor ticket sales after the move to Tacoma, the owners decided to pull the pilot project and close the train down. It is being stored in Clark County, Washington where it will remain indefinitely. The owners have suggested that they would like to see a dinner train go between Vancouver, Washington and Mt St. Helens or attempt again to go between Woodinville and Snohomish.[2]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Train Schedule. The Spirit of Washington dinner train. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
  2. ^ Dinner Train closes up shop. KOMOTV / The Spirit of Washington dinner train. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.

[edit] External links

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