The Spirit of Washington dinner train was a

dinner train A dinner train is a relatively new type of tourist train service whose main purpose is to allow people to eat dinner while experiencing a relatively short, leisurely round trip train ride. This contrasts with conventional passenger trains, whose ma ...

that operated for 15 years from

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the ...

, with trips heading to Woodinville and back, and then for three months out of Tacoma, with trips heading from Tacoma to Lake Kapowsin near

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

. On October 29, 2007, the operators of the dinner train announced they would be shutting down the Tacoma route due to poor ridership.

History

The Spirit of Washington dinner train operated for 15 years out of Renton on the

Woodinville Subdivision The Woodinville Subdivision is a railroad line that was formerly owned by BNSF Railway. It takes its name from one of its original end points in Woodinville, Washington, United States. The line extends approximately in east King County and Snohom ...

starting in the summer of 1993, with trips heading from a depot in Renton to the

Columbia Winery Columbia Winery is a Washington (U.S. state), Washington state winery located in Woodinville, Washington. The winery is currently owned by E & J Gallo Winery. The winery was founded in 1962 as Associated Vinters by several former professors at th ...

Woodinville Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King ( Cottage Lake) and ...

and back. Before this, it ran from shortly after 1986 to 1993 between

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

and

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

. In the summer of 2007, the train was forced to change starting locations when the owners of the Woodinville Subdivision,

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

, would not extend their contract. BNSF allowed King County to move forward with improvements on I-405, which broke the connection between Woodinville and Renton. Although the operators had wished to move the train to run between

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

and back.

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 was stored in

Clark County, Washington Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the first co ...

, as the owners have suggested they would like to see a dinner train go between

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, and

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

or attempt again to go between Woodinville and Snohomish. Much of the equipment is now owned by

Iowa Pacific Holdings Iowa Pacific Holdings was a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom, as well as providing services such as railcar repairs, leasing, management and consulting services to other operators. The comp ...

, and is used on the

Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad (SCMB), or Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL), is a historic railway running through Santa Cruz County, California. It once ran operationally from Davenport to the Watsonville Junction where it connected ...

Watsonville, California Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Predomi ...

Footnotes

External links

{{Commons category, Spirit of Washington
Spirit of Washington Dinner Train

Transportation in King County, Washington History of Renton, Washington Named passenger trains of the United States