Cascade Rail Foundation

Before and After Renovation!

After many volunteer hours of renovation, the South Cle Elum Depot re-opened its doors in 2006.

Back in its heyday in the 1920s

The South Cle Elum Depot as seen from the south, with the substation and rail yard.

We are working to ensure the fascinating history of the Milwaukee Road in Washington is not forgotten

Contact Cascade Rail Foundation

You can visit our Archive web site to see Milwaukee Road-related documents and photos in our collections. To go to our site, click here or on the image below. UPDATE: Our Archive web site is back (with a new address) after being derailed by a software update gone wrong. It is still rough around the edges, but most of the documents are there. Contact us if you need a document from the site that is still missing.

Join our mailing list to get notifications about events and other noteworthy news related to the Milwaukee Road in Washington delivered straight to your inbox. We only send a few emails a year and do not sell or share our mailing list with others. Stay in the know and sign…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 13

Today our virtual tour takes us to Revere as we continue into the channeled scablands. This is one of the most remote sections of our journey. Our destination of Revere will be marked by a grain elevator that stands as a sentinel over the countryside. Grain has been and remains…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 12

Today our virtual tour takes us from Ralston, over the illusive Cow Creek Bridge, and then to the remote but important junction of Marengo. Cow Creek Trestle has been removed, forcing our counterparts from the John Wayne Riders to detour between Ralston and Marengo. They will continue on to Revere,…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 11

Leaving Lind, today we’re traveling the Lind Coulee in the channeled scablands, a land known for considerable dryland farming. Grain elevators appear in even the smallest of communities. We travel along a pole line, one that is remarkably intact even into the 21st century. We end up at Ralston, where…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 10

Our Milwaukee Road Coast Division virtual tour across Washington continues as we travel from Warden to Lind. The landscape changes as we move east, leaving the irrigated croplands of the Columbia Basin Project and entering the Channeled Scablands. The railroad went up the Lind Coulee, scoured out by the Ice…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 9

Today we will explore Othello on our virtual tour of the Milwaukee Road. The John Wayne Pioneer Wagons and Riders group detours from the Milwaukee Road at Smyrna on their ride because rail is still in place. They bypass Othello for a rest day at Warden. Othello was an important Milwaukee…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 8

On our tour of the Milwaukee Road, we have the benefit of virtually crossing over the Columbia River Bridge to Beverly. Hopefully we can do that in reality soon, as the bridge will again serve as a transportation artery once it is reopened for trail use. After crossing the river,…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 7

Today our virtual journey through space and time takes us over Boylston Hill and down to the Columbia River at Beverly Junction. The Boylston depot was a remote outpost near the summit of the Saddle Mountains. This view is looking west from a passing train towards Renslow. This photo taken on…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 6

May 25 (Memorial Day) – this is a memorable day on our virtual tour of the Milwaukee Road Coast Division. we are traveling from Ellensburg through the Kittitas valley, the town of Kittitas, and climbing up the hill towards Boylston. Lush irrigated fields are replaced by volcanic rock and sagebrush,…

Palouse to Cascades Trail Virtual Tour – Day 5

Today on our Milwaukee Road virtual historical tour, we leave Thorp and enter into the wider Kittitas Valley. The route passes through the north side of Ellensburg. At one time the city was a candidate to be the Washington state capital, with its central location, but that didn’t happen. The…