South Cle Elum Yard

The South Cle Elum Depot features the Rail Yard trail, which encircles the remaining buildings and some ruins from when the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad had a division point here. It was used to change shifts for the crews, and service the trains.  The railroad was powered by coal from nearby mines (explore the history of this on the nearby Coal Mines trail) and led to the increase in business and population in the area.

The Depot included a restaurant and a roundhouse, where up to eight trains could be worked on simultaneously, an icehouse, and three homes crews used. The rail yard and remaining buildings, including the depot, substation, and bunkhouse, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The rail yard is central for the Milwaukee Road who created an electric train in response to commercial and passenger demand after the completion of the steam-powered Northern Pacific. The Milwaukee Road ran through Snoqualmie Pass.

The site also provides an easy access point for the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. The Depot’s exhibit area is open the same hours as Smoky’s Bar-B-Que which also occupies the building, and an adjacent rail yard house exhibits showcasing remnants of the Milwaukee Road.