New Dinner Train route still on track

It's just a matter of time — and money — before the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train adds a new route between Woodinville and Snohomish, insiders say.

"I think everything's going pretty darn well," said Dinner Train co-owner Eric Temple, who is negotiating a five-year agreement with BNSF Railway to assume operations of the 14-mile stretch of rail, now used only for freight service. "The most realistic [time frame] is the spring of 2008."

Business and community leaders in both cities have meetings scheduled with Temple later this month to discuss issues, including possible depot locations.

In Woodinville, an industrial area along Little Bear Creek Parkway has been identified as a leading site for a $3 million departure depot, which would require a large parking lot. In Snohomish, a $2 million arrival depot could be built on either side of the Snohomish River, depending on whether a 1921 railroad bridge — out of use since 1996 — is reopened.

The popular Dinner Train is ending its 15-year run between Renton and Woodinville's Columbia Winery this month, due to an Interstate 405 widening that will sever the tracks through Bellevue. Last month, Temple announced an interim solution, to save jobs and keep the train running: a 10-month trial route between Tacoma and Eatonville.

Some supporters of the northern route were dismayed, saying the Tacoma route would undermine their political campaign aimed at BNSF. U.S. Rep Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, and state and regional leaders had urged BNSF to help save the Dinner Train by signing an agreement as quickly as possible.

"I'm not a happy camper. It took Burlington Northern off the hook," said John Erdman, executive director for the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce.

Temple said his family ultimately wants to run the Dinner Train on three routes, including one heading toward Mount St. Helens from Vancouver, Wash. "We have located additional passenger equipment to provide service for all three," he said.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas last week confirmed the railway is continuing discussions with the Dinner Train owners, but he declined to comment on any specifics.

The agreement is complicated because the rail corridor is involved in a three-way deal under negotiation among King County, the Port of Seattle and BNSF. The Port is to buy BNSF's Renton-to-Snohomish rail line, then trade it to King County for Boeing Field. King County Executive Ron Sims wants to convert the current Dinner Train route into an interim trail, while the Woodinville-to-Snohomish corridor is wide enough to build a trail next to the railroad.

Seventeen freight customers rely upon the Snohomish County rail segment, which connects at Snohomish with BNSF's main line running east-west along Highway 2.

The Temple family also owns Columbia Basin Railway, which would become the interim operator of the Woodinville-to-Snohomish rail line under terms of its proposed five-year deal with BNSF.

King County, which is expected to take ownership of the rail line in early 2008, would honor the agreement.

Business communities at both ends of the planned Dinner Train route are excited — and a little impatient — because the expected financial benefits are significant. The Dinner Train brought 100,000 passengers per year to Renton, jump-starting the city's downtown redevelopment.

"If you bring 100,000 people into Woodinville to get on the train, they're also going to experience other things in Woodinville," said Erdman, Woodinville's executive director of commerce. "People would go, 'This is a neat place; I'm coming back.' "

The north end of the dinner train's route now is at the Columbia Winery. Temple said the winery could become its starting point, but parking and other issues could pose problems.

Holly Leuning, director of the winery's northwest retail operations, said the company hasn't considered "any concrete proposal" from Temple.

Mick Monken, the city's public-works director, said the winery lies in the city's tourist district. Since the Dinner Train would generate a lot of traffic and require a large parking lot, the community probably would prefer a downtown location such as Little Bear Creek Parkway, he said.

In Snohomish, the train could stop near Harvey Field, just south of the river. Passengers then would be bused across the river into Snohomish's historic district to visit its antique shops and gift shops or patronize its coffee houses, eateries and taverns.

Last week, a pair of BNSF bridge inspectors walked across the steel rail bridge and its wooden trestles, and pronounced it structurally sound.

If the Temples decided to reopen the rail bridge, the train would enter the city, cross several streets and then park somewhere north of Second Street, probably in a grassy, abandoned rail corridor — the path of a future extension of the Centennial Trail — running behind the new public library and a city park.

Julie Terrell, vice president of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, predicted many businesses would extend their hours into the evening if the Dinner Train were to come to town.

"We're all thrilled," she said. "We call this area the heart and soul of Snohomish. It's our history, our arts, our entertainment. If this area has prosperity, it enhances everyone's values."

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com