The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train Moves to Tacoma.

The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train made its last run on its original route—from Renton, WA along the shores of Lake Washington and over the historic Wilburton Trestle—on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. Displaced by the slated expansion of Interstate 405, the train began a new route in Tacoma on August 3, 2007. "The past year has been quite tumultuous as we weighed options for relocation of the Dinner Train," said Eric Temple, owner of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train. "We are extremely appreciative of Tacoma's willingness to act quickly and save this community gem."

The City of Tacoma's Tacoma Rail Mountain Division signed a 10-month pilot agreement with the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train to bring excursion passenger railway service to the city of Tacoma. "This is a tremendous opportunity and we are ecstatic to be a part of bringing the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train to this region," said Paula Henry, Tacoma Rail superintendent. "This pilot effort will not only create jobs and bring huge economic benefits to our community, it also gets us one step closer to exploring the possibility of excursion trains to Mt. Rainier. This is a time in Tacoma's history to celebrate."

The Dinner Train's new route starts at Freighthouse Square in downtown Tacoma, where passengers will board and begin a three-and-half-hour roundtrip that travels south to Lake Kapowsin before heading back to Tacoma. Owner Eric Temple ultimately would like to see the Dinner Train on three routes: the Tacoma run, a route from Vancouver, WA to Mt. St. Helens, and another in Snohomish County. We're currently working with King County and the cities of Snohomish and Woodinville in hopes of operating another dinner train excursion from Woodinville to the historic city of Snohomish beginning in 2008.

The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train is excited with the prospect of initiating Woodinville-Snohomish service and the new run in Tacoma. We're working with these communities to make the Dinner Train experience for our passengers and community partners even better.

Check back with us as we continue to update this site, e-mail us at customerservice@swdtrain.com, or call 1-800-876-RAIL (1-800-876-7245) with any questions.