Arlington Depot History

McKeen passenger car in front of Arlington depot, 1910. Photo courtesy Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum.

The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway arrived in Arlington, Wash. in 1890 as part of an initiative by Seattle investors to establish a rail line between Seattle and the Canadian border. 

The railroad changed names several times over the next 100 years — the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, Seattle and International, Northern Pacific Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe — but the one constant was the depot.

Darrington "Logger" arriving in Arlington, 1955. Photo courtesy Jim Fredrickson.

At the height of Arlington’s rail service, the depot saw local and international mail, freight, and passenger service trains pass through town several times a day. Daily “Logger” trains from Darrington carried timber from the forests to be made into lumber at the saw mills surrounding Arlington. 

Arlington's Northern Pacific Railway depot, sometime in the 1960s.

As the popularity of the automobile grew in the 20th century, highways began to displace rails as the preferred mode of transportation. By the 1940s regular passenger service was discontinued. The Arlington depot was finally closed in 1974 by Burlington Northern to consolidate operations in Everett; in 1983 it was sold to a private party and moved north of town.

Northern Pacific passenger train at the Arlington depot, sometime in the 1960s. Photo by Russell C. Johnson.

In 1989 the rails north of downtown Arlington were removed and the construction of the Centennial Trail between Snohomish and Arlington began. A branch line to Everett still lives on, providing service to the lumber mills south of town. 

Now the spirit of the original depot lives on in the soon-to-be-open Arlington Depot restroom & visitor information facility located at Arlington's Legion Park along the Centennial Trail.  

The new facility waiting for finishing touches, 2012. Photo courtesy the City of Arlington.

Using design and color influences from the original depot, this new facility will provide public restrooms to service Centennial Trail users and downtown commercial area visitors and a Visitor Information Center with information on recreational activities, tourist attractions and local services. 

With the Depot's completion, "Old Town" Arlington, Legion Park and the Centennial Trail now offer visitors even more opportunities to explore the historic Stillaguamish Valley and North Cascades.