Northern Pacific Railway Museum

The depot that now houses the Northern Pacific Railway Museum was constructed and opened by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1911, serving passenger traffic for fifty years until operations ceased in 1961. After the building was boarded up following its closure in 1981, a group of railfans petitioned the city in 1989, leading to the formation of the Yakima Valley Rail and Steam Museum Association; the association secured a lease and began restoration work in 1990. The museum opened to the public on July 4, 1992, and the following year, 1993, it purchased the depot and adjacent freight house from Burlington Northern Railroad. In 2000 the institution was renamed the North Pacific Railway Museum. The museum’s 1902 Northern Pacific steam locomotive No. 1364, acquired in 1993, was hydro‑tested, FRA‑certified and, after a 73‑year hiatus, was fired on January 1, 2026 and moved under its own power on February 21, 2026.