Bumblebee Special, a train from Everett’s past, could roll again

All aboard the Bumblebee Special. It’s been about 20 years since passengers heard that call to ride the little choo-choo at what was once Jazwieck’s Golfette and Trainland.

It’s quiet now on the overgrown property along Broadway near Everett Mall. Soon, a developer will start work on 82 condos there. The family fun park, which also had an 18-hole miniature golf course, is just a memory now of simpler times. That doesn’t mean the end of the line for the one-of-a-kind train, which chugged along narrow-gauge tracks at Jazwieck’s from 1955 until 1994.

On Monday, a train car from the Bumblebee Special was rolled out of a corrugated metal shed — it used to be the ride’s tunnel — and trucked to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe.

Phil Jazwieck, who sold his nearly 8-acre property to Seattle Pacific Homes, and his family are donating the train their father built to the Western Heritage Center, which operates a museum at the fairgrounds.

Someday, the train created by the late Edward Jazwieck may carry passengers at the fair.

Jerry Senner, president of the nonprofit Western Heritage Center, and museum volunteers Drew Black and Barrett Bertran are working to move the train before demolition at the Broadway site begins.

Before train cars were uncoupled for the move, Phil Jazwieck’s sister, Mara Jazwieck Brophy, visited the place where she and her three siblings grew up. Brophy, visiting from her home in New Mexico, could almost hear the echoes of happy passengers. In the train’s heyday, teen sweethearts kissed in the tunnel and kids celebrated birthdays by riding the rails.

Edward Jazwieck, who died in 1994, powered his miniature train with the engine of a 1946 DeSoto. The train still has the old car’s engine, transmission, dashboard, headlight, taillight and radio. It runs on tracks with a 27-inch gauge, a size often used for mining cars. The tracks, mostly disassembled, are included in the donation.

Brophy, 60, remembers “golden spike” celebrations when her dad added new sections of track. The route grew from a simple loop to a ride of nearly a mile.

Pictures from 1956 show the elder Jazwieck as engineer, with three of his children — Peter, Andrew and Mara — along for the ride. At the time, the train didn’t yet have canopies on its cars, which are named the Bumblebee, Wasp and Hornet.

Jazwieck’s, which added mini golf in 1961, was an attraction long before I-5 sliced through Everett. It was at the intersection of the old Broadway Cutoff and the Bothell Highway, a woodsy spot at what’s now 7828 Broadway. Also there was a US Western Apparel store, and at one time the train passed a replica of Mount Rushmore.

Much of the site was logged off in 2010 to help Phil Jazwieck pay property taxes.

Seattle Pacific Homes, also known as Sea Pac Homes, plans to start work in June to clear the land and build the 82 townhouse condominiums. With an office on Everett Mall Way, Sea Pac Homes has a half-dozen developments in Snohomish County. The Broadway project, on 7.99 acres, has been approved by Everett’s hearing examiner, city spokeswoman Meghan Pembroke said. It’s expected to be called Alpine Heights.

In Monroe, volunteers with the Western Heritage Center are eager to restore the train, which Brophy said was recently valued by an appraiser at $30,000. Senner has talked with Hal Gausman, Evergreen State Fairgrounds manager, about possible uses and routes.

Senner also is founder of the Sky Valley Stock and Antique Tractor Club, which hosts an annual threshing bee and antique tractor show. One idea is to give visitors a train ride from the fairgrounds parking lot, perhaps on a route to the Western Heritage Center.

“Our fair board has always talked about how to have a cool people-mover to add to the excitement of the fairgrounds,” said Gausman, who is a landscape architect. The safety of fair-goers will be key as they make plans for the train, he said.

The museum volunteers, both train buffs, can’t wait to work on the Bumblebee Special. Black, 23, and Bertran, 27, have been mentored by Senner at the Western Heritage Center, where visitors get a hands-on understanding of the area’s logging, mining and farming history.

“Anyone can buy a boat or restore a classic car. To restore a train you have to build a railroad,” said Black, who has also worked at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. “It’s a whole other world.”

Black used to live near Jazwieck’s, and played miniature golf there. He never got a chance to ride that train.

Once it’s restored, the last car — traditionally the observation car — may be renamed to honor its creator. Riders would climb aboard the Edward J.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Learn more

The Western Heritage Center museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. www.westernheritagecenter.org

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.