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Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Steam Trip 7/10/2005



by Chris Guenzler



Now that the National Railway Historical Society convention was over, Chris Parker decided to fly home this morning and Bob Riskie was off to Amtrak to take a Thruway Bus to Eugene to see his cousin before going home via the Coast Starlight and San Joaquin. I had my plans already made so on a mostly cloudy morning with scattered showers, I drove north to Chehalis, Washington to ride the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and upon my arrival, found the steam train waiting for its first run this Sunday morning.

Chehalis-Centralia Railroad History



The Chehalis Western purchased trackage from the Milwaukee Road from Chehalis to Raymond in 1936 and operated it as non-common carrier Chehalis Western Railroad. The line bought was 18 miles from Chehalis to Dryad. This line was not needed any more by the Milwaukee Road as it operated over a nearby Northern Pacific branch line. The Chehalis Western used only the first nine miles of this trackage from Chehalis to Ruth. A new line was built south from Ruth to Camp McDonald to where timber was ready to be cut. The logs would be taken from Camp McDonald to a log dump at South Bay near Olympia. In late 1975, the line was cut back to Curtis where a log reload was built and this truncated railroad was reorganized into the Curtis, Millburn and Eastern on December 1st, 1975.

The logs were now taken from Curtis to Chehalis where they were handed over to the Milwaukee Road. When the Milwaukee Road abandoned all of its trackage west of Miles City, Montana, the Curtis, Millburn & Eastern Railroad was absorbed into a new Chehalis Western and the former Milwaukee Road route to South Bay was taken over by the new Chehalis Western. The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Association was formed in 1986 as a non-profit corporation, whose founders were a group of local citizens whose goal was to restore a 1916 logging locomotive that had been placed in a Chehalis park thirty years earlier. Early the following year, the restoration was begun and over the next two years, several railroad cars were acquired. With restoration completed, scheduled operations began in the summer of 1989 over a section of former Milwaukee Road track in the Chehalis-Centralia area.

The Chehalis Western then shut down in 1992 and the entire line was sold to the City of Tacoma in 1995 and renamed the Tacoma Eastern Railroad. It lasted just three years when in 1998 the railroad was taken over by Tacoma Rail.






Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade 2-8-2 15, nee Clear Lake Lumber Company 200 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916. It was lettered for the Puget Sound & Cascade Railway, which was operated by Clear Lake, and worked hauling logs on Clear Lake's mainline until the company went bankrupt in 1926. Baldwin then repossessed 200 as it had not been fully paid for. It was sold to the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade Railway in 1928 and renumbered 15.

The CC&C went into receivership in 1932 but was rescued in part by a consortium of the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road in 1933. In 1952, however, the Long Bell Lumber Company, which accounted for 90 percent of its business, announced it was ceasing operation in the area. The company also learned that the city of Tacoma was planning to build two dams on the Cowlitz River, one of which would cover a bridge and three miles of its track. By 1954, the railway's freight service had fallen to one round trip per week (prior to that, it had made five trips a week). Soon after, abandonment of the CC&C was authorised by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

After the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade was abandoned in 1955, 15 was donated to the City of Chehalis and went on display in a city park. Then, after the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Association was founded in 1986, the locomotive was moved the Mt. Rainier Railroad's Mineral Shops where it spent two years being restored. The association also acquired a number of passenger carriages.





Chehalis-Centralia Railroad open car 801 "Mount St. Helens", nee Union Pacific, built by Pullman Company, year unknown





Chehalis-Centralia Railroad coach 602 "City of Centralia", nee Union Pacific, built by Pullman Company, year unknown.





The shop building.





Former Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 44 ton switcher 9 nee United States Navy 65-00205 built by Vulcan Iron Works in 1942.





On display was Milwaukee Road box car 33283 built by the railroad. I was invited into the cab of 15, where I met our engine crew then my next order of business was to buy a ticket in a former Union Pacific caboose that served as their ticket office. There I also bought a T-shirt and some postcards.

Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Steam Excursion

I boarded coach 602 and chose a rear-facing seat with an open window so I could take pictures. I bought a mug root beer and a Three Musketeers chocolate bar to enjoy until our 1:00 PM departure. The engine crew blew the whistle five times to signal five minutes until we left then with a toot of the whistle, we were off to Millburn and a start of a new route for me.





We passed the old station and shops.





We travelled by a well-groomed backyard and some trees.





Crossed the Newaukum River on a nice wooden trestle.





Most passengers enjoyed the open car right behind the engine.





Our route passed tree-lined fields.





The north side of the train.





A view looking back from where we had been. The train crossed Washington State Highway 603 and a little later, Stearns Creek.





Another rear-facing view.





Passing through Joy.





Interesting trees in a field.





A barn in the beautiful countryside.





A rural crossing.





The engine pulled our train around another curve.





The view after we crossed another small creek on another small trestle.





The train rolled by a pond with lily pads on the south side.





Lily pads abounded to our rear.





A nice rural scene on our route to Millburn.





Another rural grade crossing, this time in the trees.





Rounding another curve as we neared Millburn.





A grade crossing and the turn to approach Millburn.





We reached the set-out track at Millburn before arriving there.





We stopped on the mainline and the steam engine cut off to run around our train.





Here came Chehalis-Centralia Railroad 15 reversing by us.





Reversing down to the switch.





Next the engine coupled onto our train to pull us backwards to Chehalis.





I walked to the rear of the open car for the return trip where I met members of the 73082 Camelot Locomotive Society from England, who were here visiting various western American steam railroad operations. Now sit back and enjoy the journey from the rear of the train, with only a few comments.














Here is where the Northern Pacific used to cross.





Note the deer as we crossed the Newaukum River.





Traversing Newaukum River before we returned to Chehalis.





Here the steam engine had to run around the train to be ready for the afternoon trip.





Chehalis-Centralia Railroad 15 reversing to the train.





It coupled up for the next trip to Millburn this fine Sunday. After that, I drove back to Portland and filled the car with petrol before returning it to Hertz at the airport. Due the London Transit system bombings, the incoming MAX Red Line trolley was completely searched by both man and dogs. I rode back to the Days Inn before going to Elmer's and enjoying a great Prime Rib dinner then returned to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.



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