Today Elizabeth and I would take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. We arose at the Quality Inn and ate at the hotel then drove Interstate 5 to US 101 to State Route 8 to the town of McCleary.
At Beerbower Park is Simpson Timber (Puget Sounds & Chehalis Valley} 0-4-2T 1, ex. donated to City of McCleary, exx. sold to Simpson Logging Company, exxx. sold to Simpson Logging Company 1, nee Puget Mill Company at Port Gamble, built by H.K. Porter in 1888.
The builder's plate of the engine.
A steam-powered fire engine also under cover. Next Elizabeth drove to Hoquiam.
Union Pacific center cupola caboose 25576 built by International Car in 1964 which was donated to City of Hoquiam in 1989.
Despite the town's efforts and despite the massive influx of people and outside investment, Hoquiam’s dreams of luring a railroad were not realized until a full decade after the city’s first government was established. Owing in part to this absence of a railroad line into Hoquiam, the North Western mill maintained a near monopoly over the city’s lumber trade until the first years of the twentieth century. By 1897, only one additional mill -- the E. K. Wood company -- had been built in Hoquiam. During the 1880s and 1890s, a number of logging operations were founded to supply the North Western with logs. However, most of the truly massive Hoquiam logging ventures did not get their start until the early twentieth century.
Finally, in 1899, four years after the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Hoquiam’s sister city of Aberdeen, the line was extended into Hoquiam, thus completing the capitalist project begun a decade earlier. Although its earlier access to rail transportation gave Aberdeen an early lead in population, capital, and prestige it would never relinquish, the railway brought massive new investment into Hoquiam, particularly by lumbermen. Lumber and shingle shipments from the town, previously confined to water-based transport, increased dramatically.
The restoration of the historic 1914 Hoquiam Train Depot began in 1989 with a local citizen’s group called “Save the Train Station”. The community rallied around this effort, and after years of dedication, the depot is once again a major attraction and jewel of the downtown. The station had not been used for many years, and the interior of the building had been gutted, losing many of the existing details prior to the start of restoration efforts. Using the original hand-drawn construction drawings as a guide, we meticulously re-created many details, including window and door casings, ticket counters, picture rails, glazed tile wainscot and lighting fixture layout and fixture style.
The exterior of the building received patching of damaged plaster, new gable end and dormer treatments, new wood windows as required, new wood doors, new brick paved entry walk, and a fresh paint job. Now the home of the Department of Licensing, the Depot attracts more than 2,500 people per month to downtown Hoquiam, and has served as the catalyst for further restoration and development efforts in town.
Inside the Department of Motive Vehicle office. We next drove to Elma which has a Puget Sound and Pacifc yard.
Central Oregon and Pacific GP38 2037, ex. The Bay Line Railroad 506, exx. Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway 506, exxx. Gulf & Mississippi Railroad 7811, exxxxx. Conrail 7811, nee Penn Central 7811, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1969. Next I drove to Shelton via State Route 108 and then US 101.
Pennisular Railway caboose 700 was built in Shelton by the Peninsular Railway in the 1920s, which it served until 1936. After that it served the Simpson Logging Company. It had a large side door like a box-car would and was used to transport supplies to logging camps. Retired in 1965, it was brought to Shelton in 1983 and the caboose interior was remodeled to serve as the Shelton Mason County Chamber of Commerce.
The caboose and logging car are linked together and situated in downtown Shelton between 2nd and 3rd Street on a narrow parcel of land that belonged to the Logging Company railroad. Both the locomotive, as well as the caboose, have sustained their original integrity and are positioned on the original right-of-way for the railroad.
Logging car.
Simpson Timber 3 truck Shay 7, ex. donated to City of Shelton in 1959, exx. Simpson Logging Company 7, nee Phoenix Logging Company 7 at Hoodsport, built by Lima Machine Works in 1924.
We were happily driving on North US 101 en route to Port Angeles when suddenly came upon stopped traffic caused by an accident that affected both lanes of the road. We had to turn around and I drove down US 107 to State Route 3 through Silverdale where we switched drivers and Elizabeth continued the journey through Bremerton, then to Highway 104, over the Hood Canal Bridge to Port Angeles. Even though time was not really in our favour as we had to be at the Coho Ferry Terminal at 4:15, we could not go through Discovery Bay without stopping for a railroad attraction that Elizabeth had first encountered in 2000.
Canadian National Railway caboose 79919 built by the railroad in 1977 painted as American Freedom Train 1776.
Union Pacific caboose 25745 built by the railroad in 1975 and retired in 1993. It was sold to Sunnen Crane Company in Sequim, Washington then moved about 10 miles to Discovery Bay and used as part of sandwich shop.
Canadian National Railway caboose 79606 built by the railroad in 1972 painted as Burlington Northern 79606.
Discovery Bay Railroad 80 ton switcher 1792, ex. Feather River Rail Society, nee Columbia Steel 12 built by General Electric in 1946.
We resumed our journey to Port Angeles, arriving there at 4:30 and had no problems keeping our reservation. We were given a boarding pass that the crew member put on our windscreen as well as a Coho-specific Customs Form. Before we boarded, we returned the completed form and drove onto the ferry.
Black Ball Ferry LineBlack Ball Ferry Line operates the M.V. Coho passenger and vehicle ferry linking Victoria, B.C. on Vancouver Island with Port Angeles, WA on the scenic Olympic Peninsula. It is the only daily, year-round vehicle and passenger ferry service between the United States and Canada.
The company's administrative offices are located in Seattle, with terminals and operations personnel at both Victoria's Inner Harbour and Port Angeles. Employing over 100 people in peak season, the familiar sight and sound of the M.V. Coho has become a permanent fixture of the landscape in the region for over 60 years. In 2019, Black Ball Ferry Line celebrated its 60th anniversary of service as a vital tourism and transportation link between Vancouver Island and the United States. Through decades of operation, Black Ball Ferry Line's flagship has developed an unparalleled record of reliability.
Leaving Port Angeles behind and my home country.
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Port Angeles and the Olympic Mountains.
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Looking back at my home country.
In the mid-channel of the Puget Sound.
Looking back at my home country.
Views of Canada ahead of the Black Ball Ferry.
The American Flag flying in the breeze.
The jounery to Victoria continued.
The Disney Wonder Cruise Ship was preparing to leave Victoria as we were arriving in the harbor.
More of the rest of the way into Victoria.
The rest of the way into Victoria where we had to wait until Canadian Customs could take us.
As we approached Canadian Customs, the Canadian flags were flying in the breeze. The customs agent asked us if we were bringing in fruit and after that, returned my passport and Elizabeth's permanent resident card and we drove north to Central Saanich to the Quailty Inn Waddling Dog, where we checked in for the night.
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