Search Railroad Sites For:

Chehalis-Centralia Steam Charter 6/7/06

Our train today had the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade #15 Builders # 44106 Baldwin Locomotive Works steam engine, a 2-8-2, Open Car 801 Mount St. Helens and Coach 602 ex-Union Pacific City of Centralia. I stashed my bag on the train before walking down to the shops.

The Backup Loco ex-Puget Sound Naval Shipyard #9

The steam engine had been taken off the train to be watered.

Another picture of the 15.

After being watered, the engine backed down to our train for the afternoon.

The Chehalis Western purchased trackage from Milwaukee Road on a portion from Chehalis to Raymond line 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 cutback to Curtis where a log reload was built. 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. 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 nonprofit corporation. The 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. 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.

With the engine now on the point of our train I reboarded and enjoyed my Subway sandwich. The train departed at 1:00 PM then headed west to the road crossing next to the Newaukum River for the first photo runby of the day.

Runby # 1.

Train backing after Runby #1.

Another picture of the 15. I rode out in the open car and enjoyed the conversations with my other passengers between runbys.

Just before Stearn Creek we stopped for Runby # 2. Here is the backing up shot.

Runby #2. We all reboarded and continued onward then we went to MP 4.9, another grade crossing to unload for what I will call the "Lilly Pad Runby".

The back up move.

Runby #3. After that it was decided to do another runby so I relocated to another spot.

The back up move.

Runby #4. We reboarded and the train rolled onward towards Milburn. There I would start my new mileage today. A short distance later, we came to an abandoned quarry where we stopped for the next runby.

Here are the passengers unloading with Bob Riskie leading the way to the photo line.

The static pose of our train.

The back up move.

Runby #5. Once that was completed, we ran along the Chehalis River for a couple of miles on the way to Ruth.

We passed the junction of the South Fork of the Chehalis River with the main Chehalis River.

After we crossed the 1083 foot long wooden trestle over the South Fork of the Chehalis River we came to a stop at the red flag at MP 9.7, the end of our westbound run.

Here we left some luggage. I never found out why! Unattended luggage maybe?

The train then backed to the west end of the South Fork of the Chehalis River Trestle where we all unloaded for our 6th and last photo runby of the trip. To get to my photo location I had to walk through grass higher than me to reach a higher location in order to shoot over the grass.

Posed on the trestle.

Backing off the bridge.

Runby #6. Once that was done we started back to Chehalis.

The Chehalis River.

The South Fork of the Chehalis River.

At Ruth, our engine ran around the train to pull us backwards to Chehalis.

The Ruth Station Sign. Good conversations were had in the open car on the way back.

Chehalis River.

The view looking back.

The view towards the front of our train.

One last view of the Chehalis River for this trip.

One last view on this fantastic trip sponsored by the Southern Appalachia Railroad Museum. Great conversations continued all the way back to Chehalis where this trip ended. We said our goodbyes before we drove north to Tacoma. Once there we found the Tacoma Rail Yard.

Here are views of some of their engines.

We caught a switch job at the west end of the yard. We drove next to the Amtrak Station to get our tickets for our Friday morning return from Seattle after we take the Sounder there. The next stop was Freighthouse Square where a Food Court provided a chance for dinner. Of the four places we tried, only one was descent.

An after dinner ride on the Tacoma Link was next.

Jim and I checked into the Tacoma Dome Motel a great location but not recommended. Bob and Chris decided a Best Western would better suit their needs so they got a room there so Jim drove them there. While we did that, I aired our room and then relaxed for the rest of the night.

Free Web Hosting Since 1996. Join & Become Part of the TrainWeb's Railroad Community.