Most of these have sprung up along unused railbeds that would otherwise be abandoned. Some, however, reside alongside and co-exist with active rail routes. And whether that rail line sees the passage of multiple streamliners or the occasional way freight, there's always the chance to see a passing train.

One of these trails exists in Thurston County, Washington, along the old right-of-way of a Weyerhauser Lumber Co. logging road from Lacey to Rainier. And at Western Junction, southeast of Olympia, you can see not just an active rail line but also an active rail shop!

The active rail line is part of the old Milwaukee Road network in the Pacific Northwest. MILW trains heading south from Tacoma climbed the heavy (3.3%) grade south out of the Puget Sound basin to Frederickson, where the route split into branches to Morton, in the Cascades foothills, and Chehalis, where it connected with the Northern Pacific Portland-Seattle main and gave MILW, through trackage rights, a route to the Rose City.

The lines through Western Junction survived the end of Weyerhauser operations and the Chehalis Western, another Weyerhauser-owned short line that took over the MILW operations south of Tacoma after the big road closed out its Pacific Northwest operations in 1980. Today, the city-owned Tacoma Rail operates the old MILW side as part of its Mountain Division.

The old Weyerhauser shop complex at the junction was used by CW and then by Coast Engineering and Equipment (CEECO), a Tacoma-based locomotive servicer and rebuilder, which made it a satellite of its main facility in Tacoma's tideflats port area. The most recent occupant was the luxury rail operator American Orient Express.

It was one of Amtrak's last three active dome cars, serving in corridor service in California and in special train service along the West Coast before Amtrak sold it and sister 9302 (CB&Q 1395 River View) to AOE in 2001.

As the AOE New Orleans, it picked up its its seventh color scheme -- it wore GN orange and green, GN "Big Sky Blue", BN green and white, and three successive Amtrak schemes before donning the AOE pattern of blue, cream and grey. The former River View is now named Copper Canyon.

Since CEECO moved its Western Junction operations back to Tacoma, this was the only locomotive that called the shop complex home.

And what a rare locomotive it is -- one of only 26 ALCO Century 415 road-switchers ever built.

Chehalis Western 684 was built new for the short line, and was one of four C-415s found regularly in the Pacific Northwest (the others were SP&S 100 and 101, and Columbia & Cowlitz 701).

C&C #701, along with ex-SP C-415 #2407 acquired in 1979 and renumbered 702, went to the Port of Tillamook Bay RR in 1989. Here they served mainly on coastal excursions and on the Spirit of Oregon Dinner Train. They went to the Mount Hood RR in 1997 when that short line acquired the dinner train equipment, then subsequently to the Burlington Junction RR in Burlington, Iowa.

The 684, still lettered for the Chehalis Western, spent her working days moving cars around the shop complex and the adjacent small yard area.

This car is former CB&Q 6 Bedroom, 5 Compartment sleeper Silver Pelican, built in 1956 for the Denver Zephyr. The Budd Company also constructed six cars of this type in 1952 for the California Zephyr (3 for CB&Q, 1 for D&RGW and 2 for WP). Amtrak converted the car into an 11-bedroom sleeper.

When UP exited the passenger train business in 1971, the 7000, as did most of UP's dome cars, went to the new Auto-Train Corporation, which operated them in Auto Train service between Virginia and Florida. The 7000 became A-T 700.

After the original Auto-Train operation closed down in 1981, the 7000 went to several private owners before its sale to the AOE organization in 1999. It had been at Western Junction since September 2001, mainly in primer paint and needing rehabilitation.

The Budd Company built this car for the Santa Fe as lunch counter-diner 1562 in 1948. In AT&SF service, it served on trains such as the Super Chief, El Capitan and Texas Chief.

It entered Amtrak service in 1971 and was renumbered as the 8106, then subsequently as the 3106 when Amtrak converted it into a full lounge. Amtrak rebuilt it for head end power operation in the early 1980s for its Broadway Limited.

This car, along with sisters 55, 57 and 59, remained in Hiawatha service through its end in 1971 (one car was destroyed in a derailment and fire in 1953 while on a test run, and MILW sold six others to Canadian National in 1964).

Amtrak initially leased, then subsequently purchased the four cars. The 58, after its Amtrak career, went into private ownership, and also served on the Chessie Safety Express.

Sister car #57 is part of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, and was also a trackside restaurant, the Silver Garden (and later the Warsaw Express) in Portland, Ore. in the early 1980s. The train is currently out of service.

The AOE organization purchased the 58 in 1999 and, like the UP 7000, had stored it at Western Junction since September 2001.

The 6108, named New River Gorge, dates back to 1947 and was built for service on the Seaboard's Silver Meteor and Silver Comet trains. Amtrak acquired the car from SCL in 1971, renumbering it as the 8013.

Colorado Railcar Corp. purchased AOE in 2006, and renamed the operation Grandluxe Rail Journeys. It is operating trips throughout the west and in Mexico. As part of the change in ownership, the AOE operation at Western Junction closed down, with the active equipment moved to Colorado Railcar's Fort Lupton, Colo. shops.

For more information about America's rail-trails and about luxury rail travel, you can visit these web sites:

www.railtrails.org (Rails-To-Trails Conservancy)

www.americanorient express.com (Grandluxe Rail Journeys)