Chelatchie Prairie Railroad

Last updated

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad
Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Station.jpg
Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Station
Locale Yacolt, Washington
Coordinates 45°51′59″N122°24′26″W / 45.86639°N 122.40722°W / 45.86639; -122.40722 Coordinates: 45°51′59″N122°24′26″W / 45.86639°N 122.40722°W / 45.86639; -122.40722

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is a heritage railroad in Yacolt, Washington. Formerly a Northern Pacific branchline and operated by the Longview, Portland and Northern Railway for many years, in the 1980s and 1990s the line went through a number of successive operators. Today the railroad is owned by Clark County, Washington, and the trackage from Vancouver Junction to Heisson is operated by the Portland Vancouver Junction Railway for freight traffic. No freight traffic exists north of Battle Ground at this time.

Contents

The excursions travel through the historic logging country of north Clark County, Washington, from the town of Yacolt to Lucia Falls and returning, stopping for a half-hour at Moulton Falls Park. A trestle crosses the East Fork Lewis River.

Excursions are typically scheduled for one or two weekends within a month, along with special excursions for the Halloween and Christmas holidays.

Equipment

Currently excursions are operated using an Alco S-2 once owned by the Los Angeles Junction Railway, a former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Pullman car, an open-air car, and one or two cupola cabooses of Burlington Northern heritage. Upon leaving Yacolt, the train operates in reverse to Lucia, allowing passengers in one of the two cabooses to have a forward-facing view.

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Passenger Train Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Passenger Train.jpg
Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Passenger Train

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad owns one steam locomotive, former Hammond Lumber Company 2-8-2T steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company, currently running under its original Crossett Western #10 designation. It is currently out of service awaiting fundraising for an overhaul.

In addition to the Alco 2-8-2T the Battle Ground, Yacolt and Chelatchie Prairie Railroad owns a number of diesel locomotives (notably a number of Alco S-1, S-2 or S-4 locomotives) that are in storage.

History

Construction of the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad began in 1888, as the Vancouver, Klickitat, & Yakima Railroad, founded by a group of investors led by L. M. Hidden. In spite of the group's aspirations to run the line through the Cascades, the operation was bankrupt by 1897, after completing the line only as far as Brush Prairie, Washington. [1]

The railroad was sold, and by 1903, the line had been extended to Yacolt, Washington. The line was then sold to the Northern Pacific Railway, which began daily passenger service to Yacolt. [2] The line also served as an important freight link for the area's booming timber industry.

Harbor Plywood extended the tracks northeast to Chelatchie, Washington by 1948. The International Paper Company constructed a mill there in 1960, which was serviced by the line until its closure in 1979. The line was purchased by investors in 1981 with the intention of abandoning operations, tearing up the tracks, and selling the rails, ties, and right-of-way. However, Clark County, Washington purchased the line and leased it to the Lewis and Clark Railway before this happened. [3]

Since 2004 Clark County has leased the line to Chelatchie Prairie Railroad to the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR), although the northern portion of the line's functionality has been heavily dependent on volunteer track maintenance. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad</span> Railroad in New York, United States

The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Southern Railroad (RSR) at Genesee Junction and the RSR's Brooks Avenue Yard in Gates, New York, and with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum at Industry, New York. Their primary freight consists of food products - grains and corn syrup. In 1997, the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad was selected as Short Line Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age. The LAL is also the parent company for the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad and the Ontario Midland Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Midland Railroad</span>

The Ontario Midland Railroad Corporation is an American Class III railroad company operating in western New York. As of September 2022, it became a subsidiary of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington and Old Dominion Railroad</span> Defunct railroad in Virginia, United States

The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The railroad was a successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway and to several earlier railroads, the first of which began operating in 1859. The railroad closed in 1968.

The Wilmington and Western Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington and Hockessin. The 10.2-mile (16.4 km) railroad operates both steam and diesel locomotives. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district in 1980. Wilmington & Western serves one customer for revenue service, and interchanges with CSX Transportation at Landenberg Junction, Delaware

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Railway Museum</span> Railroad museum in French Lick, IN,US

The Indiana Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in French Lick, Indiana, United States, dedicated to preserving and displaying artifacts related to the history of railroads in Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad</span>

The Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad is a class III shortline railroad operating on the Concord-Lincoln rail line in central New Hampshire, United States. The railroad consists of two distinct passenger operations, the Hobo Railroad, which offers passenger excursion trains in the White Mountains, and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, which operates passenger excursion trains along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. In addition to passenger operations, the railroad owns the Lincoln Shops, a railroad equipment maintenance and repair facility located in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis and Clark Railway</span>

The Lewis and Clark Railway is a county-owned railroad located in Clark County, Washington. The line is 33 miles (53 km) long, beginning at the BNSF interchange at Rye Junction in Vancouver, Washington and stretching northeast, passing through Brush Prairie and Battle Ground to the line's northern end past Yacolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette Valley Railway</span>

The Willamette Valley Railway is a short-line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It leased a line from Woodburn to Stayton from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in February 1993, as well as a branch from Geer west to Salem, and purchased the property in 1996. The company also leased a line between Albany and Mill City in 1993, but transferred the lease to the Albany and Eastern Railroad in October 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spokane International Railroad</span> Defunct American short line railroad

The Spokane International Railroad was a short line railroad between Spokane, Washington, and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) at Kingsgate, British Columbia. The line became an important one for the CP with its connections to the Union Pacific Railroad and Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Hope Valley Railway</span> Heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina

The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., an all-volunteer, nonprofit, and tax exempt educational and historical organization.

B&H Rail Corporation, formerly the Bath & Hammondsport Railroad, is a Class III shortline railroad. Initially the line served the communities of Bath, New York and Hammondsport, New York. In Bath, the railroad connected with the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. In 1996, the railroad was leased by the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad.

The Klickitat Trail is a 31-mile (50 km) rail trail along the Klickitat River in southern Washington in the Columbia River Gorge. The cycling and hiking trail offers river and canyon views throughout its length. It follows an old railroad corridor that at one time linked the towns of Lyle and Goldendale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum</span>

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum is the official state railroad museum of Alabama. Dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and operation of historically significant railway equipment, the museum is located at 1919 Ninth Street, Calera, Alabama, on I-65 approximately 30 miles (48 km) south of Birmingham.

The Akron and Barberton Belt Railroad was a switching railroad that was built to serve various industries around the cities of Barberton and Akron in Ohio. The main purpose was to switch chemical cars for Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Babcox and Wilcox Companies as well as O.C. Barber's match works, all in Barberton. It was controlled by the Akron, Canton and Youngstown, Baltimore and Ohio, Pennsylvania and Erie railroads. It interchanged railroad cars with the Erie Railroad in Barberton, Pennsylvania RR in Barberton and Akron, Akron Canton & Youngstown at East Akron and Belt Junction west of Fairlawn and the Baltimore & Ohio RR in East Akron and Barberton. The railroad was always a freight-only carrier. The East Akron line ran south of Barberton before curving back north, passing through Kenmore, South Akron, East Akron and ending at the Akron Canton and Youngstown Railroad Brittian Yard in far Eastern Akron. The Fairlawn line ran due north from Barberton, connection with the Akron Canton and Youngstown Railroad at Belt Junction just west of Fairlawn. The three-track interchange yard at Belt Junction was out of service for many years during the 1920s and 1930s due to damage but was used by the Akron Canton and Youngstown Railroad to hold overflow cars from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing plant just east of Copley. The interchange was restored around World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samtrak</span>

Samtrak was a heritage railroad that operated in Oregon from 1993 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Pacific Railroad (1997)</span>

Oregon Pacific Railroad is a short-line railroad operating two disconnected routes: one in southeast Portland, Oregon, and another incorporating portions of the former Southern Pacific Molalla Branch between Canby and Liberal, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad</span>

The Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad is a tourist railroad that runs from Titusville to Rynd Farm north of Oil City in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Oil Creek and Titusville Lines is the designated operator of the railroad, as well as the freight carrier on the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Alabama Railroad Museum</span> Tourist railroad and museum in Chase, Alabama

The North Alabama Railroad Museum, Inc. is a railroad museum in Chase, Alabama. The museum, incorporated in 1966, is an all volunteer organization. The museum has a collection of rolling stock, a small train station, and a small heritage railroad called the Mercury and Chase Railroad which operates between April and December. The mission of the NARM is to "preserve railroad history in North Alabama and South Central Tennessee." It is run entirely by its 100-plus volunteers. The museum is open to the public daily, volunteers are usually available on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission to the museum is free, however there is a charge for riding the trains. A schedule of rides is available at the museum's website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelatchie, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Chelatchie is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Washington.

References

  1. Herrington, Gregg. "The Vancouver Register reports that L. M. Hidden and other Vancouver businessmen have incorporated the Vancouver, Yakima & Klickitat Railroad on September 22, 1887". HistoryLink. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  2. Herrington, Gregg. "Railroading in Vancouver and Southwest Washington". HistoryLink. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  3. "History of the Chelatchie Prairie RR". Chelatchie Prairie RR. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  4. "History of the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad". Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad. Retrieved October 15, 2019.