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I had the opportunity in June, 2011 to travel to the Pacific Northwest to get video footage of places and events surrounding the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) annual convention. The convention was convened in Tacoma, WA with events planned at several railroad operations, including the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum.   

History of the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad

The Chehalis-Centralia is a not for profit organization headquartered in Chehalis, Washington. The all-volunteer group restores historic railroad equipment and operates over 10 miles of former Milwaukee Road tracks, now owned by the Port of Chehalis. 

Formed in 1986, the first task of the group was to restore the steam locomotive which had been on display since 1956 in a local park. After two years of restoration and acquiring passenger cars, regular passenger operation began. The 2-8-2 Mikado was built in 1916 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. It began its career as number 200 with the Puget Sound & Cascade Railway. Around ten years later it was renumbered 15 and sold to Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade Railway. 

Trips on the Chehalis-Centralia start at the small depot in Chehalis. The building began its life as a structure on the Milwaukee Road.  It was moved to its present location in the 1990’s.

The railroad line was built by an earlier railroad and absorbed by the Milwaukee Road as a branch line. The route eventually was taken over by the Weyerhaueser Company to support their timber industry in the 1930’s. Ownership of the line transferred to the Port of Chehalis in the 1990’s.

Visiting the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad

The Chehalis-Centralia passes through rolling farmland and woodlands. Most of the Chehalis-Centralia trains go about six miles to Milburn, where a siding is used to run the engine around the train. Milburn is also the former junction of the Milwaukee Road and Northern Pacific.

Longer trips go past Milburn and on to the Newaukum River Bridge near Ruth. The long trestle was built by Weyerhaueser and is one of the last laminated wood-beam bridges still in use in the United States. The train lingers on the bridge to allow passengers to take in the view before backing to Ruth, where the engine runs around the train. When we we there we noticed an eagle nest near the top of a very tall tree near the bridge.

We visited twice, first to see regular operations and the second with the NRHS 2011 national convention excursion. Our first visit on a normal operating day was on a wet afternoon and evening. The Mikado was fun to watch as it moved around the small yard putting its train at the station. After the first trip, two more cars were added to accommodate more passengers for the longer trip to Ruth.

Shortly after leaving the Chehalis station, the train crosses a trestle that is accessible from the back yard of a nice couple who invited us in to set up our cameras. Thanks!

Further down the line we found some wonderful vistas among the farms to watch the train pass. 

The day of the NRHS excursion was much nicer, and I was joined by my wife Jan. There were two wonderful runbys at Milburn. Jan took one of the video cameras along the track toward Ruth and well past the crowd to capture both runbys from that point. I was behind the photo line for the first runby and knelt down on the ground in the photo line for the second. 

Once the passengers were re-boarded, the train continued on to the bridge. The late day sun illuminated the whole scene and is one of the prettiest images in our video documentary.

The Chehalis-Centralia volunteers have done a fantastic job in restoring, maintaining, and operating number 15 and other historic equipment. From the looks of it, they were all having a great time on our two visits. 

See the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad

To find out more about visiting, volunteering, or contributing, please visit the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad website. 

Our 23 minute video program about the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad is wonderful, and available on the Steamin’ Through The Seasons DVD. 

Thanks, Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images

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I wish that I had more than a few hours to visit Conway Scenic Railroad in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was in the middle of a three day photo charter but due to the distance from the first location (Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington in Maine), and some major traffic delays, I showed up late in the afternoon on an October Saturday. I caught only part of the last regular trip of the day behind steam locomotive 7470 pulling the Conway Valley Train between North Conway and Conway.

Visiting the Conway Scenic Railroad

7470 is a smaller 0-6-0 coal-fired locomotive built in 1921 by the Grand Trunk Railroad’s shops. It was originally numbered 1795 when the Grand Trunk was absorbed by Canadian National Railways two years later and renumbered 7470. This locomotive has been at Conway Scenic Railroad since the operation began in 1974. Today it has a limited operating schedule from about mid-September to mid-October during the autumn color season, a special snow excursion in winter, plus occasional charters.

Conway Scenic Railroad offers a variety of trips to different locations with varying lengths to allow visitors a choice of just how much “train time” to enjoy. All of the trips travel through beautiful scenery in this spectacular region of New Hampshire. If you can, take all of them to get the full experience. 

My time at Conway Scenic Railroad

Getting back to my short visit to the Conway Scenic Railroad, the highlight of the day for me was, after 7470 completed its run with the Conway Valley passenger train, the locomotive moved down into the yard to get the freight cars. There was a wonderful collection of graffiti-free cars from fallen flag railroads, which looked like they could have been attached to 7470 or her sisters back in the 1950’s. I set up my video camera and watched as she first backed the train, and then switched to a track that would lead the consist past me and to the station. There was nothing modern in my field of vision, so the scene could have been from the 1950’s. It is a great piece of footage.

Later I hiked back to the depot and recorded the last of the day’s visitors taking pictures of each other in front of the locomotive. I focused on some of the people and had fun with two men engaged in an animated conversation in front of the North Conway sign. 

The day culminated in a night photo session with 7470 attached to a short freight train spotted in front of the beautiful and unique 1874 North Conway station. I must admit I am no expert at night photography, but I love seeing the work of other people, who seem to have more skill at this than I do.In spite of my short visit, Conway Scenic Railroad made a powerful impression on me, and I will absolutely go back and spend a much longer time there.

Ride the Conway Scenic Railroad

If I would have had I had more time, like a few days, there was much more to see and do. The Conway Scenic Railroad has a hefty schedule of diesel train rides as well as trips in a self propelled “Budd Car” built by the Budd Company in 1952. When I visited in late 2008 they still had two FP9 diesels operating, but they have since been sold to Pan Am railways. For more about Conway Scenic Railroad, visit their website. 

More information and previews of my video story about Conway Scenic Railroad is on the Steam in the Mountains Volume 1 DVD. 

Thanks, Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was completed in 1869 and became the the first mountain climbing cog railway in the world.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway starts from the Marshfield Base Station and carries passengers three and a quarter miles up the mountain with an average grade of 25%, with the maximum of 37.41%!

My visit to Mount Washington Cog Railway

I was lucky to visit in October, 2008 to to take part in some of the last days of steam on the Mount Washington Cog Railway. As part of a photography group, we were given permission to hike up the mountain, starting from Marshfield Station. We climbed nearly halfway up,  allowing us to capture dramatic images of trains coming up the mountain. From our vantage point we could see Jacob’s Ladder and trains disappearing out of sight over the top of the mountain.

This was not the original plan for the day’s activities, but looking back, I’m happy it turned out that way. There are actually two ways to be carried up the mountain. Besides the Mount Washington Cog Railway, there is also a toll road. The road, completed eight years before the Mount Washington Cog Railway, goes up by a different route.  Because riding on the Mount Washington Cog Railway only allows a minimum amount of time at the summit, our choice was to drive so we could remain at the summit longer. We planned to carpool up the mountain and set up our cameras near the end of the line.

The road is only open when it is deemed safe by the operators. Heavy snow in the higher elevations over the preceding several days forced a closure, so we went to Plan B, which was to hike up.

Climbing along the Mount Washington Cog Railway

After gaining permission, we set out. It should be pointed out that there is no actual “trail” along the Mount Washington Cog Railway. There are several marked trails going to the summit, but none of these are near the cog line. DO NOT try hiking alongside the track without getting permission from Mount Washington Cog Railway. You will be trespassing and asked to leave.

Although the terrain was steep, our footing was fairly easy since there had been some recent excavation that had not grown over in most areas. 

Mount Washington Cog Railway trains usually go up and down in pairs to save time at the passing track switches. The first locomotive pushes its single wooden car, followed a few minutes later by another. As we climbed, there were always trains in view, either below or above our position, so we stopped frequently to get shots of the smoky action.

We climbed nearly to the snow line, which was just above Waumbek Tank. The steam locomotives stop here for water on the way up. The lower switch to the passing track is just below Waumbek tank. The switch was rebuilt in 2003 and operates by solar power.

It was here that we caught our first glimpse of the first diesel employed on the Mount Washington Cog Railway. It had been built earlier in the season by the railway’s own shops. The noisy diesel painted in “John Deere green” resembled something out of a farm field. The other photographers made some rather unflattering comments about this machine each time it passed us that day. We speculated about how the arrival of diesels would forever change the Mount Washington Cog Railway experience.

Since that day in October 2008, the railway has largely replaced all of its steam locomotives with diesels. As of this writing, Mount Washington Cog Railway was advertising one steam trip per day at 8:30 AM.

Change is never easy, but converting to diesel makes practical sense, just as it did for commercial railroads. The owners of Mount Washington Cog Railway point out their customers are there to ride to the top of Mount Washington, and the majority don’t give much thought about the locomotive.

I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to see the sight of many steam locomotives going up and down the Mount Washington Cog Railway at the same time - something that is no longer possible. More importantly, I’m happy to share these images with you on our DVD Steam in the Mountains Volume1. I’m sure you’ll agree that steam power on Mount Washington is a beautiful sight. 

Thanks, Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images

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Writing an article about the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is hard because it requires using all of the overused descriptive words such as excellent, magnificent, wonderful, marvelous, supreme, outstanding, remarkable, first-rate, premier, unsurpassed, unequaled, unparalleled, unrivaled, and preeminent. Now that I’ve used all these words in the very first sentence, writing about the Durango & Silverton will be even more difficult.

History of the Durango & Silverton

The Durango & Silverton is one remnant of the one time network of narrow gauge railroad lines running throughout Colorado. The town of Durango was actually founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1880. The rail line to Silverton was finished in the summer of 1882 for the principle purpose of hauling gold and silver ore from the many mines in the San Juan Mountains. The mining boom boosted the population of Silverton to a peak of over 1100 before silver prices collapsed and the mines played out.

In the early 20th Century the towns of Durango & Silverton climbed and fell in economic and wartime cycles, while even then tourists flocked there to ride the scenic railroad line between the two cities. World War II brought uranium mining to the region but by the late 1940’s the line faced abandonment by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway, in spite of the popularity of its scenic passenger trains and the recent discovery by Hollywood as the backdrop for many major movies.

In the late 1960’s the Durango & Silverton line was designated as both a National Historic Landmark and a  National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 1969 the D&RGW Railroad was allowed to abandon tracks south of Durango, which isolated the line to Silverton. Fortunately, Charles E. Bradshaw, Jr came along and purchased the line from the railroad and set the stage for establishing a successful tourist operation over the scenic route. Steam locomotives mothballed decades earlier were restored to operating condition and wooden coaches were reconditioned for year-round use.

Durango & Silverton today

Today the Durango & Silverton is operated by American Heritage Railways, a company that operates other tourist lines in the United States. Trains operate over the 45.4 track miles between the two towns during the summer months, with a 26 mile schedule between Durango and Cascade Canyon Wye during the winter season.

Trains depart from downtown Durango and the first few miles are in an urban setting. The tracks follow the free-flowing Animas River, and the line cross it five times. Between Durango & Silverton, the train is largely separated from visible civilization as it passes through forested river canyons,and the spectacular “Highline” where it passes over a rocky narrow ledge above the river far below.

At Silverton, trains come right down East 12th Street into the heart of town to discharge the passengers. The riders take in the sights of the town and have some lunch while the train backs up to the wye on Mineral Street to turn around. The train then backs into East 12th Street once again so passengers can re-board for the trip back to Durango.

While these regularly scheduled trains are great, there are other options for those who want to see and photograph narrow gauge steam locomotives operating over the scenic rail line. The Durango & Silverton offers these special photography trains occasionally throughout the year, as do private operators who charter a train for one or two days.

My most recent experience was with a two-day photo tour in the fall of 2005. A group of photographers chartered a steam locomotive, freight cars, and some passenger cars to haul us and our equipment.

We began our journey before sunrise in Durango. Our train departed before the regularly scheduled passenger trains. Not long after we left Durango, a steady rain began to fall. Our first stop was near the Highline, where we got off. Meanwhile, our train backed up to a siding, so that the two regular trains on the schedule could pass. We set up in the rain and recorded both of the morning trains with their gold-colored coaches passing our location. Finally, our freight train appeared and passed the photo line.

Back on board, we proceeded to several more locations along the line where we recorded one or more “runbys” with our freight train. In the afternoon, we pulled into a siding at Elk Park to wait for the two trains returning from Silverton. By then the rain had turned to wet snow. One of the trains stopped briefly to pick up a group of hikers, who had flagged it. (The railroad has a special program for hikers to get off or board the trains at designated locations). After both trains had cleared, our photo freight passed through the beautiful falling snow.

We loaded up and finally made it to Silverton, where we did some additional runbys before retiring to our lodgings for the night.

The next morning we were greeted by bright sunlight and mountain peaks covered in the white snow that fell the day before. It would turn into a wonderfully bright autumn day with glorious fall colors. We did some runbys by the old Silverton depot before loading our gear onto the train. Throughout the day we we were blessed with great light all the way back to Durango.

The video story of our photo experience on the Durango & Silverton can be found on DVD Steam in the Mountains 1.

Thanks, Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images

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About the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad

The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad runs on former Milwaukee Road tracks in the shadow of the volcanic mountain. Visitors board trains at the depot in the small town of Elbe, Washington for the seven mile trip to Mineral, where the railroad has a large yard and shop.

Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad is a not-for-profit operation run largely by volunteers. Its collection of geared logging type locomotives from each of the major builders: Climax, Heisler, Shay, and Willamette is well known and respected. In fact, the railroad’s Willamette is the only operational example in the world. These locomotives were built for steep  grades and tight curves typically found in the forest industries.

In addition, Mount Rainier Scenic has several conventional rod-style steam  locomotives and a couple of diesels in operation. There are an even greater number of heritage steam and diesel locomotives in the collection but not currently operational. 

The normal operation is over a curvy line between the small mountain hamlet of Elbe and the even smaller town of Mineral, however occasionally special trains run all the way to Tacoma. The line used by Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad are actually part of the extensive rail network owned by the City of Tacoma. The city operates commuter services as well as freight traffic serving the region’s port and manufacturing industries. The museum has long-term arrangements with Tacoma Rail for using their portion of the line. 

Our Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad experience

We visited this working railroad museum twice in June, 2011, just days apart. Our first visit came on a sunny day which happened to coincide with a charter for some German railfans who had arranged for two steam locomotives and a string of empty log cars to operate with several photo runbys. A few days later we were there for the 2011 National Railway Historical Society convention, which included rare mileage on a portion of the Tacoma Hill line and some changeable Washington State summer weather. On both days we were welcomed to safely look around the yard and shop facilities at Mineral.

The log car train was interesting in many ways. West Fork Logging Heisler #91 brought the empty cars and a caboose to Elbe, and then switched the train so the caboose would be on the rear as it returned to Elbe. Meanwhile, Hillcrest Lumber Climax #10 traveled light from Mineral. At Elbe, #10 took charge and headed to Mineral. Right after leaving, an unknown problem developed with one of the log cars, so #91 hooked on to the rear and pulled  the train back to Elbe, followed by #10. The issue was quickly resolved and the train was on its way again.

Six days later, the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad hosted the NRHS convention trip. My wife, Jan, was now with me to cover this event. As the train arrived from Eatonville rained poured down on us and it rained periodically the rest of the day. 

The star attraction for the NHRS trip was newly restored Rainier #2, built by Willamette. While not much for speed, the engine put on a fine performance. There was ample time to look around the shops and yard at Mineral. The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad volunteers also moved some of the other equipment around, which was a nice bonus.

Visit Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad

If you visit Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, the line between Elbe and Mineral has limited accessibility. At Elbe, a small yard near the depot competes with the nearby highway and logging trucks. It has a large parking area shared by the railroad, the historic Little White Church, and nearby businesses. After leaving Elbe there are spots along a short stretch of State Route 706/National Park Highway to pull off to watch the trains. Further along, the tracks go away from all road access until veering south to cross the highway near park Junction Road. After this point the line is largely going through private land until it reaches Mineral.

There is plenty here to see and do. The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad is professionally run and offers a variety of experiences for rail enthusiasts and the general public. It's easily accessible from the Seattle-Tacoma area. The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad website has a great deal of information about the equipment, area attractions, and even current weather conditions and forecasts.

Go! You will love this place!

Our visit to Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad is now a 45 minute chapter on Steam in the Mountains - Volume 1 DVD from Yard Goat Images. Previews and additional information about Steam in the Mountains Volume 1 & 2 can be found here. 

Thanks, Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images

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I was intrigued when Roger Holmes of the Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad, invited me to a Photo Special to be held in July, 2011. The photo session was conveniently scheduled between the Little River Railroad Birthday Celebration and the Rock Island Train Festival.

Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad - Background

The Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad is located at Freeport, Illinois, and operates on the former Milwaukee Road right of way on track that was relaid by museum volunteers. The mission of the not-for-profit organization is to present examples of branch line railroad operations once common across the country.

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