Chehalis-Centralia RR buys its 10.2 miles of track for $40

Chris Webster · **Joined:** Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am **Posts:** 1086

A November 8, 2019 article from the The Chronicle of Lewis County, Washington:

Quote:

The Port of Chehalis accepted the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum’s (CCRM) $40 bid to purchase 10.2 miles of railroad track. The port announced that they were accepting bids from organizations that would use the track to benefit the community.

The CCRM had already been using the 10.2 miles of track as a part of their route when taking passengers on excursions for the past 30 years. The Port of Chehalis had owned the track since purchasing it from Weyerhaeuser in 1996 when the CCRM was a fairly new operation.

Link to full article: Bid for Railroad Track From Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum Is Accepted by the Port of Chehalis

The Trains magazine newswire also reported the news in a November 19, 2019 article: Washington state port commissioners agree to sell rail line to tourist operation

p51 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:38 pm

Hmmm.
There's a freight operation (I can't rtecall what they call themselves now, used to be Western WA Rail) that runs down to the lumber operation at the current end of the line at Ruth, WA. I wonder what they'll have to say about that?
Then there's the group itself. #15 is now laid up with boiler work needed they can't afford to do, a legal problem with a really bad grade crossing accident and all kinds of local rumors that the group isn't doing all that well.
Then, there's the river. If they get another bad flood like they had in the previous decade, I can't imagine they'll be able to get that track useable again once it receeds.
Imagine the group having to fix miles of this:

Otto Vondrak · **Posted:** Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:44 am

Own your track, control your destiny.

-otto-

Rusty_Old_F250 · **Joined:** Sat Feb 09, 2019 10:06 pm **Posts:** 14

Shoot, I would've given them a $100! It's a very pretty chunk of RR.

There hasn't been any freight traffic to Ruth for a couple years, the connecting shortline (formerly the Western Washington Railway, now the Washington Royal Line) would occasionally service the Pole Yard at Ruth, but I'm told the yard doesn't see enough financial benefit to keep them interested in rail shipment.

Work on the #15 is steadily progressing, repair pieces have been fabricated, welding will soon commence.

The river is always a wildcard, but if/when the river floods, I'll be there helping rebuild the track!

Sam