THE OFFICIAL WEBPAGE

OF ROBERT D. WEST

Steam on the Chelatchie Prairie

On Memorial Day Weekend in 2007, the Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad ran excursions on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad out of Yacolt behind  their newly restored steam locomotive. This was the first announced public excursion since the locomotive returned to service in December (though it had made a number of "surprise" appearances) and so on May 27, I went to ride and photograph the train.

History

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad was originally built as part of a proposed line from Vancouver to Yakima, Washington, and was surveyed in 1886 by Vancouver businessman L.M. Hidden. The Vancouver, Klickitat & Yakima Railroad was incorporated in 1887 and began operation in 1888. The railroad was built as far as Brush Prairie before being sold in 1897. The new owners renamed the railroad as the Portland, Vancouver & Yakima Railroad, and was completed through Battle Ground to Yacolt by 1903, with the goal of being extended to Chelatchie Prairie. Also in 1903, the line was acquired by the Northern Pacific Railway.

In 1929, the line's major customer, Weyerhaeuser, closed down its logging operations in the area. Passenger service ended and freight service to Yacolt was reduced to a single train a day by the 1940s. In 1948, Harbor Plywood completed the line from Yacolt to Chelatchie Prairie. Harbor Plywood was acquired by International Paper, and the line railroad became part of IP's Longview, Portland & Northern Railway. Eventually, the LP&N took over the entire branch line. IP built a large lumber and plywood mill at Chelatchie Prairie in 1960. This mill closed in 1979 and the line was put up for sale.

In March 1981, three Vancouver businessmen purchased the line and named it the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, operating both freight trains and passenger excursions, but in January 1984, the owners filed to abandon the railroad. Clark County, Washington purchased the railroad to keep it from being abandoned. In 1987, the railroad was leased to the Lewis & Clark Railroad, which took over freight service to Battle Ground and brought back passenger excursions on the rest of the line during the summer until a 1993 flood damaged the line beyond Battle Ground.

In 1998, a group of volunteers formed the Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Association, with the goal of restoring the entire line to operation for passenger excursion service. The association used the reporting marks BYCX, however they refer to the excursion train's route as the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, and use the herald (shown at the top of the page) used by the earlier Chelatchie Prairie Railroad in the early 1980s.

On May 26, 2001, diesel-powered excursion service was restored between Yacolt and Moulton Falls, with line operable to Chelatchie Prairie, where the association's equipment is stored and maintained. Today, the excursion train's route has been extended to Lucia, so that it now includes the line's only tunnel and largest bridge, and work is continuing on the middle section of the line to eventually restore excursion service to Battle Ground.

As for the freight section of the line, in 2003, the Lewis & Clark's contract expired, and Clark County chose to lease the line to the Temple family, operators of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, the Columbia Basin Railroad, the Central Washington Railroad, and the former Washington Central Railroad (which they sold to BNSF in 1996), who operate it as the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad. Though the PVJR leases the entire route, it only uses the route between Vancouver Junction (also called Rye Junction) and Battle Ground, about half of the 33 mile line, and allows the BYCX volunteers to use the rest of the line for excursion service.

Here is a map of the entire branch line. The inset showing a detailed map of the excursion route can be found further down this page.

The Locomotive

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad's steam locomotive is former Crossett Western Company #10. A 2-8-2T locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company, or Alco, in 1929. It is a tank engine, meaning that it does not pull a tender behind it. Instead, it carries its fuel oil and water in large tanks mounted on top of the boiler and behind the cab. This was an advantage for branch lines and logging railroads, at it significantly reduced the overall length of the locomotive and allowed it to more easily operate in reverse as there was no tender behind that would otherwise be pushed when operating in reverse.

This was the last locomotive built at Alco's Brooks Works in Dunkirk, New York, and was the next to last piece of railroad equipment built there. (A 12' snow plow for the Southern Pacific would be the last piece of equipment.) The locomotive was built for the Crossett Western Company for use at Wauna, Oregon. Crossett Western was bought out in 1941. In 1943, the locomotive was sold to the Hammond Lumber Company for use at Samoa, California, becoming their #16. In 1953, Hammond was bought out by Georgia-Pacific and in October 1956 the locomotive was used in Fortuna, California. Harry Morgan of the Fortuna Kiwanis Club acquired the locomotive in 1964 and donated to the City of Fortuna who put it on display in a park in November, 1966. In 1974 it was sold to Peter J. Riplinger of Shelton, Washington. In 2002 it was leased to the Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie to be restored to operation in excursion service. Restoration was completed in 2006 and the locomotive pulled its first excursion trains in December.

The Excursion Train

Here is a view of the entire excursion train at the depot in Yacolt. The train consisted of the following cars:

BYCX #1797 was built in 1925 as a common 50-foot flat car for freight service. It has been equipped with benches and handrails for use as an open excursion car. It is generally placed directly behind the locomotive to enhance the passengers' experience of the sights and sounds of an operating steam locomotive.

BYCX #60 was built by the Pullman Company in 1918 as a 12-Section, 1-Drawing Room Pullman Sleeping Car named Kenosha. It was later converted to Pullman Tourist Sleeper #1766. On December 13, 1948 it was one of 18 Tourist Sleepers sold to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad. The car was arrived in Vancouver, Washington on January 12, 1948 and was put in the shop in Vancouver on February 14, 1948. It emerged on April 30, 1948 as Spokane, Portland & Seattle Baggage Car #60. It remained in service for years, long enough to become Burlington Northern property on March 3, 1970. It was put in Maintenance of Way service (where it first got its mineral red paint and white roof that it wears today) and in November 1975, Burlington Northern remodeled it into Kitchen/Bunk Car #976093.

Today, the car serves on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad as a passenger coach. The interior of #60 is far from authentic, however the volunteers have made it quite comfortable, and it serves as an alternative to the open car.

BYCX Caboose #10559 was built by the International Car Company in 1971 as Burlington Northern #10559.

BYCX Caboose #10652 was built by American Car & Foundry in 1974. It was originally assigned to Burlington Northern's Colorado & Southern subsidiary, later going into general service on the entire Burlington Northern system.

The Route

This map shows the part of the line used by the excursion train.

The above video shows highlights of the excursion train's route, both from aboard the train and trackside. They are presented in the order that they would occur if they were made during a single trip, though it is a composite of two trips from the same day. I rode the first trip, and chased the train during the second.

Here is locomotive #10 at the Yacolt Depot. The train backs out of Yacolt, making the entire trip to Lucia in reverse. As it backs out of town, the train passes a number of local farms.

This very large Holstein dairy cow lives near the tracks. The farmer standing next to the cow is of average height, making this cow about 6 feet tall.

A number of llamas live near the tracks as well.

The train crosses Railroad Avenue, which basically marks the end of town. From here, the train backs through Moulton Falls Park without stopping. The pictures below were taken in the area of Moulton Falls, just before entering the tunnel.

Tunnel #1 was completed in 1903. It is built on a curve through solid rock and is not lined, though there is a timber portal on the west end. The tunnel is difficult to photograph from the train, and isn't very accessible otherwise, so I don't have photos of it, but it is in the video.

After passing through the tunnel, the railroad roughly parallels Lucia Falls Road and provides a view of the Lewis River, while on the other side, rock outcroppings occasionally hang over the tracks.

The railroad turns to cross Lucia Falls Road and then the Lewis River on Bridge 23. This is the largest bridge on the entire line between Vancouver and Chelatchie Prairie. The bridge's construction appears to be somewhat unusual, though it is hard to photograph from the road.

In the above pictures, the train is backing through the Lucia Falls Road grade crossing and across Bridge 23. The pictures below show the view of the Lewis River from the train as it crosses the bridge.

After crossing to the south side of the Lewis River, the railroad travels out of sight of both the road and the river, traveling through the dense evergreen forest to emerge at Lucia.

The train at Lucia.

At Lucia, the train stops to reverse direction. From here, the locomotive can face forward as it pulls the train back to Yacolt. For the passengers onboard the train, this is the better part of the trip, as they get a good view of the steam exhaust from the locomotive. During this late spring trip, the force of the exhaust caused dead pine needles to come loose from the branches hanging over the tracks, and rain down on the passengers. The pictures below were taken as the train headed forward from Lucia to Moulton Falls.

This view shows the exhaust from the steam locomotive against the green of the forest canopy.

Approaching Bridge 23.

Looking down at the Lewis River from Bridge 23.

A view of one of the rock outcroppings along the line.

Dense forest on the opposite hillside.

After passing through the tunnel again, the train slows to a stop a Moulton Falls Park, where it is apparently often greeted by "goblins." The train stops here for about 20 minutes, to give passengers an opportunity to take the short walk to the falls to appreciate the view.

A sign here tells a brief history of the railroad, reading as follows:

Chelatchie Prairie RailRoad     BYCX

The line now used by the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad was first under construction in 1888. It was built to access the timber and other natural resources in the area. The railway has changes hands several times since its completion and was in use until 1993 when it was heavily damaged in a flood. The Battle Ground, Yacolt Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Association has been improving the rail back into working condition since 1999. Moulton Falls has for some time been an area of interest and recreation and is part of the Bells Mountain trail system.

The train stopped at Moulton Falls.

There is a passing siding at Moulton Falls, and some of the equipment the volunteers use to maintain the track is stored here when not in use.

BYCX #34 is a fairly large Fairmont Speeder.

This Ballast Cart may be ancient, but it gets the job done.

Tie Crane #6162 was acquired from BNSF.

Below are a number of pictures of Moulton Falls, which is only a short walk from the tracks. The amount of water here can vary greatly depending on the time of year. These pictures were taken at the end of May. The logs strewn across the rocks were deposited here by the high water the previous November. At times, the water level can reach to the bottom of the footbridge.

Locomotive #10 preparing to leave Moulton Falls.

Heading back to Yacolt, the train approaches the Railroad Ave. grade crossing.

This small pond is the result of a beaver dam.

In addition to the cow and llamas seen earlier, horses also live along the line.

Acknowledgements

I would lake to thank the Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Association. Also, I would like to acknowledge Brian McCamish's Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad - Chelatchie Prairie Railroad page and Steamlocomotive.info as additional references  I used for this page.

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Links

Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Association

Brian McCamish's Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad - Chelatchie Prairie Railroad page

Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad

Clark County's Lewis & Clark Railroad page

Also See:

4449-844 Doubleheader!

Farewell is not Forever

4449 and Friends from the Brooklyn Roundhouse

Northwest Short Lines

Northwest Railroad Museums

All website content, including graphics and pictures are © Robert D. West unless otherwise noted.  Content is not to be used out of the context of this webpage without expressed permission.  Any opinions expressed herein are mine and are not necessarily shared by the Milwaukee School of Engineering, or anyone else.

Questions? Comments? Critiques? Corrections? Concerns? Email me at westr@msoe.edu.