Chehalis Western Railroad

Chehalis Western Railroad

Company type	Private
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1936
Defunct	1992
Fate	Sold to City of Tacoma in 1995
Headquarters	Washington , United States
Products	Lumber and forest product transportation
Owner	Weyerhaeuser

The Chehalis Western Railroad refers to two distinct shortline railroads owned and managed by Weyerhaeuser in Washington from 1936 until 1993. The initial incarnation, operating from 1936 through 1975, functioned as a Class III common-carrier railroad. The later version, active between 1981 and 1993, was a private railroad running on separate lines that Weyerhaeuser acquired subsequently.

History

Weyerhaeuser established the Chehalis Western Railroad in 1936 to facilitate the transportation of lumber and forest products along a 10-mile stretch from Chehalis, Washington to Ruth, which had been purchased from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). The railroad also utilized trackage rights over Milwaukee Road's line between Chehalis and Western Junction, linking to Weyerhaeuser’s "Vail" logging route extending north to South Bay. Additionally, it operated on Northern Pacific Railroad tracks under trackage rights from Pe Ell, Washington to Milburn. Notably, the Doty Bridge—a structure once listed on the National Register of Historic Places—was included within these routes.

On December 1, 1975, Weyerhaeuser restructured the railroad into the Curtis, Milburn & Eastern Railroad (CM&E), discontinuing service on the Pe Ell–Milburn segment and restricting operations to the corridor between Chehalis and Curtis, Washington. CM&E halted its services in 1980 and was officially abandoned by 1993.

The Chehalis Western designation was reinstated in 1980 following Milwaukee Road’s abandonment of its western lines. Weyerhaeuser acquired roughly 23 miles of Milwaukee Road track south of Tacoma, Washington, encompassing routes from Tacoma to Chehalis and Frederickson to Morton. To support these new lines, Weyerhaeuser procured four modern EMD GP38-2 locomotives.

Upon taking over Milwaukee Road’s tracks, Weyerhaeuser resumed operations under the Chehalis Western Railroad name while continuing Curtis, Milburn & Eastern functions. Curtis operated as a log reload yard with daily shipments directed to Western Junction; similarly, Vail served as another reload site with daily loads sent to Western Junction before combined shipments proceeded to the Port of Tacoma. In the late 1980s, Curtis transitioned into a pole yard handling power poles from a nearby mill loaded onto railcars for interchange with Union Pacific at Chehalis. Following this change, Vail remained the sole log reload point, shipping approximately 42 carloads each day until operations ended in 1992.

By the early 1980s, service on the South Bay line ceased and tracks between Western Junction and South Bay were removed. Although Weyerhaeuser acquired the Morton subdivision (Frederickson to Morton) and invested in replacing a burned bridge near Eatonville, no active service commenced on this segment. During this time, only the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad operated an eight-mile portion between Elbe and Mineral. Much of the unused Morton subdivision fell into disrepair until it was later rejuvenated following acquisition by the City of Tacoma.

The second iteration of the Chehalis Western Railroad ceased operations in July 1992.

In 1995, Weyerhaeuser sold the entire railroad system to the City of Tacoma for $3.1 million. Subsequent operations were contracted first to Tacoma Eastern Railway and later to Tacoma Rail. The city also allowed two excursion railroads: the Chehalis–Centralia Railroad, which runs restored tracks from Chehalis westward to Ruth—the original route of the first Chehalis Western—and the seven-mile Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, operating between Tacoma and Morton.

Currently, part of the former "Vail" logging line near Lacey, Washington has been converted into the Chehalis Western Trail, a recreational bike path.