CHEHALIS, Wash. — The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum has reached an agreement with an short line in Oregon and Washington that will allow the Washington heritage railway to resume excursion operations, beginning with “Polar Express” trains starting in November.
The Centralia Chronicle reports that the museum, which has been unable to operate trains since March 2022 after losing its liability insurance, has reached an agreement with the Goose Lake Railway to operate the excursion trains. The Goose Lake, which operates 105 miles between Lakeview, Ore., and Perez, Calif., via Alturas, Calif., will provide crew members and operate the trains, while the Chehalis-Centralia will maintain the tracks and rolling stock and manage the events.
Goose Lake, which has nine employees in Oregon and California, will hire local staff for the Chehalis operation, according to a news release.
The Polar Express excursions are scheduled to operate Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 11 to Dec. 23, with tickets on sale at the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum website.
The CCRM was unable to obtain operating insurance as a result of two accidents in a six-year period, one of which resulted in a fatality, while the other led to a lawsuit that remains active [see “Accident losses led to end of insurance …,” Trains News Wire, March 10, 2022]. The organization eventually regained limited insurance that allowed it to resume some activity, but not operations. A plan to resume operations earlier this year with trains from the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad fell through when the Mt. Rainier Scenic received a donation allowing it to perform repairs needed to operate at its own site [see “Mt. Rainier Scenic steam excursions in Chehalis off …,” News Wire, Aug. 2, 2023].
The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum has reached an agreement with a short line operating in Oregon and California that will allow the Washington heritage railway to resume excursion operations…