ELBE, Wash. — The last few weeks have been devastating for the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad.
And yet, the heritage line about 45 miles south of Tacoma, Wash., is not only continuing to operate, but finding reasons to be positive.
On the evening of April 30, the railroad’s largest wooden bridge — a 400-foot-long, 70-high structure between Mineral and Morton, Wash. — caught fire. Because of the remote location, it took an hour for first responders to reach the scene; the bridge burned for days and was a total loss. The fire was determined to be human-caused.
It’s a huge setback for the railroad’s continuing expansion, and its plan to launch short line service to lumber mills at the end of the long-dormant line beyond the bridge. The early estimate for replacement is $2 million to $10 million. “That sounds like a huge range,” says Bethan Maher, executive director and CEO for the railroad and the parent Western Forest Industries Museum, during a Monday, May 19, phone interview. “But it’s more information than we had two weeks ago.”
And, because the fire came on the day the railroad signed the paperwork on its option to purchase the line from the City of Tacoma’s Tacoma Rail, there is no insurance to help address the cost, whatever it may finally be. “Insurance for railroads and lines and structures is sort of a complicated paradigm as it is,” Maher says. “But we hadn’t changed any of our insurance yet because we didn’t know when this thing was going to be signed and delivered. …
“The timing of this has been stellarly bad.”
Operations continue, and are expanding
Trains, it should be emphasized, are still running. And — despite the fire — the Mt. Rainier Scenic continues to make progress in expanding operations after a three-year shutdown when former operator American Heritage Railways pulled out in 2020. The Western Forest Industries Museum acquired the railroad in 2022 [see “Mt. Rainier Scenic to return …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 19, 2022]. Railbike trips began in early 2023, with train excursions later that year.
Running year round, it offers “the regular retinue of holiday trains, whiskey tasting,” Maher says. “We doubled our operational trackage over the last year, so we have a new route we’re running on. We have a steam engine in the shop that’s going to make it’s debut sometime this fall. … We’ve got our newly restored parlor car.” Trains.com visited recently for a look at the operation — a visit scheduled before the fire. A full schedule and ticket information are available at the railroad website.
The RailCycles — railbikes designed and built by the railroad — also continue to operate. “RailCycle has been a moving operation for us,” Maher said. “We move it ahead of wherever the next place is we’re going to restore rail service. … So RailCycle is running on a new route, between Mineral and what’s called Divide, and that’s gorgeous. You’ve got some old-growth timber, and then some really, really expansive views of, you know, the foothills of Mt. Rainier, Storm King, the mountain itself. That opens next week.”
The task ahead
Still, dealing with the loss of the bridge is going to be a massive challenge.
“The first thing we need to do is get in and clean up the site. We’ve got a stream there, you know, and burnt creosote timbers and suspended rails. … We’ve got to take down the rest of the structure because it’s an environmental hazard, and now, unfortunately, it’s also going to be a public nuisance hazard.” Access is — as indicated by the response time to the fire — a challenge. The nearest paved road is about a half-mile away, and that’s a winding road with “probably like 17% grades,” she says.
Funding will clearly be a hurdle. “We’re planning on going after CRISI funds” — the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants — “to begin servicing the mills at the end of the line again,” Maher says. “But the reality is tourist railroads fall in a gray area … Most transportation funding doesn’t touch what we do because we’re not freight and we’re not intercity passenger.” She has been talking to elected officials in hopes of garnering some assistance.
A GoFundMe page is closing in on $200,000 in donations — as of midday today, it’s at $194,395. That will help, but it’s clearly just a starting point.
While much remains uncertain, help and advice continues to arrive from a wide range of sources.
A notable contribution has come from Ken Kirschling, who was familiar with the railroad — and the trestle — as a bridge inspector for RailStar Engineering. He has been donating his time to help assess how the project can move forward.
“He’s the nicest man you can ever meet,” Maher says. “I would say he’s sort of everyone’s bridge inspector in the Pacific Northwest. … He’s helping us estimate the rebuild costs and look at the different options. Obviously, that’s a huge amount of work. …
“He’s probably been in communication almost every day. So he’s working on it.”
Beyond that, Maher has heard from a cross section of the rail industry.
“It’s been incredible that folks from BNSF have reached out to offer help, you know?” Maher says. “I’ve heard from railroads — short line, Class I, tourist railroads from all over the country, saying ‘We don’t have answers, but here’s a thought, here’s a little piece of information, knowledge, money we may have to offer. …
“The railroad community support for our little railroad in the woods has been incredible, you know, from model railroad clubs all the way up to the Class Is.”
— Updated at 1:51 p.m. to correct name of RailStar Engineering’s Ken Kirschling.
