Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum Awarded More Than $150,000 From State

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum was recently awarded $154,000 from the state’s 2020 supplemental capital budget (SB 6248) for the repairs needed on the 1916 Baldwin No. 15 locomotive that has been out of commission since February of 2019.

“We feel like it is a wonderful project that the community was behind and had stepped up and donated money but we weren’t going to get there with dollars and cents, we had to get a big chunk of change and this will make it for-real happen and now we can act more quickly instead of dragging this out for another year,” said Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum Marketing Director Mary Kay Nelson.

After inspections on the train early last year it was discovered that many areas of the train were not meeting regulations and thousands of dollars worth of repairs were needed. Work on the locomotive began in May of 2019 and was funded by community donations, allocated City of Chehalis tourism funds, and a bequest from Kurt Anders Estate. However, more than double the amount raised was needed to complete the repairs that would allow the steam train to begin carrying passengers through the Chehalis River Valley once again.

The 2020 supplemental capital fund or SB 6248 was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on April 6, and there are several requirements that must be met by the organization receiving the grant. The funds are available only through reimbursement, the site of the organization must have been under the organization’s control for at least 10 years and the funds must be used for the expressed purpose of the grant or the organization must repay the funds to the state general fund plus interest.

Currently, work on the locomotive has been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak and it’s unknown when work will resume.

Nelson said that the most expensive aspect of repairing the locomotive is the welding and hiring welders that are approved by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The strict regulations require precise work performed by skilled craftsmen.

“It happened so quickly and it was a golden opportunity. I was contacted by our legislative delegation and they said that they had money in the supplemental capital projects budget and if we had a proposal they would put it in and see how it went. That was in February,” said Nelson.

Nelson said that after the proposal was submitted they waited and when the COVID-19 outbreak started getting worse they grew unsure if they would be awarded the money. Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum found out in early April that the organization would be receiving the funds, Nelson said.

“Especially in light of all that’s gone on this is a piece of good community news. It’s really positive news when things are a little bit bleak out there,” said Nelson.

“Well the steam train is historic and I think it’s important that people understand the history. This is not only a way for them to go and look at it but when you get (the steam train) restored people can go and ride that train and have that experience that the pioneers had,” said Representative Ed Orcutt.

Nelson said that in light of the COVID-19 outbreak the organization is not sure when they will be able to resume but that it would be ideal if they could have it up and running by December.

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum is still taking donations, not necessarily for the repair of the steam train but the refurbishment of a coach they have so they can add capacity to the current rides.

Those who are interested in volunteering can email Nelson at marketing@SteamTrainRide.com. Volunteers are needed for the steam train repairs as well as a railroad tie replacement project this summer. 

“We’re just really excited to see an end with this project. We didn’t want people to think that they had contributed to something that was never going to happen,” said Nelson.

Nelson said that when the train gets back up and running that the organization would like to hold a community celebration and ribbon cutting.