MORTON — For Alice Boutain, it was a chance to see 20 years of hard work come to fruition.
For Noel Brown, it was a chance to relive 15 years working at the one-man depot for the Milwaukee Railroad.
And for the whole town of Morton, watching the old train depot move to its final resting place Saturday morning was a chance to witness history come alive.
"I waited all these years, and I never thought I'd live to see this," said the 71-year-old Brown, who was the last person to work at the depot.
"I'm so happy about it, and so proud of everybody that worked on it," said the 96-year-old Boutain, who, as president of the Cowlitz River Valley Historical Society, handed a $10 check to the Chehalis Western Railroad in 1985 to purchase the building for historical preservation.
Movers from the Auburn-based Shaughnessy Industrial hauled the two-story depot from a site outside the Tubafor Mill, where it's sat since 1910, to its new home a few blocks down the road on Fairhart Way.
Saturday's trek was the culmination of a week-long effort to ready the depot for the move, which was captured on film by a camera crew from the History Channel for a program tentatively called "Mega Movers."
The depot is a centerpiece for future economic development in Morton. It's said to be the last remaining 1910-era, two-story train depot, and its revitalization is a part of the city's 2002 Community Vision and Action Plan.
Hundreds of people lined the street to watch the depot roll down the street. Crews from the Lewis County Public Utility District had to hoist themselves in the air with cranes on state Route 7 to pull up power lines to ensure enough clearance for the depot to pass safely.
"I never thought I'd see this," Lennis Allen, a Morton resident, said while watching the train depot pass along the railroad tracks.
"I think it's wonderful," added Morton woman Georgina Winberg, who was standing next to Allen.
Lewis County Commissioner Dennis Hadaller found a spot just outside the chain-link fence surrounding of the Fairhart Way property, which is owned by the historical society.
Most people, Hadaller said, would have given up on the project a long time ago, and he was glad to see it completed.
"It's just real nice to see for the Cowlitz Valley River Historical Society, how this dream came true," he said.
The historical society had struggled to find the money to make the move possible. However, part of that problem was solved with the selection of the site.
The depot is now located at the site of the former Chevron Texaco bulk-fuel storage plant, which contaminated the soil and ground water with petroleum, and which was ordered by the Washington Department of Ecology to clean up the spot.
So, under ecology department orders, Chevron Texaco paid for 1,000 cubic yards of soil to be hauled out and treated. The total cost of the project has been borne by a combination of federal, state, county and private money, according to the Department of Ecology.
After the depot settled into the old bulk-fuel storage site, a steam train from the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad followed and offered a free half-hour ride for anyone who wished to climb aboard.
Jeff Ryan of the Tacoma-based Ryan Architecture, which created the site plan for the depot's new home, jumped on board with his wife and son. The hardest part of the project, Ryan said, was picking up a building that old and relocating it to another site. The renovation will be complete in about seven to eight months, he said.
Ryan said he was surprised at how many people showed up to see the most dramatic point of his handiwork, and he was glad for the free ride on the rails.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "I always like getting on old trains."
Erik Olson covers county government and environmental affairs for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 807-8239, or by e-mail at eolson@chronline.com.
