NNG: Mt Rainier Scenic steam in its best days
| May 19, 2020 03:35PM |
It is disappointing to see the Mt. Rainier steam operations folding for the time being, but the news brings back happy memories from when it was a real class operation with outstanding special events.
Back in 1968 I rode the cab of Climax 10 on it's last run on Hillcrest trackage to Lake Cowichan/Honeymoon Bay on Vancouver Island (Canadian Pacific cancelled the planned excursion with Hillcrest 10 from Lake Cowichan to Victoria on short notice. I never got the message.
It was great to see Climax 10 ending up at Mt. Rainier Scenic where it was reachable in a few hours from Richland, WA. Besides riding the train from Elbe, there was always fabulous hiking at Mt. Rainier (the mountain shows it's snowy summit under the Nisqually River bridge).
Over the years numerous rod and geared locomotives operated on the old Milwaukee trackage - occasionally all the way between Tacoma and Morton. One regret is never chasing the Morton Hauler when the Milwaukee was still hauling log trains with a string of F units.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2020 09:08AM by Olaf Rasmussen.
Back in 1968 I rode the cab of Climax 10 on it's last run on Hillcrest trackage to Lake Cowichan/Honeymoon Bay on Vancouver Island (Canadian Pacific cancelled the planned excursion with Hillcrest 10 from Lake Cowichan to Victoria on short notice. I never got the message.
It was great to see Climax 10 ending up at Mt. Rainier Scenic where it was reachable in a few hours from Richland, WA. Besides riding the train from Elbe, there was always fabulous hiking at Mt. Rainier (the mountain shows it's snowy summit under the Nisqually River bridge).
Over the years numerous rod and geared locomotives operated on the old Milwaukee trackage - occasionally all the way between Tacoma and Morton. One regret is never chasing the Morton Hauler when the Milwaukee was still hauling log trains with a string of F units.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2020 09:08AM by Olaf Rasmussen.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.