By Eric Berger
ELBE, Wash. — Washington’s Mt. Rainier Scenic will run again thanks to a recently revived non-profit group.
The Mt. Rainier began operations on a former stretch of Milwaukee Road track in 1980 and was purchased by American Heritage Railways, which also owns Colorado’s Durango & Silverton, in 2016. The railroad was renamed the Mt. Rainier Railroad & Logging Museum by American Heritage Railways but struggled to succeed. It was finally closed in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
This August, a reconstituted Western Forest Industries Museum (the same non-profit that originally ran it) formed a new board of directors and management team. The group reports that AHR has returned all assets to the newly revitalized nonprofit, which plans to reopen the museum and the railroad, as well as expand operations to the town of Eatonville.
“We will be undertaking a phased reopening plan,” said Bethan Maher, WFIM’s executive director. “We will be launching a railbike attraction – RailCycle Mt. Rainier – this upcoming spring. Our plans include restoring several steam locomotives to service, relaunching railroad operations, and constructing a new museum that will provide a more inclusive and contextualized history of the people that lived along the line and worked on our historic railway. It’ll take us a few years to get there, but it’s a worthwhile project with a broad coalition of support.”
The group plans continue hosting events such as The Polar ExpressTM Train Ride and the popular Rails to Ales excursion, though no dates have yet been announced. The line has been described by some as the “Cass of the West,” with a variety of rare logging locomotives, including the world’s only operable Willamette.
