Washington’s Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has completed a Federal Railroad Administration-mandated overhaul on Polson Lumber Co. 2-8-2 70, less than a year after the locomotive was taken out of service. The engine was doing test runs on the tourist railroad over the weekend and will likely enter regular service soon.

Polson 70 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1922 and hauled logs in the Pacific Northwest for decades, first for Polson and then for Rayonier. The engine has been MRSR’s primary steam power for years but was due for an inspection and rebuild last year. The FRA requires a full rebuild every 1,472 service days or 15 years of service, whichever comes first. At the time, MRSR planned to focus on another locomotive, Porter-built Carlton & Coast Railroad 5, before returning 70 to service. But over the winter, the museum’s shop crew determined that 70 could be returned to service more quickly.

The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad 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 closed in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In 2023, it reopened as the nonprofit Mt. Rainier Scenic.

—Justin Franz