While commuters made their way up and down Interstate 5 through Chehalis, several hundred feet to the west of the freeway Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum (CCRM) staff were taking delivery of a new passenger train coach at the museum on Thursday, Aug. 21.
“New” describes just the CCRM’s ownership of the passenger coach, as while its exact age is currently unknown, it was built in the early 1950s by the Pullman Company.
The CCRM got the Pullman coach in a trade with the Northwest Railway Museum (NWRM) in Snoqualmie, with NWRM Executive Director Richard Anderson personally travelling with the rail coach to oversee its delivery on Thursday.
Having been at the NWRM but only used as a stationary birthday celebration coach for children, Anderson explained the NWRM decided to part ways with the Pullman coach as they want their rideable train coach collection to be localized coaches originally used in the Pacific Northwest.
“This one was built by Pullman for the Atchinson, Topeka and Sante Fe (Railway), and it was used by Amtrak until the late 1970s,” Anderson said. “When it was retired, it was purchased for use as private varnish. Somebody was going to use it as a private car. Unfortunately, changes in their life and health and so forth, they never did complete the project, and it ended up in the ownership of the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie … We’re focusing increasingly on our mission, and because this is from the Sante Fe, running in the Southwest, it doesn’t fit our mission.”
In exchange for the rail coach, the CCRM is giving the NWRM a 85-feet-long, 12-feet-tall rail yard turntable currently not in use at the Chehalis railroad and museum.
Given the CCRM is in a floodplain, the turntable was not in use as there was no suitable ground to dig the massive pit needed to place it in a rail yard.
However, that’s a problem the NWRM may have as well.
“We’re still in (engineering) design. We’re not absolutely positive that we can use the turntable, because this is what they call a deep plate girder, so it has to have a really deep hole in the ground. Like here in Chehalis, we’re in the urban floodplain, and it’s very hard to dig deep holes in the urban flood plain without consequences,” Anderson said.
Despite the possibility of not even being able to use the turntable, Anderson added he was still more than happy to trade the Pullman car to the CCRM to help with the CCRM’s current goal of increasing ridership capacity for their holiday dinner trains.
“This is still the right thing. The heritage railroads in the country, there’s probably about 150 or so of us, and we have a long and storied history of working and supporting each other — and this is just a really excellent local example of that,” Anderson said.
As for the Pullman coach itself, moving it by truck to Chehalis was required as there are no usable train tracks currently connecting Snoqualmie to the Mint City. It weighed a total of 135,200 pounds, including a pair of truck and wheel sets weighing 19,000 pounds each.
CCRM staff are now restoring the Pullman coach and getting it ready for service once more, according to CCRM President Mary Kay Nelson.
“This will especially be helpful during Polar Express when we cannot serve the demand for that production,” Nelson said in an email. “CCRM will undertake the job of restoring the coach with a new generator, HVAC, plumbing, restrooms, and interior/exterior amenities. The plan is to use this as a dining car for Dinner Train service in the future.”
Steam train restoration
The restoration of the Pullman coach isn’t the only restoration CCRM staff are about to undertake, Nelson added. The railroad has finalized a contract with FMW Solutions LLC, an engineering firm which specializes in railroad projects, including steam engine repairs and restoration.
“The restoration of the No. 15 steam locomotive has become a major focus for CCRM thanks to a significant donation from the Larry Shaw Foundation in 2025. After years dedicated to organizational recovery — dealing with flood repairs, insurance challenges, the pandemic, and litigation — the CCRM board of directors is now able to turn renewed attention to revitalizing the beloved No. 15 steam engine,” said Nelson. “The Chehalis steam locomotive is central to the railroad’s mission, and now the organization is actively pursuing the efforts on the restoration project.”
The No. 15, or the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade No. 15, is a 1916 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado steam engine that has been sidelined in CCRM storage since 2019, when its boiler failed. It was estimated around $1 million in repairs were needed. Nelson said FMW Solutions, starting in September, will spend three years, or an estimated 3,500 hours, restoring No. 15.
“This is a complex project and will be conducted in phases as funding is available. Donations to support this project are welcome,” she added.
The CCRM does have another steam engine as well — the 1917 Baldwin 2-8-0 steam engine that once resided at Fort Borst Park in Centralia. Known as No. 25, the engine needs even more repairs than No. 15, though the CCRM still hopes to one day restore it as well.
Currently, CCRM train cars are pulled by a 1940s General Electric diesel locomotive known as Engine No. 6, which was rebuilt in 1965 and purchased from the Puget Sound Shipyard in Bremerton.
Starting on Sept. 1 at midnight, tickets for the CCRM’s December Polar Express trains go on sale. There are also pumpkin trains in October and the Wizard Express on Sept. 26.
The CCRM is located at 1101 SW Sylvenus St. in Chehalis. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the CCRM’s website at https://steamtrainride.com/. To learn more about the NWRM in Snoqualmie, visit its website at https://trainmuseum.org/.
