Spring 2015

MAKING TRACKS
http://steamtrainride.com The Newsletter of the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum
Locomotive # 15s Boiler Overhaul
Underway
As soon as the New Years festivities were
completed, volunteers began working in earnest
on overhauling the locomotives boiler. Harold
Borovec and Bret Bryan are overseeing the
extensive project with help from master mechanic
Luke Johnson. The work involves inspecting the
boiler, making repairs discovered by the
inspection, and replacing the boiler's flue tubes.
As time permits, the many valves on the
locomotive are being refurbished and appliances
such as the air compressor and dynamo will be
inspected and overhauled.

The car barn was reconfigured to make a work

area. The two open passenger cars are now
stored outside to make room in the barn for two
flatcars. The flatcars are placed side by side with
decking placed between them to create a safe and
convenient storage and work area. To get started,
crews removed the domes on top of the
locomotive, removed the jacketing and insulation,
pulled out the superheater tubes, removed the
brick from the firebox, cut out the old flue tubes,
and removed the valves and gauges from the cab.
Next, the outside of the boiler was marked off in
grids for the ultrasound test that will determine
metal thickness and integrity.

http://steamtrainride.com

Volunteers spent well over 150 hours

grinding off old welding metal from of each
of the 454 holes in the flue sheets and spent
several weeks inside the boiler using a
needle gun to remove the scale and rust.

This project is quite involved and labor

intensive. As of this writing, the project is
behind schedule because of a shortage of
volunteers who can work during the week.
Estimated completion date is now early May.
Please consider donating as much help as
you can. There are many tasks that do not
require special knowledge or great physical
strength. The tasks for the day depend on
the available materials and supervisory
expertise. If you can help, please contact
Harold Borovec at 360 748 8273 or Bret
Bryan at 360 606 5346 to schedule your
workday. Your help is much appreciated.

 Spring 2015
Boiler overhaul in progress pictures

Around the Yard and Along the Track

It has been a busy winter. Bill Thompson
made great progress in cleaning up the yard.
Bill and crew disposed of unneeded items,
sorted spare track parts by type and
condition, and stacked them on pallets. He
also moved oil from barrels into large plastic
totes, which will keep the yard looking better
and be a more environmentally friendly way
to store and move oil.

The annual ritual of blowing leaves from the

track and removing brush, hazard trees and
limbs continues. Inspectors from the Federal
Railroad Administration dropped by and
inspected the track on December 30 and 31.
The inspectors found no violations, but did
note several minor items that need
correction such as loose bolts, a poor
drainage area, vegetation encroaching on
and near the tracks (safety hazard for track
workers), and a broken bridge handrail, and
debris on a trestle. Mike Beehler developed
a system to document the corrections as we
make them. We expect all items will be
corrected in the next few months.

 Spring 2015

Steam Train Season Opens on May 23

Please make plans to ride the Chehalis-Centralia
Railroad & Museums steam train during the
regular season, which starts May 23 and runs
through August 30 on Saturdays and Sundays,
and September 5 through Septembers 26 on
Saturdays only.
The 1 hour ride to Milburn departs the depot at
1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The 1-hour Ruth Riverview Ride departs at 5
p.m. on Saturdays. Fares for the 2015 season
are:

What a Spooktacular Time

Ghosts and goblins, princesses and princes,
monsters and magicians all have a
spooktacular time aboard the ChehalisCentralia Railroad and Museums annual
October Pumpkin Trains. All rides on both days
were filled to capacity with children as well as
adults dressed in their Halloween costumes. All
children received goodie bags filled with candy
treats as they exited the train to pick out their
perfect pumpkins in the CCRM meadow nearby.

Milburn: Adults $14, Seniors $13, Children

$11 (ages 4-15)
Ruth:
Adults $17, Seniors $16, Children
$14 (ages 4-15)
Children: 3 years and younger ride free
Cab rides: $40

Frequent riders may benefit from the $60 family

season pass. The pass is valid for the pass
holder, spouse and dependent children for any
regular excursion train.
Mark your Calendars for these Special Events
in 2015:

May 10
Mothers Day Brunch Train
May 10
Mothers Day Dinner Train
June 21
Fathers Day Dinner Train
July 11
Kids Day
July 12
Seniors Day & Dinner Train
July 25
Special Needs Train
July 25
Murder Mystery Dinner Train
Aug. 1
Dinner Train
Aug. 15
Dinner Train
Aug. 29
Murder Mystery Dinner Train
Sept. 5
Dinner Train
Sept. 19
Dinner Train
Sept. 26
Murder Mystery Dinner Train
Oct. 24 & Oct. 25 Pumpkin Trains
Oct. 25
Murder Mystery Dinner
Train
Nov. 27-Dec. 20 The Polar Express
(Reservations required)
(Fri., Sat., Sun.)
Dec. 5-Dec. 13 Santa Steam Train
(Sat. & Sun.)

Many thanks to event coordinator Connie

Prevallet and all the volunteer ghosts and
goblins who helped make this event possible.

Dinner trains also carry excursion passengers to

Ruth.

 Spring 2015

Operation Polar Express is a Huge

Success
Polar Express* trains are the most popular of all
our special events. Tickets for the Express sold
out in September, just three weeks after going on
sale. Twenty-three sold out trains carried nearly
2500 parents, grandparents, and children of all
ages on a holiday adventure. Polar Express trains
are a great draw to the area, bringing people from
the Puget Sound area as well as areas east of the
Cascades, and folks visiting from other states. The
event also strengthens our ties to the local
community by involving many community
volunteers. It takes thousands of volunteer hours
to create that Polar Express Magic.
Melanie Case, our volunteer coordinator for the
event, explains:
When passengers ride the rails to the North Pole
on CCR&Ms annual Polar Express Trains, their
unique holiday experience seems to come
together magically, with little effort. Well,
appearances can be deceiving! Thanks to nearly
500 community volunteers who logged at least
3,000 volunteer hours this year, the 23 Polar
Express Train Rides went off without a hitch. This
years volunteers were a mix of veteran staffers
as well as new volunteers. It is quite challenging
to gather so many volunteers during the busy
holiday season, yet we couldnt offer this
wonderful experience without our awesome and
dedicated volunteers
Some volunteers were very visible, helping
passengers locate their seats on the train, serving
hot chocolate and cookies, leading songs and
reading the story. The United Way of Lewis
County was very helpful in locating potential
volunteers. United Way publicized the volunteer
opportunities and then forward potential volunteer
contacts to me. Many individuals and volunteer
groups make the railroad experience a holiday
tradition. For the last several years, Umpqua
Bank, the Adna Middle/ High School Drama Club,
Sertoma, and Lewis County Commissioner Edna
Fund have enthusiastically formed teams to work
in the coaches for the train rides.

We also had several individuals who were

willing to fill in at the last minute when we
had emergency cancellations. Catherine and
Collin McCord, Linda and Dick Morrison and
the Zander family really came to the rescue
when we were low on onboard volunteers.
Others helped out behind the scenes by
decorating the coaches and depot, building
the North Pole and setting it up, lighting the
North Pole every night, bagging cookies,
making hot chocolate every night, making
food for volunteers, and cleaning up each
night. In addition to individual volunteers,
some community partners, such as Pacific
Mobile helped out by providing a volunteer
shelter, and Wendys and the Kit Carson
Restaurant donated soup for volunteers.
Now lets go behind the scenes to see what
our out-of-sight volunteers did.
The North Pole
In late October, the walls and supports for
the buildings were removed from storage
and delivered to the building site located on
property owned by CCR&M members. On
November 1st, Bret Bryan guided the
construction team in erecting the buildings.
Bill Thompson, Mindy Bryan, Bill and Laura
Deutscher, Dave LaClair, Rikki Burchett, Rick
Burchett, Jeff Galleher, and four Lewis
County inmates worked under Brets
direction to create, with a little imagination,
what looks like a miniature Hollywood studio
backlot. The buildings consist only of a front
and two sides, supported by 2x4 props
anchored into the ground. After the
structures were up, lights attached, and
some Christmas trees assembled, Mindy
Bryan treated the crew to a hot lunch.

 Spring 2015

The crew was then dismissed, and Mindy and

Laura used their creative talents to finish
decorating with garlands, more lights, trees,
mechanical reindeer, and other beautiful stuff.
Bret Bryan set up portable generators and
engineered the wiring scheme for the lights,
installed steps to help Santa board the train, and
installed markers to help the train crew position
the train at the pole.

The Rail Yard

Back at the yard, Laura Deutscher coordinated the
coach decorating. Laura and others removed the
tables from the diner, decorated the coaches,
installed easy to read seat numbers, and installed
lights on the ends of the train to light the track for
train movements. Mike Beehler, the event
coordinator, repaired and configured the sound
system. Laura, Wanda Thompson, and others
decorated the depot, cleaned the platform, and
stocked the shelves with Polar Express souvenirs.
The mobile shelter was delivered and Bill
Thompson installed the power cables to it. We are
almost ready to go.

Our Director
For the second consecutive year, Mike
Beehler accepted the challenge of ensuring
that all the elements for a successful event
came together, from planning through the
un-decorating. We operate Polar Express
trains under a license administered by the
company Rail Events. The terms of the
license require that we do some things a
certain way. For example, when serving the
hot chocolate, we must play the chocolate
song from the movie and the servers must
dress in waiters coats like in the movie. One
of Mikes big challenges was to create a
timing plan for the order of events and to
brief each onboard volunteer to ensure that
we did things correctly. The sound system is
critical to the event. This year Mike led the
effort to upgrade the sound system by
installing an easy to use and reliable CD
player in each coach. He also got a CD with
the Polar Express story read by the books
author that could be used if desired, and got
oversized books to make the pictures easier
for people to see.
Although we use an Internet vendor for ticket
sales, Mike handled waiting list ticket sales, a
task that turned out to be very time
consuming. In order to keep families and
groups seated together as much as possible,
Mike spent about 2 hours per train making
out the seating assignments.
The coordinators job demands a lot of time
and comes with a lot of stress. Do we have
all the volunteers we need? Will the sound
system keep working? Did I make a mistake
in the seating assignments that cost a
passenger a ride? Are all the supplies on
board? Is the train as clean as it should be?
How long can we wait for the people who are
late?
Despite the work and stress, Mike survived.
When asked about the experience, Mike said
The best part of the job was seeing the Polar
Express passengers so excited and very
happy when Santa came on board. I am
pleased to know we brought a great deal of
happiness to people from far and near, and at
the same time ensured a revenue stream to
help our Association to make needed
improvements and equipment repairs.

2
1

Spring 2015

CCR&M Loses Dear Friend

Happy New Year

But it isnt over yet. The first week in January a
crew arrives at the North Pole to take the
decorations down, disassemble the buildings and
load them onto a truck for transport to the yard.
Bret, Laura, and Mindy pack up the decorations
and store them. Bret rolls up the wiring and
stores the generators. Back at the yard, the
depot and coaches are undecorated. The
decorations are inspected, sorted, and organized,
and then stored, ready for next year, when the
Polar Express will roll again.

Garrett Weeks, a lifelong Lewis County resident,

was born July 6, 1997, and passed away Dec. 7,
2014, surrounded by his family and friends.
Garrett was a life long train fan with knowledge
of all types of trains. Garrett started coming to
see CCR&M trains at about 4 years of age. It
didnt matter if they were moving or not. He
nicknamed the coaches Annie and Clarabel,
after Thomas the Tank Engines coaches. When
interviewed by a Chronicle reporter, she was
amazed by his train knowledge at such a young
age. As the years went by, Garrett came to ride
the CCR&M train whenever he could talk his
nurse, a parent or friend into bringing him.
After a train ride, he would often have a circle of
people around him, giving them a lesson on
steam locomotives, especially about the #15.
Garrett especially enjoyed being in the cab of
the locomotive whenever possible. Garrett had
train sets of all kinds around the house. For his
birthday all he wanted was several different
locomotives. Garrett made friends wherever he
went, never meeting a stranger. Garrett will be
greatly missed by all of us at the CCR&M, since
he was such a special young man to all of us.

*Polar Express book and characters TM & 1985 by Chris Van

Allsburg. Polar Express film TM & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

 Spring 2015

From the President

Here we are just over 2 months into the new year ---and about 2 months into the rebuild of #15. To date
we have had over 400 hours volunteered by just a few
members and friends. THANKS SO MUCH! They
would really appreciate seeing more of you there to
help. They work Monday through Friday with some
working on Saturdays. Give Harold Borovec or Bret
Bryan a call if you want to make sure someone is
working. The inmates have also been a big help with
a dirty job.
Track work has also been happening. The FRA
inspected the track, and the trestles and bridges were
inspected. Mike, Jeff, & Dave (sorry if I left out
others) have been working to repair a few places on
the tracks and have been blowing leaves off the tracks
and cutting back the blackberries. We will soon be
working to repair the washout near milepost #0,
under the freeway overpass. The Port of Chehalis was
not able to apply for FEMA funds to repair the
washout, so it looks like it will be up to CCR&M to do
the repair work once again. So, we will need MORE
help to get this accomplished in a timely manner. The
yard maintenance crew has been working to get things
cleaned up. Brush, stump, and other trash have been
loaded and is headed to my burn pile at home.
Thanks to Mike and all of the other volunteers for
another successful Polar Express. It takes a lot of
work, but seeing the look on the kids faces when they
see Santa Claus makes it all worth it. (We do have
one more year on our contract.)
We do appreciate all of you who have volunteered this
past year and hope you will come and help us again
during our 2015 operating season. We always
welcome not only returning volunteers but new
volunteers as well. If you know of someone who
would like to come and give us a hand, please invite
them to come join us. We can find a position for
everyone!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy
New Year in 2015.
Bill Thompson
CCR&M President
Editors note: Jobs are available for everyone, no
experience required. Harold or Bret will find tasks
that match your skill level and the days needs.
Please call Bret at 360 606 5346 or Harold at 360 748
8273

CCR&M Board of Directors

Ray Beaber
Harold Borovec
Ron Burton
Bill Deutscher
Corilee Taylor
Bob Prevallet
Rick Brurchett
CCR&M Officers
Bill Thompson, President
Mike Beehler, Vice-President
Wanda Thompson, Secretary & Treasurer
CCR&M Depot
1101 SW Slyvenus St.
Chehalis, WA 98532
(360) 748-9593
info@steamtrainride.com
Mailing Address:
1945 S. Market Blvd.
Chehalis, WA 98532
CCR&M Association Meets
7 p.m. Second Wednesday of every Month
Lewis County Fire District 6, Station 1
2123 Jackson Hwy.
Chehalis, WA 9853

THANK YOU
A big Thank-You goes out to the Dirty
Thumb Nursery for once again supplying
trees and support for the North Pole for
the Polar Express events.
It is very much appreciated!!

 Spring 2015

Be Prepared, the Scouts are Coming

This May CCR&M will host Boy Scouts from around
the Puget Sound Region for their Railroading Merit
Badge Clinic. The clinic offers scouts the special
opportunity to fulfill their merit badge requirements
in a real railroad environment. The day is filled
with demonstrations, presentations, and activities
on topics such as railroad operation, railroad
safety, types of trains and their purpose, types of
rail cars and their purpose, and railroading as an
occupation. CCR&M will provide the grounds,
facilities, advice, and a train-ride. The program will
be organized and lead by two of our local scout
troops. Having merit badge day at CCR&M will
increase the organizations exposure and could help
develop closer ties to the scouts and other youth
groups that will be mutually beneficial. If you
know of a scout or scout troop who would like more
information on the program, please contact Mr.
Scott Nelson, the program coordinator at 253-7406765.

Visit our website

http://steamtrainride.com
and under special trains look for details on
the following.
Mother's Day Brunch Train
Pumpkin Trains
Other Special Events

Come Join the Fun!

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum is a
busy place with many projects needed to keep
the operation running throughout the year.
From clearing leaves off the tracks, repairing
tracks, weeding flower beds and decorating for
special events, to cleaning coaches, maintaining
equipment, clearing brush, mowing lawns and
building scenery for The Polar Expresss North
Pole, there is plenty to do. There is something
available for all skill levels and interests. Please
consider donating some time for a worthy cause.
Aside from the work, youll get to learn new
things and meet new and interesting people.
If you would like to be on the email mailing list
for CCR&M work parties, please send your name,
email address and phone number to CCR&M
President Bill Thompson at wbthompson@q.com.
If you can help with the locomotive rebuild,
please call Bret Bryan at 360 606 5346 or Harold
Borovec at 360 748 8273.
Hope to see you around the yard.

Murder Mystery Dinner Trains

Chartering a private car or even an entire
train
A thrilling ride in the cab
To reserve, call 360.748.9593.
Santa Steam Trains and the world famous
Polar Express
Tickets will be available for purchase
online only. Polar Express and Santa
Steam Train tickets are expected to be on
sale September 1, 2015.

2015 Membership Form

( ) New ( ) Renewal

Name:

________________________________________________

Address:

City:

Current Membership No. __________

_________________________________________________

____________________ State: _________ Zip: ___________

Telephone: _________________

Email: ________________________

Spouse: _____________________ #of Dependent Children: ________

( ) Family Season Pass (Admits spouses and dependent children only) $60.00
( ) Voting Memberships requires volunteer time (Includes family pass)
( ) Individual Voting Membership $25.00 _______
( ) Family Voting Membership (2 votes) $35.00 _______
( ) Business (Non-Voting)
( ) Brakeman 5 complimentary tickets . $50.00 ________
( ) Fireman 10 complimentary tickets

$100.00 _______

( ) Engineer 15 complimentary tickets

$250.00 _______

( ) Conductor 50 complimentary tickets $500.00 _______

( ) Additional donation $ ________
TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED..$__________

Mail to: Chehalis- Centralia Railroad & Museum, 1945 S. Market Blvd, Chehalis, WA 98532

USPS Mailing cover

Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum

1945 S. Market Blvd
Chehalis, Washington 98532

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