Western Railroad Discussion > Coal Mines and connecting RRs of Centralia, WA

Until a couple years ago, Centralia was a active coal mining town. The local area was one of a few coal mining centers in Washington, which is often surprising to many residents of the state. Other places were Black Diamond, Roysln, Newcastle, and Lake Whatcom. The legacy of coal mining is overshadowed by the timber industry, but it was not insignificant. In fact Union Pacific Railroad built the Tono coal mine specifically to feed it's locomotives in the northwest. Attached is a map of the major local mines, and the railroads that were built to haul the coal to market. Often those railroads were extended into the forests beyond the mine to serve as a logging railroad.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Cle Elum too ?8^D

Ted,
As I'm sure you're aware two other places associated with coal mining are Renton and Bellingham. Renton was where the Columbia and Puget Sound first hauled coal to Seattle from. The spur into the Oser Mill in Bellingham is still called the "mine lead," making reference to the Bellingham coal mine that was just off NW Avenue. There were several mines located around Whatcom county, including the Blue Canyon mine on Lake Whatcom and one within a mile of where I grew up called the Glen Echo mine (abandoned 1949).

Yep, the Renton mine entrance is underneath I-405 and the facility used to be where Sam's club is.

What is the source of that map?