Western Railroad Discussion > Question about Roy, WA.

Was quite shocked on Sunday when I drove through Roy, Washington
at the end of the Lakeview Industrial Lead and found the Wilcox Feed
Facility had been razed, only the foundations were remaining.

Attached photo was taken in February of 2015  showing all the Wilcox
buildings still standing. I guess this signals the possible abandonment
of the track from Mobase to Yelm  since Wilcox Farms was the last
industry to receive shipments.

When did the Wilcox Facility close and was razed ?

Thanks

​Jay

---

Seven months after you took the picture, one of the silos collapsed. A mill worker was killed in the grain avalanche.

TAW

This is really interesting to follow on a map app......mine is obviously dated as it still shows the mill and water tank (was that still there when you visited?). Looking further south, the track continues, interrupted, to the northerly edge of Yelm,WA. where it converts to a paved trail that ends about 200 yards from the BNSF main at Tenino, WA. What a great trail ride that would be!

You mention Mobase which I couldn't find.....is that perhaps the northerly wye at Camp Murray?

Thanks

Bill

Posted from iPhone

bbethmann Wrote:
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> This is really interesting to follow on a map
> app......mine is obviously dated as it still shows
> the mill and water tank (was that still there when
> you visited?). Looking further south, the track
> continues, interrupted, to the northerly edge of
> Yelm,WA. where it converts to a paved trail that
> ends about 200 yards from the BNSF main at Tenino,
> WA. What a great trail ride that would be!

That line was our original choice for the Cascades service. I worked out some potential alignment changes to allow for 110 mph between Lakeview and Tenino Jct.

The shortcoming was that the Prairie Line is too far from Olympia, which is the source of

• substantial ridership
• the funding

>
> You mention Mobase which I couldn't find.....is
> that perhaps the northerly wye at Camp Murray?
>

There is a wye 3 miles south of Prairie Jct (was Lakeview in NP and BN era). That's Mobase.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seven months after you took the picture, one of
> the silos collapsed. A mill worker was killed in
> the grain avalanche.
>
> TAW

Actually that happened on December 2, 2013, more than a year before the photo.  Not sure when the mill was razed.

czephyr17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TAW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Seven months after you took the picture, one of
> > the silos collapsed. A mill worker was killed
> in
> > the grain avalanche.
> >
> > TAW
>
> Actually that happened on December 2, 2013, more
> than a year before the photo.  Not sure when the
> mill was razed.

tnx- I misread the date.

TAW

Water Tower is still there and thats about it

The tracks still end at Yelm but obviously NOTHING
has moved south of Roy for Many, Many years.

​Jay

Probably only to support military trains, a tie gang stuffed something like 10,000 ties between Lakewood and Hillhurst in early 2016.

lamta_jay Wrote:
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> Water Tower is still there and thats about it
>
> The tracks still end at Yelm but obviously
> NOTHING
> has moved south of Roy for Many, Many years.
>
> ​Jay

Sorta yes, sorta no.  Nothing has moved south of Roy on the BNSF (former Prairie line) for a long time and nothing south of Ft Lewis (JBLM) since the mill accident.   But Tacoma Rail has been servicing Wilcox Farms via a transload operation set up in McKenna since the mill accident.  This would be the former Milwaukee Road mainline.  And they cans till run all the way to Centralia, but they don't. 
 

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography