Steam & Excursion > The Last Run Of The Ilwaco Railroad & Navigation Co.!

The last run on any railroad usually brought out some special trains and people recognizing the event. That was no different on the Ilwaco Railroad & Navigation Co. when that narrow gauge line was abandoned.

The last run of the IR&NCo 3 foot line in Southwestern Washington state took place on September 9, 1930. Chosen for this special run was 1890 Baldwin built 2-6-0 #. We see her posed here with some local town folk at the end of the run at Ilwaco, Washington.

This 29 mile long narrow gauge line ran it's first train on May 29, 1889. The line was built from Ilwaco, Washington north to Nahcotta, WA along the Washington Coastline. The original equipment for the line came from the Utah Northern, the same line that contributed so much of the early Sumpter Valley Ry it's equipment.

The line had a mixture of narrow gauge ewuipment. A few engines had come to the IR&NCo from the South Pacific Coast Ry in the Santa Cruz area of California. One of these 2nd hand engines was SPC #23 that came to Ilwaco as that lines #6. Here we see the engine with her UP number N4 after the UP re-numbered the IR&N engines.

She was scrapped in 1931 at the end of operations but someone had the forsight to save her throttle lever.

The owner of the line at the time of abandonment was the UP (Oregon, Washington Ry & Navigation Co.). The line had been offered up for sale a few weeks prior to this last run, but the only buyer was a scrapper. Thus another piece of Western Narrow Gauge railroading was lost for all time.


Martin



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/12 05:51 by LoggerHogger.

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Another great post Martin. This "North Beach Railroad" is very interesting and a lot of
artifacts are still on the ground like the Long Beach and Seaview stations that have been
re-purposed. The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco has a lot of photos and
material including the former Ilwaco freight station and coach N10 Nahcotta that was
built new by Pullman for the IR&N.
One of the PNWC-NRHS members, Tom Smith, a part-time resident of the area wrote up this
railroad for our May 2012 Trainmaster newsletter.
The Seaview Visitors Center and the Ilwaco Museum both have a Clamshell Railroad driving
guide for those interested in exploring what remains of this unique railroad. The
community has an annual celebration called Clamshell Railroad Days.......Arlen

What about that beautiful Throttle?

Is it off the N-4?

--Jim Baker

Yes Jim. SPC #13 became the #6 for IR&NCo and then UP re-numbered her N4.

Martin

Great post Martin. My father grew up in Ilwaco where his family had a dump trucking business. Dad recalled how they let school out for the last run and he could very well be one of the folks in the group next to the train.

Spent many summers down there while in grade school staying in a family friends beach house in Ilwaco which was adjacent to the right of way which was a dirt street. At that time there were lots of the remains of the railroad everywhere.

Dick Samuels

What a handsome steamer. Too bad we didn't have the foresight to save more of these.

Dick,

How old was your Dad at the time of the last run in 1930? I have other photos of folks posed on the engine like this one.

Martin

Martin..Dad was born in 1915; would have been in the 8th grade or a freshman in high school around that time.

Dick Samuels

I will check the other photos I have of this event.

Martin

martin, not being familiar with that area, I went to my favorite mapping program and type in "Ilwaco, WA to Nahcotta, WA". I get a return of 14.2 miles between the two. Since there is not a lot of wiggle room on that peninsula, where were the rest of the 15 miles of track?? TIA dave, out.

If you can find it, here is the book information.

from Google:

The Railroad That Ran by the Tide: Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation ...

www.amazon.com
New, Used & Rental Textbooks
Social Sciences: The Railroad That Ran by the Tide: Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Co. of the State of Washington [Raymond J. Feagans] on Amazon.com.

--Jim Baker