Steam & Excursion > Steam Chater Tacoma Rail Morton to Tacoma Story

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/tacomarail2006.html

Enjoy,

Chris

---

Chris, as always you come up with great coverage of the trips that you ride. Sorry that I missed you, I rode 481 from Mineral to the Boeing spur where it was set out for the nite. We added it to the train the next day on the return trip...it was behind the 91. The Tacoma Rail cars stayed in Tacoma so we just had the two MRSR coaches.

Tom

Nice coverage Chris. Your narrative makes the photo's much more enjoyable.

I'm curious about the Morton depot; it appears to have had some work done since I was last in the area in 2000. Was it open to view while you were there?

Gee, this trip looks like it was memorable. Thanks for posting.

Jim Burrill

tolland Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm curious about the Morton depot; it appears to
> have had some work done since I was last in the
> area in 2000. Was it open to view while you were
> there?
>
> Gee, this trip looks like it was memorable. Thanks
> for posting.
>
> Jim Burrill

Jim, when I was in WA last summer, there were frequently docents in the Morton depot who were delighted to answer any questions
and add history to what was going on at the time. They had also done fundraising & work on the structure.
I can't say if it was open on the morning of the 8th or not. I drove out there from Mineral for a brief look, then went back
to Mineral Shop & got on 481 for the trip to Tacoma (there were actually two trains that day...481 with a single coach, then 91
with one MRSR coach & the 3 TR coaches. It ran this way to Fredrickson where the 481 tied up on the Boeing Spur & her coach
was added to the consist along with the 3001 I believe, for the trip down the Gulch to Tacoma).

Tom

We planned to have the passengers tour the Morton depot before departing. However, the roadway where we would have had to load and unload them was in frequent use by loaded log trucks, and they tend to move quickly. It's a one lane road when the train is parked there, and there was simply no safe way to allow passengers to get off the train and take tours (I didn't want to be saying "Watch your step and look out for that log tr... ooh, that had to hurt...") Typically we can shut down the roadway on weekends when the trucks aren't using it.

The people who operate the depot were quite dissapointed that we couldn't get folks back there for a tour, and so was the MRSR crew, but safety is always our first priority.

It will be open for tours next weeked during the History in Motion celebration, Sat 6/24 & Sun 6/25