Steam & Excursion > Rayonier's Railroad Camp

Hi guys! Just thought I'd start a new thread about the Rayonier & Railroad Camp. I am an old Rayonier fan from way back. My father & I used to drive up to Hoquim,WA from Portland during the 60's and film the railroad's #38. He was one of the few railfans that got 8mm movies of the real last run of the #38 back in 67, when as luck would have it, the diesels were down. I've never seen any other movies of this event. Rayonier had it's "end of steam" party in 62. I remember Railroad Camp during those days and wow, was it a steam show! I recently went to where RR Camp was and it is all overgrown after nearly 40 years with trees and forest! You can't even recognize it as what it used to be! If you know the layout of the old yard and don't mind "brush beating", you can still find the old enginehouse drop pits that they never filled in for some reason. Too bad Rayonier didn't preserve it all as a museum or something, but hindsight is 20/20 I guess. I've seen recent pix of #38 at Merrill,OR where she lies stripped,rotting,and forelorn in Fred Keppner's boondoggle, but let's not go there. It's a pretty touchy subject with me! At least one Rayonier mallet is around & running up at Black Hills Central. They really got the old work horse looking good and doing what she was supposed to do...pull trains! Albeit,passenger instead of logs. Anyway any more Rayonier stff is welcomed...Pat

Let's see some pictures...old and new. Thank you!

Unfortunatly, as with lots of things, I don't have any pix we took of Rayonier except the 8mm movies my dad shot in 67. I do have them on a DVD for my personal use and will try to figure out how and if I can post them because of legal rights. I sold the rights to them in 1990 to a collector in Florida for an undisclosed amount and to have them put on VHS. Not too smart on my part,I guess. Let me know what you think. The last thing I need is a lawsuit!

Here is a link to the mallet still operating on the black Hills Railroad. http://www.1880train.com/locomotive110.html

For anyone on the list who does not know what we are referring to when we talk of Rayonier's famous Railroad Camp, here are some photos to give you and idea of the wonderful place it was.
It was originally built in the early part of the last Century by Polson Brothers Logging. Rayonier bought out Polson in the late 1940's and expanded the steam roster with larger Mallets from Weyerhaeuser Timber's Washington operations and one Mallet from Bloedel Donovan.
As you can see, Railroad Camp was quite a place!

Martin

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Here are a few more to show you the variety of steam used at Railroad Camp.

Martin

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I want one of each - # 38 in photo 1, and #3 in the last photo. Awesome! Someone let me know when that 'wayback' machine is ready.

#3 is now owned by a friend of mine who has her ready for restoration down on the Oregon Coast. She too may steam again someday.
Here is what she looked like while still being operated by Polson Brothers Logging in the mid-1930's. She is ready to be towed out of Railroad Camp for shopping at the Milwaukee RR roundhouse in Tacoma. Note her line-shafts removed and stored on the pilot, Pilot steps and headlight removed and the parts box on her running deck.

Martin

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Hey LH,good pix! As I said earlier, the camp is long gone now, but that famous "pointed tree" you always see in Railroad Camp pix is still there! At least it was 6 mos ago. The mainline grade north thru the cut is also mostly there although very overgrown. I visited with John Larson at the Polson Museum in Hoquium recently and he told me where to find the old pits and the foundation for the old water tank. They use it as the local well, I was told. He also has a copy of my dad's #38's real last run ,I mentioned earlier. I swear you can still hear steam engines working the yard if you listen hard enough!...Thanx again for the pix...Pat

Here are a couple early shots of Railroad Camp when Polson Brothers Logging ran the show there.

Martin

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Hey LoggerHogger! Did you know any of the old gang my dad (D.L. "Dave" Davison)ran with? Jack Holst? George Burton? Murphy? John Labbe? Them boys could chase trains! There were others, I just can't remember their names. Anyway, let me know if you would. Heck, Maybe I mighta met you years ago!...Pat

Lots of great photos of Railroad Camp in this inexpensive book, plus good stories:

"Railroad Camp" by Adolph Hungry Wolf

http://www.goodmedicinefoundation.com/media/books.html
(scoll down, second book from the bottom)

--Tom

Tom, yah,it's a good one. Even got a layout map of the place in it!..Pat