Nostalgia & History > Simpson Lumber Railroad, Sheldon, Washington, August, 1991

The Simpson Lumber Railroad operated on a regulat basis until a few years ago. Originally it ran from Shelton Washington far to the west with
several branch lines, but over the years, was gradually cut back, with the last operations from a location called the Sort Mill where logs would be
trucked to from the forest then shipped the short distance to Shelton by rail.
I was fortunate to meet Pete Replinger, a veteren Simpson locomotive engineer in the early 1990s and had several enjoyable visits there in subsequent
years. Both Pete and I an interest in locomotive horns and the Simpson Lumber Railroad provided a great place to have historic horns placed on it's
locomotives used in a rural setting.

1, Early morning getting power ready at Shelton roundhouse and passing westbound through the residental area enroute to the Sort Mill.
2. Loaded log train coming down the hill toward Shelton. SW1200  number 1201 has one of Pete's Western Pacific type Nathan M5s.

The former Simpson Lumber Railroad is still in tact between Shelton and the Sort Mill. Some of their cars and locomotives have been
saved by a non profit organization , the Peninsular Railway & Lumberman's Museum. for possible future operation.

Regards, Jim Evans
 
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/20 10:19 by FiveChime.

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Great stuff Jim.  Any idea what they hauled on the cars with what looks like a canted center beam.   Must have been for some sort of inter-mill operation.                    TomE 

Green/rough cut lumber going to the planer mill and dryer in Shelton
RB

Thank you for sharing, this is the kind of railroading that I really enjoy. I'm really glad this video has been saved. I can only wish that maybe someday Rapido Trains could do a really good model of these engines with the dynamic brake.
Ralph



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/20 07:41 by BNSF20.

the Simpson railroad is far from gone! I take care of track maintenance and equipment maintenance for the non profit that leases the tracks and owns the equipment. we are trying to keep ourselves afloat during these trying times seeking donations and such. if any one wants to volunteer with us, like to learn more about what we're doing, or possibly donate. check out our website @ simpsonrr.org

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I visited there in 1980 w/ my dad— we even had a guided tour by a young hottie college intern type gal— haha!
Was an impressive operation for sure. Don’t remember those excellent sounding K5LA horns, though?!? Maybe too distracted by our brunette tour guide — lol !