Help bring MILW 5057 back to Washington!

[pwkrueger]

Cascade Rail Foundation is working to bring Milwaukee Road U25B 5057 from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, CA to the South Cle Elum Rail Yard Interpretive Center for display.

Having a Milwaukee Road locomotive at South Cle Elum is important step in the development of the rail yard as an interpretive center about the history of the Milwaukee Road in Washington. The 5057 has strong ties to Washington and is well-suited to telling the story of the railroad here. It operated all over the state during the 1970s and helped pull one of the very last trains out of the state in 1980. Currently, no Milwaukee Road locomotives are on display in Washington.

We are raising money to purchase the locomotive, prepare it for display, and move it to the Interpretive Center. Our goal is to raise $125,000 in time to have the 5057 in South Cle Elum by 2015, the 50th birthday of the locomotive. We are just kicking off our formal fundraising effort and our first task is a quick push to raise the rest of the first $10,000 payment for purchasing the locomotive by April 7.

If you'd like to contribute to this project or just learn more about it, you can visit our web site at: www.milwelectric.org/5057project/.

Thanks,
Paul

Paul Krueger
Secretary
Cascade Rail Foundation
"Remembering the Milwaukee Road in Washington"
www.milwelectric.org

 

[Tuscor]

Excellent cause. This locomotive belongs in Washington state! And I can't think of a better location than South Cle Elum. I plan on donating something out of every paycheck, starting today. Let's not let the 5057 get away.

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA

 

[RentonRailFan]

What a great idea! Looking at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum's website it looks like it could be easily restored, mechanically and cosmetically. Maybe it could run excursion trains if the display was connected to the BNSF. What a sight that would be. It wouldn’t be feasible but I can still dream.

 

[Tuscor]

What a great idea! Looking at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum's website it looks like it could be easily restored, mechanically and cosmetically. Maybe it could run excursion trains if the display was connected to the BNSF. What a sight that would be. It wouldn’t be feasible but I can still dream.

I don't see excursions happening as there is a river to cross without a railroad bridge between the ex-MILW at S. Cle Elum and the BNSF at Cle Elum.

Of course first things first, bring the 5057 back home and lets see what happens after that.

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA

 

[Beverlyhelper]

CRF, Milwaukee and BNSF Linkage

I don't see excursions happening as there is a river to cross without a railroad bridge between the ex-MILW at S. Cle Elum and the BNSF at Cle Elum.

Of course first things first, bring the 5057 back home and lets see what happens after that.

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA

Actually, Brian, the link between the BNSF and the former Milwaukee line can be made at Bullfrog, 4 miles west of SCE. CRF had extensive discussions with Washington State Parks about rebuilding the line west from SCE to Bullfrog. Big question is getting across FF4 bridge at the Yakima River, and still accommodating trail use. Probably pie in the sky, but technically, it's feasible. But, a rail connection with BNSF is not necessary to eventually operate an excursion line out of SCE. It's more politics and practicals with State Parks and the John Wayne Trail Riders, who were the major force in saving the line in the first place.

But yes, the first challenge is raising the money to bring 5057 HOME! I just made my rather substantial contribution. I encourage everyone else to join in. There's very little time left to raise the $10,000 first step goal.

 

[Tuscor]

Yeah, I forgot about coming in from the west. Still it'd be kind of difficult to share the John Wayne Pioneer trail with a U25B, especially across that bridge near Bullfrog. Not that I would not mind.

Brian

 

[Beverlyhelper]

Crossing Yakima River

Yeah, I forgot about coming in from the west. Still it'd be kind of difficult to share the John Wayne Pioneer trail with a U25B, especially across that bridge near Bullfrog. Not that I would not mind.

Brian

Plank the bridge, flag across it. No big deal. Big problem comes west of there, where additional fill would need to be added to accommodate both train and trail. It's a wetlands and we all know what that means in terms of permitting.

 

[mrmoose]

Thumbs Up!!!

Would be awesome to see the 5057 at South Cle Elum!! I'm gonna' pitch in a few bucks as well!!

Bring it home to where it belongs!!!

 

[pwkrueger]

An anonymous donor has issued a fundraising challenge. From now through Saturday, March 31, the donor will match every donation we receive for the 5057 Project (dollar for dollar) to a maximum match of $3,000. This doubles the impact of your donation! If you are thinking about donating money toward this project, this is great time to do it.

We’ve raised over $6,000 so far, so we would meet our goal of raising the first $10,000 payment and have a good start towards our next fundraising milestone if we can collect the full $3,000 match. You can donate at one of the preset amounts or pick your own amount. If you are interested, you can go to our donation page here. Thank you!

Paul Krueger
Secretary
Cascade Rail Foundation
"Remembering the Milwaukee Road in Washington"
www.milwelectric.org

 

[pwkrueger]

I recently realized it had been a long time since I posted here, so it's time for an update on this project!

We are getting close to reaching our 2nd fundraising milestone, which is to raise the remaining $15,000 needed to purchase the 5057 by March 1, 2013.

Right now we have a fundraising challenge we are trying to meet. A donor will match new donations we receive by December 25 dollar for dollar, up to $1,000.

We'd especially like to see new donors who are BNSF employees. We plan to ask BNSF for a reduced rate or free transportation to get the 5057 back to Washington from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, CA. We think it would help if we had more BNSF employees supporting the project.

You can get the latest updates on the project here:
http://www.milwelectric.org/5057project/

You can also follow Cascade Rail Foundation on Facebook. We post updates there also.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cascade-Rail-Foundation/180201851368

Thanks,
Paul

Paul Krueger
Secretary
Cascade Rail Foundation
"Remembering the Milwaukee Road in Washington"
www.milwelectric.org