Well cars missing from the old MLW main between Maytown and Centralia, WA...

[p51]

I'm not sure when it was done, but all those well cars that were stacked up on the old MLW main between Maytown and Grand Mound are gone now. The rails are nice and bright so it must have been in the last day or two.
Anyone have an idea when that happened and why they were cleared out? Can we finally expect movements through there again?

 

[Ed Sand]

Those scrap thieves are out of control, I tell ya!

I think I've seen those straggling down to Gunderson in Portland over the past few weeks.

 

[p51]

It's dark when I leave for work and when I come home (and the weather has been crummy), so it'd be easy for them to be gone for a little while and me not notice their absence.
It makes me wonder if that track is being opened for some kinds of movements. I've lived in the area since 2002 and I have yet to catch one train going down that line, only caught the placement movements of those well cars, I think 2 years ago?
South of Maytown, there were probably hundreds of trees lying on top of those cars from the ice storm in January, it must have taken quite a while to clear that up before they could move them out.

 

[ANDREWAMTRAK]

There's a new shortline starting operations out of Chehalis. They're leasing 7.2 miles of track from Tacoma Rail. Not sure if this has anything to do with it.

 

[Bob]

Those cars were surplus and sold to somebody, apparently Gunderson from the sounds of it. It seems like they could be used, but the rumor was they were going to be scrapped. Maybe Gunderson is going to rebuild them?

 

[Ed Sand]

I believe it is a mix of rebuilds and scrap.

 

[ANDREWAMTRAK]

Most were to be scrapped while some were to be chopped down to 40'

 

[p51]

I took a good look and the cars between about where the large electric sign for the casino along I-5 to south of there through Grand Mound are still there. Only the ones North of that spot are gone now, as are all the ones in the small yard at Maytown, too. I have yet to go South of Grand Mound with enough light te see anything else but I'd assume they're all there to the South still. I'd sure like to catch a movement out of there..

 

[robjacox]

Drove along the Centralia-Grand Mound section a couple of time Thanksgiving weekend. There were some care up near Grand Mound, but the line was clear from just south of the Great Wolf Lodge to Centralia.

My non-railfan 17 year old son, quite the logical one, asked about them. I explained that & why the 48' wells were obsolete, and that some of them were being shortened to 40' and some stretched to 53'. He asked if the 8' sections cut out to make the 40' wells could be used to stretch a 48' to 53'? Since the side sills are custom-bent to a certain shape, seems logical! May not be worth the effort though.

 

[GE Power]

A mix of well cars and center beams disappeared from the Veazy Spur out of Palmer Junction on the Stampede Sub a few weeks ago.

Thinking back, that was about the same time new occupancies showed up on ATCS Mon at Bristol and Pomona. Coincidence, I suppose.