Editor,
The 2023 history report of the Clark County Historical Society and Museum was recently released. The wonderful lead article, authored by retired Columbian reporter Gregg Herrington, “The Checkered Past of Clark County’s Own Railroad,” tells the story about this county asset.
The first five miles of the railroad was completed May 13, 1888, and a locomotive and 17 cars arrived by the end of 1888, one year before Washington became a state. In January of 1903 the line was extended to Yacolt. Once-a-day passenger service to Yacolt started Nov. 14, 1903, and continued until 1932. In 1948, the line was extended from Yacolt to a new mill site 6.2 miles north to the end of Chelatchie Prairie.
In 1998, the all-volunteer Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Association was formed to provide excursion service in North County. The ride south of Yacolt along the east fork of the Lewis River is a wonderful experience, which my family has enjoyed several times in the last few years.
The railroad is a major historical and economic resource of the county and should be protected and enhanced, not abandoned as some in the county are now advocating. It should be remembered that a ton of freight can be moved by rail with 10% of the energy required by highway travel and with far less environmental impact. We should be protecting and enhancing the nation’s railroads, not abandoning them.
Among the major benefits of retaining and enhancing the railroad are job development in north county and diversification of tax sources for the Battle Ground School District, which currently is over-dependent on residential tax sources.
The County Council should focus on protecting and enhancing this historical and economic resource and not surrendering to the Not In My Backyard advocates who are not interested in the welfare of the county, particularly north county.
Jim Malinowski
Amboy
