Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Logging Museum

The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad current known as the Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum is a steam-powered heritage railroad operating in the U.S. state of Washington between Elbe and Mineral. The railroad travels on trackage that passes through thick forest just south of Mount Rainier. The depot, gift shop and ticket office are located in Elbe. The train travels to the Logging Museum exhibits located in Mineral. The MRRR ran its collection of vintage rail equipment over seven miles of track, part of Tacoma Rail's Mountain Division.

The railroad has three steam engines, as well as a diesel locomotive in regular service, along with several other locomotives of both types of engines. Most of the railroad's engines are geared steam engines. These specialized types of steam engines — Shay engines, Heisler engines, Climax engines and a Willamette engine were used in the early 20th century for logging. Compared to conventional steam locomotives, geared locomotives were better-suited for the steep grades, sharp curves and uneven profiles of hastily laid track typical of logging operations. Thus, the MRRR sought to preserve and operate historic geared locomotives and related logging technology in order to present visitors with a sense of a bygone logging era critical to the development of the Pacific Northwest.

Prior to 2016, steam operations were run based on availability of volunteer operators, who comprised the great majority of railroad personnel. However after being purchased by American Heritage Railways in 2016, the railroad's operations were run by professional staff. The MRRR's regular schedule ran weekends from Memorial Day to late October, with special event Polar Express trains November through December. In May 2020, American Heritage Railways announced that the railroad would cease operations "for the foreseeable future" due to financial losses caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

On September 15, 2022, it was announced that the railroad would resume operations by 2025, including the restoration of track to Eatonville that will add 9 miles to the railroad.

Locomotive Roster[]

Steam Locomotives[]

Number	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Acquired	Notes
1	Satsop Railroad	0-4-2T	H. K. Porter Company	1885	Stored	2013
2	Rayonier, Inc	Willamette locomotive	Willamette Iron & Steel Co.	1929	Stored	2002
5	Carlton & Coast Railroad	2-8-2	H. K. Porter Company	1924	Under restoration	1985	It is one of the largest Porter locomotives ever constructed, and was ordered new by the Carlton & Coast Railroad. Currently under restoration as of 2024.
10	Pickering Lumber Co.	3-truck Heisler	Heisler locomotive works	1912	Display	Late 1970's or early 1980's.	Cosmetically restored in 2023~2024.
10	Hillcrest Lumber Co.	Climax locomotive	Climax Manufacturing	1928	Stored	1979
11	Forest Lumber Company	3-truck Shay	Lima Locomotive Works	1929	Stored	1981
17	Hammond Lumber Co.	2-8-2T	American Locomotive Company	1929	Stored	1981
70	Polson Logging Co.	2-8-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1922	Operational	1992
91	West Fork Logging Company	3-truck Heisler	Heisler Locomotive Works	1930	Stored	1980

Diesel Locomotives[]

Current[]

Number	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Notes
41	Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad	ALCO RSD-1	American Locomotive Company	1941	Stored	Possibly damaged by grease fire in electrical cabinet and traction motor. Not exactly sure.
481	Great Northern Railway	EMD NW2	General Motors Electro-Motive Division	1942	Stored	Unknown issue. Presumably worn out.
7012	Northern Pacific Railway	EMD F9	Electro-Motive Diesel	1956	Out of service	Currently worn out. Wheels needs to be replaced, wiring issues, and flooded traction motors.
42/7134	US Army	ALCO S-1	American Locomotive Company	1941	Operational	Only operable diesel on the railroad as of 2025. Operated at Ft. Lewis, #7134.

Former Equipment:[]

Please note:

Some of these equipment were privately owned, and restored at the facilities. In some cases, some were not MRSR property. Some were scrapped.

Former Steam[]

Number	Images	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Notes
#2	#2 at the Northwest Railway Museum.	Santa Cruz Portland Cement Co.	0-4-0T	H.K Porter Co.	1909	Owned by Efstathios I. Pappas. Operable.	Restored at the MRSR facilities in 2014. Currently at the California & Western Railroad.
#2	#2 at the OCSR.	Curtis Lumber Co	Two-truck Heisler	Heisler Locomotive Works	1910	Owned by Scott Wickert. Stored.	Privately owned, restored at the MRSR facilities in 2001. Currently stored at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.
#2		Broughton Lumber Co.	42 ton two-truck Heisler	Heisler Locomotive Works	02/1929	Sold. Unknown ownership.	Stored at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.
#3		Rayonier Inc.	Two-truck Shay	Shay Locomotive Works	1910	Owned by Aaron Zorko. Stored.	Privately owned, stored at Lebanon, OR. Plans are to restore #3 and run it on the Albany and Eastern.
#7	#7 at the OCSR.	Deep River Logging	2-4-4-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1909	Sold to Chris Baldo	Privately owned, currently stored at Niles Canyon Railway.
#7	#7 at the Roots of Motive Power Museum in CA.	Mason County Logging	2-6-2T	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1910	Sold to Chris Baldo	Privately owned, restored at the MRSR facilities in 2001. Currently at the Roots of Motive Power Museum in CA.
#45		Polson Logging Co.	2-6-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1906	Sold to private ownership -> Undergoing cosmetic restoration.	Originally planned for use on the MRSR, sold to Chris Baldo, later sold to the Polson Museum. Currently undergoing cosmetic restoration.
#1364	Northern Pacific 1364, at the Northern Pacific Railway Museum in Toppenish, WA, undergoing operational restoration.	Northern Pacific Railway	4-6-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1902	Sold to the Northern Pacific Railway Museum in 1993~94.	Undergoing operational restoration.

Former Diesel[]

Number	Images	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Notes
#30/#5703	#30 at the MRSR Mineral Shops in 1980~90's.	Northern Pacific Terminal Company	ALCO S1	ALCO 69199	07/1940	Sold:	Currently owned by the Lake Whatcom Railway, Wickersham WA.
#DOT-014		Department of Transportation	ALCO RSD-1	ALCO	Unknown	Scrapped:	Scrapped sometime back in early 2000's. Last confirmed to be used for Halloween trains.
#187		Great Northern/BN/RELCO	EMD NW-5	General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel	12/1946	Scrapped:	Was on the property in the 1990's. Presumably under the ownership of Pete Replinger, later sold to Dick Samuels. Heavily damaged by Vandals in 2008, unfortunately scrapped in 2014.
#274	GN #274 at Brooklyn Roundhouse, Portland OR, under Doyle McCormack.	Great Northern/BN/S&NC	EMD F7A	Electro-Motive Diesel #11066	10/1950	Sold:	Was on the property in the 1990's. Private ownership, Sold to Doyle McCormack in late 1997. Restored to GN #274, Nose door headlight installed in this restoration. Sold to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. Operating.
#301		Tacoma Eastern Railway (Tacoma ) General Services US Army	GE 45 ton	General Electric #15246	4/1952	Sold:	ex General Services Admin 2:2 (Bell,CA); ex USA 7047 Casad Ordnance Depot (New Haven,IN); nee USA 7047 Raritan Arsenal (Metuchen,NJ) Sold to the LeMay Family Collection, (Spanaway,WA)
#439		Tacoma Eastern Railway (Tacoma Rail)	EMD SD9/EMD SD9E	Electro-Motive Diesel #20214	5/1955	Sold:	ex (D)Chrome Crankshaft; ex SP 4439; ex SP 3914; nee SP 5436 Sold to Yreka Western/ Livingston Mountain Locomotive Works. (YW/LMLW) Sold to Western Rails/WRIX, Short nose chopped. Currently in storage at the Western Rails Facilities.
#500		U.S. Army	GE 80 tonner	General Electric #15896	1/1943	Sold:	Sold to East Portland Traction Corp/EPTC/Oregon Pacific Railroad Scrapped in 2014.
#1837		Great Northern/BN/RELCO	EMD GP9	Electro-Motive Diesel #21258	4/1956	Sold:	Built as Great Northern #685, sold to Burlington Northern #1837; Joseph Simon & Sons #1837, Tacoma, WA; General Metals #1837, Tacoma, WA; Locomotives Northwest, Ltd. (Peter J. Replinger) #1837, Shelton, WA; City of Prineville #1837 1996. Operating on the City of Prineville railroad.
9120		Illinois Central Railroad	EMD GP10	Electro-Motive Diesel	1955	Re-acquisitioned.	Owned by American Heritage Railways. No longer on property as of 2024. Currently at the Branson Scenic Railway as a loaner locomotive.

Trivia[]

The Tacoma Eastern, though, continued to exist as an independent entity within the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad system, where it was known as the National Park branch.
The railroad was acquired in 1900 by yet another group of investors who had financial interests east of Elbe, the Nisqually Coal Fields, thus providing the impetus to extend the Tacoma Eastern from Tacoma to the area where the MRSR runs today. The route was also extended to access stands of virgin timber south of Mount Rainier, eventually reaching Morton.
The Tacoma Eastern was an appealing investment for the Milwaukee Road. The Tacoma Eastern remained a subsidiary of the Milwaukee Road, owned through stock interest only, until 1918 when the United States Railroad Administration coordinated the Milwaukee Road's absorption of all its subsidiaries into one unified system.
In the wake of the Milwaukee Road's 1980 bankruptcy, Tacoma lumberman Tom Murray, Jr., sought to open a portion of the line to tourists. The Western Forest Industries Museum, also known as the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railway, was then created by Tom Murray to operate historic equipment stored in Tacoma.
All of the railroad's locomotives are serviced at the maintenance shops in Mineral, WA.
In early May 2025, the Morton Bridge burned down due to possible arson. This impacted the line down to Morton, which was planned for freight operations in the long run. The railroad has set up a GoFundMe on their page.
The railroad was a filming site for Greg Jones Productions videos I Wanna Be a Train Engineer and Awesome Trains, both of which were filmed there while Engine 5 was in service pulling excursion trains.