Dozens of railcar hobbyists from across the country rolled through Clark County recently for a rare 66-mile roundtrip excursion along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad line, bringing 22 unique pieces of railroad equipment known as rail speeders on Tuesday, May 5.
“This is a historical meeting, actually,” said Rich Wilkins, excursion director. “We ran on this track from Chelatchie down to Rye Junction at the BN yard back, I think, 2012 was the last time.”
The event featured members of the North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA), engineering the small motorized railcars along the tracks between Yacolt and the Rye Yard now operated by the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad owned by Eric Temple — who authorized the use of the yard as a turnaround point.
“This is a national hobby,” Wilkins said. “And there’s less than a thousand people in the whole hobby in the whole United States. So, it’s really an anomaly.”
The small railcars, often restored maintenance or inspection vehicles once used by railroads, draw attention everywhere they travel. During a stop by Main Street in Battle Ground, quite a few heads turned in cars and curious people stopped by to take photos and ask questions about the rail speeders.
“Every time people see the little cars come by, they stop and go, ‘What’s that? What does it do? How fast does it go?’” Wilkins said. “And it’s a fun hobby.”
Craig Shilts, from Sweet Home, Oregon, brought one of the vintage track inspection cars to the event, a lightweight railcar originally used on the Southern Pacific line near Tillamook.
“This one spent most of its life on the Southern Pacific line at Tillamook, Oregon,” Shilts said of his 1976 rail speeder. “And then I did a frame up restoration on it.”
The vehicle was originally designed specifically for track inspection work with a lower window to look directly down on the track.
Shilts said the cars still provide advantages over modern inspection vehicles because operators sit so close to the rails and the length of the frame is much shorter, which allows riders to feel more on the tracks.
“If there’s like a wide spot in the track or kind of a sloppy spot, yeah, you can feel it on these cars,” he said.
Participants even traveled from across the country to attend the run through Clark County. Members of NARCOA are taking part in a tour of the west, in a way, as there are additional excursions in Oregon and Washington planned.
“And we got people here from Vermont, from North Carolina, Tennessee, that have driven all the way out here to run the runs here, and then over in Eastern Washington next week,” Wilkins said.
For many operators, the excursions offer a perspective few people ever experience.
“You get to see the railroad,” Wilkins said. “You get to see the towns we go through from a totally different perspective.”
The route itself offered a blend of scenery, wildlife viewing and railroad history.
“I like the scenery,” Shilts said. “You see a lot of stuff off the highway you don’t normally see.”
The rail speeder excursion even included a dedicated bathroom car traveling with the convoy. The bathroom car is of great importance nowadays as more development has occurred along the tracks.
“When the hobby first started, we’d be more in rural places and we’d just say, ‘boys to the right, girls to the left,’” Wilkins joked.
The excursions also rely heavily on cooperation among participants who often are able to fix each other's rail speeder if a breakdown occurs.
“Everybody helps everybody,” Shilts said. “Everybody’s kind of mechanical. Somebody breaks down, ‘Hey I know what that is, I can help you get going, I got a part or whatever.’ Good group of people.”
Operators said preserving access to historic rail corridors remains one of the most meaningful parts of the hobby.
“They should be proud that there’s still a railroad intact that people can enjoy and use for recreational purposes,” Wilkins said. “The railroad is a vital part of every city, basically. It’s nice to have it still available for us to enjoy and use.”
To learn more about NARCOA, visit narcoa.org.
