One Year Later: Rebuilding After the Trestle Fire

Consider a donation to support our ongoing rebuild activity: https://gofund.me/85923556c It’s been one year since the largest historic trestle on our railroad was deliberately set on fire. In that time, we’ve faced one of the hardest chapters in our organization’s history, but also one of the most transformative. We wanted to take a moment to share where we are, and where we’re going next. We’ve also released a new (informal) YouTube update walking through the rebuild plan and what it will take to move forward. Where Things Stand Today Over the past year: • Half of the trestle site has been cleared • Debris has been carefully removed from surrounding waterways • Portions of the structure still remain and will need to be removed as reconstruction begins The estimated cost to rebuild the trestle alone is approximately $10 million. A Major Shift in Strategy Historically, we’ve operated as a nonprofit tourist railroad. While that model allows us to preserve history and offer experiences, it also comes with a major limitation: There are very few funding sources available to support rebuilding infrastructure like bridges and track. To overcome that, we made a significant strategic decision. We have assumed the “common carrier obligation” on our railroad. In simple terms, that means: • We are no longer just a museum or tourist attraction • We are positioning ourselves as an active freight railroad (Class III), capable of serving real customers and moving goods This shift allows us to: • Qualify for federal infrastructure funding programs that are not available to tourist railroads • Support local industry by restoring rail service to lumber mills and other shippers • Strengthen the long-term financial sustainability of the railroad This reclassification isn’t just a new label. It comes with regulatory responsibilities, operational requirements, and a significant amount of operational, legal, and administrative work. It’s been a complex process, but it opens the door to funding opportunities that are essential to rebuilding the trestle and restoring the full railroad. We are now pursuing federal funding through the CRISI grant program as part of a $30 million project to: • Restore the full rail line between Eatonville and Morton • Resume freight service to local lumber mills • Expand our existing tourist operations • Remove up to 6,000 truck trips annually from rural highways What It Will Take To qualify for this funding: • We must contribute approximately 20% in matching funds • About half can come from in-house work • The remaining portion must be raised through donations and partnerships If awarded, we will have 5 years to raise an additional $2–3 million to fully complete the project. How Your Donations Are Being Used To date, we’ve raised $222,000 toward trestle reconstruction. • $8,000 – debris removal and trucking • $10,216.80 – construction of site access road • $7,166.95 – legal and regulatory work • $2,471.75 – flagging and prep work We’ve also been able to leverage significant donated labor and services. Upcoming expenses include continued debris removal, site preparation, and engineering and grant consulting support (all of this will be used towards matching funds). Community & Industry Support We want to especially thank: • Rob Wimbish (Fletcher & Sippel) • Ascent Demolition, LLC • Kasie Howland & Johan Hellman (BNSF) • Mineral Lake Lion’s Club • Ken Kirschling (RailStar Engineering) Additional letters of support have been received from partners across industry, government, and local communities. The Investigation The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office remains the lead investigating agency, there don’t seem to be many developments. We’d appreciate tips being sent to us, for our own investigation at [email protected]. We’re Still Rebuilding: You Can Still Help Your support over the past year has helped turn a really difficult situation into something we can actually move forward from, and we don’t take that lightly. We’ve made meaningful progress, but there’s still a long way to go to fully rebuild the trestle and railroad. If you’ve been following along and are in a position to help, your support right now goes directly toward the next steps, continuing cleanup, planning, and getting us closer to rebuilding the trestle. All Aboard for a Train Ride! Honestly, one of the easiest ways to support us right now is to come out for a train ride. Every ticket directly helps keep things running and supports the work to rebuild. If it’s been a while, or if you’ve never visited, we’d love to see you out here. You can check schedules and book at MtRainierRailroad.com.