Chehalis Western

Company History: The Chehalis Western Railroad (reporting mark CWWR) was the name of two different shortline railroads that were owned and operated by Weyerhaeuser between 1936 and 1993. The first Chehalis Western, which existed from 1936 until 1975, was a shortline Class III railroad operating in Washington state, while the second one, which existed from 1981 until 1993, was a private railroad that operated on a different set of lines that Weyerhaeuser had later acquired.

The first Chehalis Western (pronounced sha-HAY-less) was launched by Weyerhaeuser in 1936 when they purchased the 10 mile line from Chehalis to Ruth, Washington from Milwaukee Road. In addition they had adjoining trackage rights on Milwaukee Road and Northern Pacific. In a 1975 reorganization, this line became the Curtis Milburn & Eastern and the CWWR disappeared until 1980. Weyerhaueuser brought the CWWR name back when they took over the lines from Tacoma to Chehalis and Frederickson to Morton, Washington that had just been abandoned by Milwaukee Road. Weyerhaeuser closed the Chehalis Western in 1992 and sold the track to the City of Tacoma in 1995. In addition to the CWWR reporting marks, they also used CHWE. I suspect CHWE was for the pre-1975 railroad and CWWR was for the post-1980 railroad.

Successor/Parent History: Late in 1975, the original Chehalis Western Railroad was reorganized by their parent Weyerhaeuser as the Curtis Milburn & Eastern Railroad. The CM&E ran only the portion of the old Chehalis Western between Chehalis and Curtis, Washington. The line ran just five years but wasn’t officially abandoned until 1993, 13 years after the last train ran.

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