Private company

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad

Heritage railroad in Yacolt, Washington, US

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is a heritage railroad in Yacolt, Washington. Formerly a Northern Pacific branchline and operated by the Longview, Portland and Northern Railway for many years, in the 1980s and 1990s the line went through a number of successive operators. Today the railroad is owned by Clark County, Washington, and the trackage from Vancouver Junction to Heisson is operated by the Portland Vancouver Junction Railway for freight traffic.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Station
Photo: Callworth360, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is a heritage railroad in Yacolt, Washington. Formerly a Northern Pacific branchline and operated by the Longview, Portland and Northern Railway for many years, in the 1980s and 1990s the line went through a number of successive operators. Today the railroad is owned by Clark County, Washington, and the trackage from Vancouver Junction to Heisson is operated by the Portland Vancouver Junction Railway for freight traffic. No freight traffic exists north of Battle Ground at this time.2

The story

Construction of the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad began in 1888, as the Vancouver, Klickitat, & Yakima Railroad, founded by a group of investors led by L. M. Hidden. In spite of the group's aspirations to run the line through the Cascades, the operation was bankrupt by 1897, after completing the line only as far as Brush Prairie, Washington.

The railroad was sold, and by 1903, the line had been extended to Yacolt, Washington. The line was then sold to the Northern Pacific Railway, which began daily passenger service to Yacolt. The line also served as an important freight link for the area's booming timber industry.

Harbor Plywood extended the tracks northeast to Chelatchie, Washington by 1948. The International Paper Company constructed a mill there in 1960, which was serviced by the line until its closure in 1979. The line was purchased by investors in 1981 with the intention of abandoning operations, tearing up the tracks, and selling the rails, ties, and right-of-way. However, Clark County, Washington purchased the line and leased it to the Lewis and Clark Railway before this happened.

Since 2004 Clark County has leased the line to Chelatchie Prairie Railroad to the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR), although the northern portion of the line's functionality has been heavily dependent on volunteer track maintenance.

From Wikipedia’s article on Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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