Mt. St. Helen's had trains?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

bigboys post has me seeking more information on Mount St. Helen’s itself.

I recently read through a day by day journal found somewhere here: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/framework.html.

This journal mentions BNSF owning parts of Mount St. Helen’s. I haven’t found much more about it since reading it. Did they run trains near there? With the line next to the Columbia River, I don’t know why they would, unless it was a north - south route. And why would you run a line straight up the middle of the Cascades when you have the I-5 corridor? But the journal specifically mentions in 1980 that they had rights to the top of the mountain. Have I misunderstood this?

Of course my understanding of this is influenced by the eruption of 1980 when Mt. St. Helen’s proved she was more of a volcano than a piece of real estate.

2

The land containing Mount St. Helens was part of the Northern Pacific Land Grant, which went to Burlington Northern as part of the 1970 merger.

The nearest line to the volcano was a Weyerhaeuser logging line, about 20 miles of which was washed away along the Toutle River.

3

Thank you for the info. I now know where to look next in order to understand the history of the area. I should have known that it would be a logging railroad. I am just beginning to understand logging operations. Did this line connect to another train line or did it bring to the logs to the river for transport. I am thinking in the days before trucking.