Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Like a scene from a child's storybook, 0-4-4T forney engine seemingly floats through the air to fly to a new home.
A crane proves the machine behind the magic in the reloaction of the engine to Reardan.
A rigging crew prepares to lift the 0-4-4T Forney Steam Engine off it track at Pullman's Pufferbelly Depot.
The small railroad steam engine which made a stand at the former Pufferbelly Depot in Pullman for the last 10 years has departed. The Whitman County Historical Society donated it to the Inland Northwest Railroad Museum at Reardan.
The engine was brought to Pullman by the late Dan Antoni for his railroad car collection at the former Northern Pacific Depot in Pullman. Antoni operated businesses at the depot which he named The Pufferbelly.
The station, with its railroad cars, was sold to the historical society earlier this year, and the society plans to establish a museum in the station building.
Greg Partch of Garfield, president of the society, Saturday reported the engine was donated to the Reardan group. They used a crane to place the small engine, which was partially disassembled, on a large semi trailer and hauled the engine to the Inland display site located outside Reardan on Highway 2.
Partch, who made his report at Saturday's historical railroad program in Rosalia, said the intent was to clear the engine so residents and visitors could get a better exterior view of the historic Pullman depot.
The small engine is a 0-4-4T Forney which was used at a lumber mill in Vancouver, B.C., according to Linda Hackbarth of Pullman, a co-chair of the society's museum project. She noted the small engine actually had no relevance to this area. It was smaller than the NP steam engines which operated on the line from Spokane through Pullman to Lewiston, and was not the type that would have pulled the three passenger cars which are also parked in front of the station.
The historical society is also attempting to move out two of the three passenger cars which have been in front of the depot. They plan to keep one of the passenger cars and a caboose at the site. The one passenger car slated to remain at the station is closer to the kind of car which was used at the depot when it was in operation.
Partch noted the passenger cars are overnight sleeper models which were never used on the shortline run from Spokane down to Pullman.
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