BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – The decades-long effort to restore the 4, the century-old locomotive on display in Port Angeles, is about to reach a milestone, and we’re all invited to celebrate this coming Sunday, October 26.
The 4, for those of you not familiar with it, is Rayonier Locomotive #4. It’s one of only six remaining Willamette-style locomotives, which for years has been displayed on the corner of Chase Street and Lauridsen Boulevard.
A groundbreaking event is scheduled for 2:00pm, directly across from the library, to celebrate the beginning of construction of the shelter that will house and protect the locomotive as restoration and fundraising continue.
One of the people that has been spearheading the restoration effort for decades is Steve Dryke, who says his love for the 4 goes back to his childhood.
“It started when I was a kid, actually. I played on that locomotive when Rayonier donated it to the city back in the day, from 1960, when they first brought it here in town. After I got out of high school and I started working for the City, I was involved in moving that locomotive from where it was, at the old location, to its current location. And just being involved in that kind of piqued my interest again in locomotives.”
And Dryke wasn’t alone. About ten years ago a concerted fundraising effort to restore the 4 to its original glory began to gather steam, leading to the formation of the website restorethe4.org, where you can see tons of history of the locomotive in its service of the Rayonier mill in Port Angeles, along with detailed drawings of the ambitious design of the little park where it sits today.
The vision includes a plan to add two additional log cars, a caboose, construct the roof over the entire display and make additional improvements to the surrounding park.
Dryke says, following Sunday’s groundbreaking, things are expected to come together pretty fast in this next phase of the project.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. But yeah, actually, right after we break ground on Sunday, the foundation work is going to be started, and structural frames and things is going to go up. Possibly, as soon as by Thanksgiving, we might see something that looks pretty cool.”
Visitors will find informational displays and graphics showing what’s coming next, and team members will be on hand to answer questions. A special treat will be the appearance of a working miniature steam locomotive that will be steamed up and running along a small section of track during the event.
It all starts at 2:00 Sunday at the little park on Lauridsen across from the library.
(Graphics courtesy of Steve Zenovic)