Chehalis Western #684 is indeed a rare bird -- one of only 26 ALCO Century 415s ever built. The 684, built new for the lumber-hauling shortline near Olympia, Wash., is shown here in its most recent job of switching cars around the former CW shops at Western Junction, Wash.

At the time, the shops were being used by luxury rail excursion operator American Orient Express. AOE was later sold to Colorado Railcar, which renamed the operation Grandluxe Rail Journeys and moved the shop operation to its Fort Lupton, Colo. facility.

The 684 was one of four Century 415s in regular service in the Pacific Northwest. The Spokane, Portland & Seattle had two of them, while shortline Columbia & Cowlitz in nearby Longview had one.

C&C later purchased an ex-SP C415; both later operated on the Spirit of Oregon dinner train and the Mount Hood dinner train before migrating again to Iowa, where they operated on the Burlington Junction Railway.

The 684 was sold for display to the city of Fife, Wash. in 2008. It is now on display in the city's Dacca Park.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, July 31, 2005.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, November 14, 2006.
Railroad: American Orient Express.

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