Former Pufferbelly locomotive to leave Pullman

Whitman County Historical Society officials say they have arranged to give away an old black locomotive engine perched on the edge of Pullman's downtown corridor, just outside of the newly named Pullman Depot Heritage Center.

As planning moves forward for the proposed restoration of what was formerly the Pufferbelly Depot, Linda Hackbarth, director of the steering committee overseeing the renovations, said WCHS will allow the Inland Northwest Rail Museum in Reardan, Wash., to take the engine for free so long as it pays the cost for its removal.

"They were saying it would cost $8,000 to $10,000 to crane it out and haul it," Hackbarth said. "They think it will be possible, and we put no deadline on it - my goal was to have this all done by the (end of) summer time."

Hackbarth said her group also plans to give away two of the three passenger cars parked behind the locomotive with the same arrangement in mind - if they can haul it, they can have it. Hackbarth said a strong candidate has already emerged to assume ownership of the cars, but they need to move the engine out of the way first.

"We have a very interested party to take the two passenger trains - an experienced house mover - and I think that's legit," Hackbarth said. "(He) planned to just block them out, take out the trucks and slide a flatbed underneath and then pull them away like he would do for moving a house."

Hackbarth said the WCHS plans to keep the remaining passenger car and caboose as features of the new center. With some guidance from restoration crews with the Northern Pacific Railway Museum in Toppenish, Wash., Hackbarth said the WCHS will attempt to revive the remaining passenger car to something resembling its original state.

Hackbarth said the steering committee hosted the first of three meetings with Washington State University's Rural Communities Design Initiative mid-July to help jump-start the envisioning process. Ideally, Hackbarth said, the center will be both a museum and an engaging, hands-on space that keeps people coming back.

"We know we want it to be an interactive, family oriented, come-many-times, vital part of downtown Pullman - we want to do a complete restoration of the building (and) get historic status for it," Hackbarth said. "We're looking at the possibility of some commercial partner in a small part of the building - that's still kind of being discussed."

Hackbarth said while it is uncertain how much space they will have to offer a potential commercial partner, there has been some speculation that it would be desirable to have a food vendor on site.

There is still a lot to be done, Hackbarth said, not the least of which involves keeping people from littering on the property or using it as a connecting road between Northeast Kamiaken and Whitman streets. For her part, Hackbarth said she will be happy to remove the last of the signs reading "Pufferbelly" with hopes it will signal to the community that change - and a freshly restored Pullman Depot Heritage Center - is on the way.

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.