The Meeker Southern Railroad is a Class III

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

owned by Ballard Terminal Railroad Company LLC that travels approximately between East Puyallup ("Meeker") and McMillin,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States. The Meeker Southern runs on former BNSF Railway tracks originally laid by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, w ...

History

The Meeker Southern's tracks were originally constructed by the

as their main line into the railway's original terminus in Tacoma. The completed rail line formerly connected

Puyallup Puyallup may refer to: * Puyallup (tribe), a Native American tribe * Puyallup, Washington, a city ** Puyallup High School ** Puyallup School District ** Puyallup station, a Sounder commuter rail station ** Washington State Fair, formerly the Puya ...

to Palmer Junction via

Buckley Buckley may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Buckley's, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation * Buckley Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer * Buckley Broadcasting, an American broadcasting company * Buckley School (California), ...

. From Palmer Junction, the rail line joined the Main Line (currently the BNSF Stampede Subdivision) to continue east over

Stampede Pass Stampede Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the northwest United States, through the Cascade Range in Washington. Southeast of Seattle and east of Tacoma, its importance to transportation lies almost entirely with railroading, as no pave ...

. After the opening of the Main Line extension to Auburn which branches off from Palmer Junction, the former trackage was transitioned to a branch line, named by the Northern Pacific as the "Buckley Line". In 1984, the former Northern Pacific Main Line and the Buckley Line were mothballed as redundant by the railroad's successor company, the

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

, and afterward, the Buckley Line fell into disuse. Currently, the Buckley Line is truncated with 5 miles of track branching out from Meeker operating as the Meeker Southern, and 5 miles of track branching out from Palmer Junction owned by the BNSF Railway as a storage track in

Veazie Veazie is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,814 at the 2020 census. The town is named after General Samuel Veazie, an early lumber baron and railroad operator. Veazie was originally part of Bangor, using Pen ...

. A roughly 30 mile gap without rails exists between these two sections. The Meeker Southern was established as a subsidiary of the Ballard Terminal Railroad to operate on the former Buckley Line. Currently the Meeker Southern serves customers in both East Puyallup and McMillin.

Locomotives

The Meeker Southern owns two locomotives. Primary power is provided by number 103, an

EMD SW9 The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in Ontario Canada from December 1950 to March 19 ...

. In 2020, after the shutdown of the

Eastside Freight Railroad East Side or Eastside may refer to: Places Australia * East Side, Northern Territory Canada * Eastside, Ontario, a neighborhood in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario * Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * Eastside, B ...

(another subsidiary of the Ballard Terminal Railroad), the Meeker Southern acquired their locomotive, an

EMD SW1200 An EMD SW1200 is a 4 axle diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power is provided by an EMD 567, EMD 567C 12-cylinder (engine), cylinder engine which generates . Additional S ...

numbered 109. 109 currently serves the role of backup power on the Meeker Southern.

References

Switching and terminal railroads Washington (state) railroads Spin-offs of the BNSF Railway Puyallup, Washington {{Washington-transport-stub