Passers-by and local shop owners watched a Sedro-Woolley trucking company hoist the third and final antique rail car from Bellingham’s historic Fairhaven district onto a heavy-duty flatbed truck Monday.

The rail car, along with two others, have been hauled to a vacant lot in Burlington, Wash., where they will wait until their new Pennsylvania owner finishes site preparations for the cars’ new home at a theme park. Once in Pennsylvania, they will be turned into a museum, gift shop and restaurant.

Debra Wharton Pearce received the three rail cars for free from the previous owners, brothers Ralph and Mike Black, who have been striving for months to get the cars off the lot without having to scrap them.

They plan to develop the lot where the cars were for the past 34 years. The old gas station will eventually be torn down to make room for a new building reminiscent of the old Fairhaven Hotel, which once stood on the same plot of land for approximately seven decades. It was gutted by a fire in 1953 and completely demolished by 1956.

Instead of lodging, the first floor is planned to contain retail outlets, the second floor will house a restaurant and the remaining space will be reserved for high-end condos, like many of the newly developed lots in Fairhaven, said Travis Black, Ralph Black’s son.

However, the Blacks' plan to build remains in limbo until adequate financing can be obtained, he said.

Travis Black grew up in Bellingham and said he can remember going to the old shops and restaurants that once inhabited the train cars. He began looking for someone to take the train cars and give them a new home since he acquired the land from previous owners in 2005.

He said the price to rebuild the train cars deterred museums from renovating them, and he said it is unfortunate that the cars are now leaving Whatcom County.

“I think this is bittersweet for a lot of people,” he said. “Over the years the cars had fallen apart, but they are still a part of our heritage.”

The ideal may have been to keep them in the county, Black said, but at least they can be used and not demolished.

Janet Downard and Gordon Tweit, both long-time employees of the Fairhaven Pharmacy, watched the crane lift the trains from the old lot across 12th street.

Downard said she would have liked to see more businesses in the train cars rather than removed completely.

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can post comments.
Please login or register.