Railroad Archives Online Timetable Collection

In 1999, a group of volunteers formed “The Friends of the South Cle Elum Depot”. Their goal was the rehabilitation and historic preservation of the Milwaukee Road facilities at South Cle Elum, which were showing the effects of time and abandonment. This group evolved into the Cascade Rail Foundation, or CRF, as it is known today. Cascade Rail Foundation is now a Washington State nonprofit corporation, and operates under a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible status. It is the vision of the Cascade Rail Foundation, in partnership with Washington State Parks , that the South Cle Elum Rail Yard Historic District, in the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, will become a significant resource for the region and the nation. The goal is to preserve the site of the Milwaukee Road rail yard in South Cle Elum and to tell the story of the Milwaukee’s electrification and route through Washington and the Cascade mountains. The site is dedicated to the interpretation and preservation of the history of the Milwaukee Road’s western extension and electrification. The Milwaukee is considered one of the most significant and cherished railroads ever to exist in the United States.

The Society was founded by Charles F. Martin in 1973 under the name "The Fraternal Order of Empire Builders", and it was dedicated to the preservation of everything related to the Great Northern Railway. In 1982 the Society name became "The Great Northern Railway Historical Society". With this name change the Society also became chartered under the not-for-profit laws of the State of Illinois, and acquired tax exempt status from the Federal government under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the original name of "The Fraternal Order of Empire Builders", journals containing facts, photographs, drawings and general information relating to the Great Northern Railway and its predecessor companies were published. With the revised name, The Great Northern Railway Historical Society (GNRHS) continues that tradition. Each quarterly issue of the GNRHS 'Goat' normally contains sixteen pages of general information and society affairs, new member lists, member sales and want items, and books/videos listings of subjects related to the GN and its pre/post merger corporate identities. Issues include 40 to 60 additional pages within separately stapled titles known as Reference Sheets. Each issue of the 'Goat' also contains a section of pages dedicated to GN modeling, the Modelers' Pages.

The Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association (NPRHA) is dedicated to preserving the history of America's first northern transcontinental railroad and making it accessible. This is done by the nearly 2,000 members of the NPRHA who support research into the operations, equipment, and facilities of the NP and by modeling and publishing the various research findings.