March 2012

MARCH 23:An anonymous donor has issued a fundraising challenge. From now through Saturday, March 31, the donor will match every donation we receive for the 5057 Project (dollar for dollar) to a maximum match of $3,000. This doubles the impact of your donation! If you are thinking about donating money toward this project, this is great time to do it.We’ve raised over $6,000 so far, so we would meet our goal of raising the first $10,000 payment and have a good start towards our next fundraising milestone if we can collect the full $3,000 match.  You can donate at one of the preset amounts or pick your own amount.  Use the form on this page or go to our donation page here.  Thank you!

MARCH 11:

Our fundraising for the 5057 project is like running a marathon, and we have a short, steep hill to climb right out of the gate.  That hill is our first $10,000 payment to Feather River Rail Society (FRRS) and we  have a little less than 3 weeks to get there.

We’ve had a slow start in fundraising because of delays in researching the cost of the overall project, which we now estimate to be about $125,000 (this includes the purchase price, painting, and transportation to South Cle Elum).  There is a big learning curve for a project like this and the people at FRRS have been very helpful in assisting us with the planning.

Because of the slow start to our fundraising efforts, we requested a time extension for the first payment.  However, FRRS is unable to delay the first payment because they have financial obligations of their own they need to meet. We need to raise the rest of the first $10,000 payment by their next board meeting (April 14) or they will pursue other options, which we understand include possibly selling it to a buyer ‘out east’ or selling some of the marketable mechanical parts of the locomotive.

Right now, we have almost half of the first $10,000 payment we need to purchase the 5057. With your help, we can achieve this first milestone and keep moving toward our ultimate goal of getting the 5057 back to Washington.  If you support this project, please donate today.