Station sign project update

Cascade Rail Foundation’s Station Sign Project team is gearing up for a busy year in 2025.

Since 2020, our volunteers have been fabricating and installing three-quarter size replica Milwaukee Road style station signs at their historic locations along the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. To date, CRF has installed 24 new station signs from Boylston to the Idaho state line, including six along the portion of the trail within the US Army Yakima Training Center.

We’ve expanded the scope of the project to include additional locations along the rest of the trail, including replacement of some of the existing signs between Cedar Falls and Keechelus. Those signs were installed by Dan Brady, who is playing a key role in this project.

This year our volunteers installed signs at Malden, Rosalia, and Swan. The station sign at Malden was installed on Friday, October 4th. A certificate from Cascade Rail Foundation was presented to the mayor, dedicating the sign to the memory of Milwaukee railroaders and their families of Malden and also to the victims of the 2020 Babb Road Fire.

We have recently received permission from Washington State Parks to install or replace 16 more station signs and plan to complete those in 2025. 

The sign at Kenova is also approved, but installation is awaiting bridge repairs and reopening.

We plan to install signs east of Cle Elum in late May. Then the signs near Snoqualmie Pass will be installed after the snow melts, in June 2025 or later.

State Parks is reviewing our proposals to install five new or replacement signs between Cedar Falls and Rockdale, and signs at Roxboro and Servia between Warden and Lind. 

A full list of the signs and their status can be found below.

You can help!

Donations in any amount are welcome to help us pay for materials.

A specific sign and location can be sponsored for $500, which is tax-deductible. A customized certificate of sponsorship will be provided, which includes, if possible, a photograph of the location from Milwaukee Road days, as well as a photograph of the installed sign and brief description of location. This is a positive way to remember and preserve the history of the Milwaukee Road, recognizing the communities and locations on the former mainline.

You can use the donation page on the website here. Be sure to check the box for the Station Sign project at the bottom of the form.

Or contributions can be mailed to Cascade Rail Foundation at:

PO Box 462
South Cle Elum, WA  98943

For comments, questions, and information, including specific location sponsorship, please contact us here. 

Mark Borleske showing the location of the future Roxboro station sign

 

Sign locations and installation status

The full list of signs is below. The mileposts measure the distance from Chicago on the railroad.