At the southernmost tip of Lake Whatcom, an aging railroad track cuts east toward Wickersham, submerged in places by marshy water and succumbing to weeds. At the terminus of the historic rail spur, on the east side of Valley Highway, is what’s left of Lake Whatcom Railway, which ran for almost half a century and attracted hundreds of riders a day before shutting down in 2019. Trains were once a common sight on Lake Whatcom and in Park, the tiny hamlet between the lake and Highway 9. In the early 20th century, the Northern Pacific brought logs from the South Fork Valley to be floated down the lake to mills in Bellingham and carted coal from Blue Canyon Mine to the bay. Frank Culp, an 82-year-old resident of Wickersham, wants to preserve the rich history of locomotion in the Pacific Northwest. He owns not only a steam engine, passenger cars and a railyard but also, unusually, the 4.5-mile spur itself, which he purchased from Northern Pacific more than 50 years ago. Click link in bio...