Thursday, August 28, 2014

Great Northern Not To Build Up The River

From the "Wenatchee World."

February 27, 1909

Article speaks on how there was speculation that the GN would build up the Columbia River from Wenatchee and then connect with the branch that was then building up to Mansfield.




Sunday, August 10, 2014

1943 Map

I was looking at this map of 1943, trying to find out where Nemo and Seward were in relation to today. I did note that the locations shown here are more of a suggestion, as there is no dot to mark the spot.

Note that SR 28 has not been built yet, and that travel between towns is via roads not necessarily availble today.



Saturday, August 9, 2014

EWG At Coulee City

Power for the startup shortline Eastern Washington Gateway was 3 SD45s of various pedigrees. They lasted a few years, but are all gone now.

In this October 18, 2008 view, a train of loaded hopper cars is seen leaving Coulee City with engineer Ben Teeters at the throttle. Director of Operations, Steve Gibson, is in the other seat.


Friday, August 8, 2014

Bassett Jct

I've been meaning to get out into the wilds and see how close the NP and Milwaukee lines were in this area north of Warden. The Northern Pacific, under the guise of the Connell Northern, had built through here with a line from the mainline at Connell to Adrian, where it connected with the Washington Central branch. At Bassett Jct, the Ritzville cutoff started, with the line graded all the way to Ritzville. Tracks were only laid as far as Schrag. Surveys had the line continuing west from Bassett Jct, all the way to Ellensburg.

The Milwaukee branch from the mainline at Warden split at Tiflis. One segment went east to Marcellus, the west segment went to Moses Lake. What the maps show are wyes, and crossovers, all within a small section of land. No lines crossed each other at grade.

The first map is from 1925 and shows a pre Interstate 90 time, while the second map shows a 1980s view, largely unchanged today, showing how the interstate was built just to the north of all these railroad lines.



Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Appleyard Explosion--40 years Ago Today

Image courtesy of the Wenatchee World, who has a very nice write-up of the anniversary of the explosion. A copy of their story can be purchased on their website, wenworld.com.


A large explosion on August 6, 1974 leveled a large section of the railroad yard in Wenatchee. The explosion was traced to a tank car of explosive material that somehow ignited.

The full Interstate Commerce Commission investigation can be seen here:


Monday, August 4, 2014