Saturday, February 7, 2015

Big Bend Railroads Photo Addendum-4

While I hope you enjoyed the book, "Big Bend Railroads," there were many photos that did not make the cut for numerous reasons. This post will give you the chance to see the final set of cut photos.

See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here.

Still available on Amazon.com.




The Liberty Bell was sent from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1915 to be a part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.  It took a cross-country route via rail, making all sorts of stops just about anywhere. Here is the stop it made in Wilson Creek on July 13, 1915. Crowds of all sizes turned out to view a piece of US history. (Courtesy Grant County Historical Museum.)




This 1949 picture shows GN Steam Locomotive, #748 resting on the mainline in Palisades on the down grade.  This locomotive was a G-3 Class 4-8-0. The locomotive is pulling two tenders and a mixed train.  The structure in the middle of the picture is the water tower, the building on the right is one of two cold storage warehouses used to store fruit, and the track on the right is the siding.  This particular locomotive was scrapped in 1953. (Courtesy of Darrin Nelson.)




Before the advent of good roads, the best way to get anywhere after the railroad was built was via the daily passenger service that connected with the daily service run by the Great Northern through Douglas. Regular passenger train service ended in the 1920s, when the service became “mixed.” At that point, freight cars were part of the same train as the passenger car, and scheduled times became more of a suggestion.(Courtesy of Darrin Nelson.)




Probably the first official photo taken by the Wenatchee Southern after the Interstate Commerce Commission granted authority on Aug 7, 1924 to build its 112 mile line in Chelan, Kittitas and Benton counties. Officials for the WS claimed that present railroad facilities in the Wenatchee Valley are not sufficient to handle the annual crops, largely apples. Construction would involve the usage of trackage belonging to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul near Beverly as well as the Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation at a point about five miles from Kennewick, while Wenatchee will be the most inland terminal. The promoters raised some money, did a survey, drew up some maps, did a little grading, then tried to get permission from the ICC  to build the new line. After getting permission, the Great Northern made some big changes in the way it provided refrigerator cars, and then the apple storage industry started to grow. With this, the energy for building the WS started to fade.  The line incurred costs of about $130,000 but never got started again. After getting the ICC to renew it’s authority to build a few times, the ICC finally gave up and denied the further right to build in 1929.








(Courtesy of Steve Rimple.)


(Courtesy of Darrin Nelson.)