GN 1360 At Wenatchee

No date. Likely leading the Cascadian.

GN 1147 At Wenatchee

No date, but clearly before 1956 as the catenary is still in place.

Hammond Mill Company At Douglas

Courtesy of the Douglas Community Historical Association.

1971 Douglas Depot

Courtesy of the Douglas Community Historical Association.

 Ex-GN Douglas Depot shown here in 1971, four years before it was retired. At the time this picture was taken, it was under the ownership of the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Big Plows Buck Railroad Snow

From the "Spokesman Review."

January 23, 1935

Ties Pulled-Train Memory Stays

From the Spokane "Chronicle."

November 28, 1978

1986 Douglas Depot

Courtesy of the Douglas Community Historical Association.

The line had been closed about a year when this photo was taken in the spring of 1986. The depot was retired 11 years earlier in 1975. The building saw its final fate on Dec. 5, 1993, when the Fire District burned it down at the request of its owner GWGG. In 1987, the rail would be ripped up as well.

Driving Piles On Trestle #40

Courtesy of the Douglas Community Historical Association.

Bridge building crew driving piles for trestle #40 just south of Douglas in the early part of 1909. There were a total of 49 bridge locations on the Mansfield branch in 62 miles of track. Photo by Aaron Shimer, a civil engineer in charge of bridge construction.

1991 Douglas Depot

Photos courtesy of he Douglas County Historical Association.

Paul LaCombe, a Wenatchee native, was only 16 years old when he began working for the Great Northern Railway in the summer of 1966. He would commute up from Wenatchee in the early morning hours and work the duties of the Douglas Depot Agent by preparing waybills and other necessary paperwork. By this time, the train only made the turn on Thursdays and Sundays and didn’t require a full time depot agent anymore. On the quite days when the train didn't run, it gave the young man abundant amount of time to explore the little community. Every day he would eat lunch prepared by Lois "Jeff" Friel at the Douglas Store. He only worked there one summer, but the memories he said are very fond and clear. These photos, taken by Paul, show him back at the depot 25 years later with his cousin on July 28, 1991.  Paul would later become a pharmacist and retire in Spokane.  Two years later, the depot would be destroyed by a controlled burn by the Waterville Fire Department.

BN Train At Rock Island Bridge

Photo by Ken Albrecht. 

Ken says:

"BN NP SD45 6406 +2 roll their train west across the Columbia River over predecessor GN Rock Island  Bridge during Fall-Winter '70. Smoke pollution generation courtesy steel plant."

BN Train At Columbia River

Photo by Ken Albrecht. 

Ken says:

"BN 6497, 6453 +2 roll Train #3 west thru Columbia River siding located west of Trinidad, WA on x-GN High Line 8-31-81."

1907 Big Bend Map

Coulee City Railroad Grade Hike-Central Washington Railroad

 Hiking along the old CW grade west of Coulee City. Here is the live map.

The hike was limited to the area below Dry Falls Dam.

Red line showing where the CW grade is. This grade is complete, save for any trestle work to cross low spots. It continues further to the west and then climbing the hill eastward.

Click on an image for a bigger version.