This site features daily historical railroad posts from the Big Bend/Columbia Plateau region of Washington state. As a personal site, this is my online filing cabinet of interesting things I've come across about railroading in the area. Thanks for stopping by!
--Dan Bolyard
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
1913 NP Map Of The Ritzville Cutoff
Note the faint line running between Ellensburg on the left and Ritell on the right. This is the survey the NP did to shorten their line across the state in the hope of making their line-haul shorter to be more competitive.
In glad you said to look for a "faint line" otherwise I would have missed it. I was always curious to see where the Columbia bridge would have been. Looks like possibly near Vantage and then possibly the Old Vantage Hwy or possibly I-90 route over Ryegrass ? Great map! This has always intrigued me of why they never built it. Seems like a win win, except for the cost of the bridge and another helper district. John
I've posted a map similar to this in the past, but someone had highlighted the detail. The NP seemed to pinch pennies and I think the cost of a good bridge over the Columbia was enough to slow down the project in light of traffic levels dropping with the opening of the Panama Canal.
3 comments:
In glad you said to look for a "faint line" otherwise I would have missed it. I was always curious to see where the Columbia bridge would have been. Looks like possibly near Vantage and then possibly the Old Vantage Hwy or possibly I-90 route over Ryegrass ? Great map! This has always intrigued me of why they never built it. Seems like a win win, except for the cost of the bridge and another helper district.
John
I've posted a map similar to this in the past, but someone had highlighted the detail. The NP seemed to pinch pennies and I think the cost of a good bridge over the Columbia was enough to slow down the project in light of traffic levels dropping with the opening of the Panama Canal.
I forgot to add I did plot out the route in one of the older editions of a Delorme Atlas. I think you are right about near the Vantage highway.
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