During the nineteenth century there was a rush to build transcontinental railroads that would connect the United States from coast to coast. The Great Northern Railway was created by entrepreneur James J. Hill and became the northernmost transcontinental railroad in the United States. Running from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, the Great Northern was completed in 1893. One of the challenges of the Great Northern was the route through the Cascade Mountains. The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center in Wenatchee, Washington, has a large display on the Great Northern Railway which includes a detailed model railroad diorama of the Stevens Pass portion of the rail line.
Stevens Pass created a number of problems for the Great Northern. One of these problems was an average annual snowfall of 50 feet. According to the display:
“Besides keeping the tracks clear with special equipment, hundreds of men had to be employed each winter to shovel snow, and more than 8.5 miles of track were covered by snowsheds and tunnels to deflect avalanches and landslides from the tracks.”
Rotary snowplows were kept in constant use during the winter.
In 1892, Great Northern engineers submitted plans for a tunnel through Stevens Pass. The tunnel was constructed over a three-year period with 800 miners who worked in eight-hour shifts seven days a week and lived in company communities at the summit.
Tunnels through the Cascade Mountains made rail travel easier and safer. However, the tunnels also created problems: smoke, soot, and heat. According to the display:
“Temperatures in the cabs of locomotives sometimes reached as high as 200 degrees Fahrenheit! Soot dampened by the steam would coat the tracks causing the wheels to slip, slowing the trains in the tunnels and making the problem worse.”
In 1903, a passenger train stalled in a tunnel when the locomotive crew were overcome by smoke. The 100 passengers escaped asphyxiation when a railroad employee, riding the train as a passenger, released the brakes, allowing the train to coast to safety outside the tunnel.
According to the display:
“The first tunnel built on the Stevens Pass route was the Horseshoe Tunnel, in use from 1892 to 1929. Two high trestles flanked the tunnel on either end over Martin Creek.”
Museums 101
More museum exhibit photo tours from this series:
Museums 101: Model railroad (photo diary)
Museums 101: Lewis and Clark through paintings (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Fort Vancouver Counting House (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Antique Dolls (photo diary)
Museums 101: International Chess Pieces (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Manifest Destiny in the High Desert (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Constructing African-American Identity (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Dinosaurs and Birds (Photo Diary)