Download or read book The Abandoned Western Cascade Mountain Railroad Tunnels written by Marques Vickers and published by Marquis Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-07 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The creation of the train route through the Western Washington Cascade Mountains proved a monumental challenge. A conflict arose between the engineering capabilities of designers and the treacherous topography and inclement weather of the region. This edition profiles and elaborately photographs the historical remnants of the Cascade route originating between Scenic and Stevens Pass. Remaining and abandoned train tunnels and snow sheds are intimately portrayed accompanied by historical commentary Amongst the featured attractions include the: Deception Creek Falls, Scenic Hot Springs, Windy Point Snow Shed and Railroad Tunnel, Western Portal entrance to the Cascade Grand Tunnel and the Wellington Railroad Tunnel and Snow Shed. Contextual insight from numerous sources is provided into the background, complexity and necessity for construction of numerous snow sheds following the 1910 Wellington catastrophe. Today the Iron Goat Trail traces the routing between Deception Creek and Wellington. It has evolved into a popular hiking destination. Two trailheads are most easily reached during the summer and early fall months via the ghost towns of Scenic or Wellington. Both feature parking lots easily accessible by car. The trail routing also parallels with the partially closed Old Cascade Highway and heavily travelled U.S. Route 2 (Stevens Pass Highway). The 1910 Wellington Avalanche In winter 1910, the city of Wellington was a miniscule town that existed exclusively due to the Great Northern Railway. Constructed in 1893, the town was the operational headquarters for tunnel construction, tunnel electrification and general maintenance along the line. It was also an important coal, water and rest stop for trains on route to Everett, Seattle and Tacoma. The edition details the massive blizzard and accompanying avalanche that occurred on March 1, 1910. The storm obliterated the train depot, sweeping two passenger cars into the Tye River and killing 96 passengers, the worst fatality count in American railroad history. Only 23 would survive the catastrophe that would initiate successive construction of eight miles of snow sheds covering twelve miles of track, a capable, but short-term solution. Many of the snow sheds and tunnels have partially collapsed due to their wood framing and exposure to inclement weather. They continue to slowly dissipate in condition or blend into the sloping terrain of granite hillsides. The permanent solution involved the construction of the Cascade Grand Tunnel beginning in 1925. The Great Cascade Tunnel dedicated during January 1929 may be one of the most understated engineering feats within the United States. The concrete portal is large enough to accommodate a locomotive and connecting train cars cut through 7.8 miles of granite. When inaugurated, it was acknowledged as the longest tunnel within the western hemisphere. Today it remains the longest within the lower 48 states. The architectural genius behind the construction would provide a permanent solution to the troublesome and persistent menace of deadly regional landslides and avalanches.

Download or read book The Abandoned Western Cascade Mountain Railroad Tunnels written by Marques Vickers and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The creation of the train routes through the Western Washington Cascade Mountains proved a monumental challenge. The conflict arose between the engineering capabilities of man and the treacherous topography and inclimate weather of the region. The nine miles of track connecting the towns of Stevens Pass, Wellington and Scenic, Washington ultimately proved a failure for the Great Northern Railway. The Iron Goat Trail that retraces the former routing is a popular hiking destination. The trailhead is easily accessible by car. The well-maintained path leads you through traces of two ghost towns that were obliterated by avalanche.In the last decade of the 19th century, railroads were the primary mode of transportation for transcontinental passenger travel and freight. Previously isolated and inaccessible portions of the country became connected. Geographical impediments were merely obstacles to overcome. As profits swelled, ambitious and bold routings were designed and realized. During the 1890s, construction innovations enabled greater travel and more direct routes. These projects, employing tunneling and snow sheds, began lining the mountainous stretches immediately past Stevens Pass on the route to the Everett and Seattle stations.Immigrant laborers cleared the hillsides of mammoth trees. They drilled and blasted rock to create a flat grade. Camps were required for the hundreds of workers to maintain the tracks and keep them operational during the winter snows. Snowdrifts on the mountains often piled as high as 25 feet on either side of the tracks, creating artificial canyons and muffling warning noises. Snow slides often trapped and delayed trains for long periods of time until snowplows and large crews could manually shovel the paths.Crossing the Western Cascades in winter was a daunting trek. Initially, the lush forests offered protection from avalanche perils. Over time, logging, grade construction and fires cleared the landscape making them vulnerable to heavy snow slides. Sparks emitted by the passing trains often ignited the forest.Along the Stevens Pass corridor between Wellington and Scenic, eight snowsheds and tunnels protected trains from the perilous conditions. Under these shelters, trains and passengers were considered safe. Exposed areas made trains susceptible to danger.Construction on the snowsheds began in 1893. Each were framed with untreated Douglas fir, hemlock and Pacific Silver Fir beams and reinforced with concrete. The interior of the structures however, created residual problems, often trapping smoke and hindering visibility. The summer heat caused the timbers to become dry and less resistant to sparks from passing trains.Maintenance costs skyrocketed during the winter months. The massive snows and periodic avalanches sometimes caused lengthy closures and worse fatalities. Derailments, destroyed bridges and the human risk factor made the decision to abandon the menacing stretch an economic necessity by 1921. Construction began in December 1925 of an alternate lower elevation extended tunnel route that remains today. Upon its completion, the doomed stretch between Stevens Pass, Wellington and Scenic was abandoned to the elements.The snowsheds and tunnels remain as relics. They have continued a slow but steady deterioration, crumbling and becoming defaced with graffiti. Their existence is a threat to the curious who enter due to unpredictable falling debris and flash flooding.Danger aside, imagination is stirred when entering these relics. On envisions a bygone era where the speed of transport was relative. A voyage by cross-country train does not match the speed required by contemporary travelers. In their silence and emptiness, the vacant tunnels and snow sheds resemble tombs depicting casualties of time.An irony persists that the most accessible remnants of this era were after the 1910 Wellington Avalanche that killed 96, the worst fatality count railroad history.

Download or read book Forgotten Cascade Mountain Railroad Tunnels written by Vickers Marques (author) and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Eight mile Cascade Tunnel Great Northern Railway written by American Society of Civil Engineers and published by . This book was released on 1931 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Dedication and Opening of the New Cascade Tunnel a Monument to James J Hill written by Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1929 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains the speeches given at the dedication ceremony and the banquet.

Download or read book A 30 mile Railway Tunnel Under the Cascade Mountains written by Hiram Martin Chittenden and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Railroad Gazette written by and published by . This book was released on 1892 with total page 1066 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Pacific Reporter written by and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 1234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The White Cascade written by Gary Krist and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2008-01-22 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The never-before-told story of one of the worst rail disasters in U.S. history in which two trains full of people, trapped high in the Cascade Mountains, are hit by a devastating avalanche In February 1910, a monstrous blizzard centered on Washington State hit the Northwest, breaking records. The world stopped—but nowhere was the danger more terrifying than near a tiny town called Wellington, perched high in the Cascade Mountains, where a desperate situation evolved minute by minute: two trainloads of cold, hungry passengers and their crews found themselves marooned without escape, their railcars gradually being buried in the rising drifts. For days, an army of the Great Northern Railroad's most dedicated men—led by the line's legendarily courageous superintendent, James O'Neill—worked round-the-clock to rescue the trains. But the storm was unrelenting, and to the passenger's great anxiety, the railcars—their only shelter—were parked precariously on the edge of a steep ravine. As the days passed, food and coal supplies dwindled. Panic and rage set in as snow accumulated deeper and deeper on the cliffs overhanging the trains. Finally, just when escape seemed possible, the unthinkable occurred: the earth shifted and a colossal avalanche tumbled from the high pinnacles, sweeping the trains and their sleeping passengers over the steep slope and down the mountainside. Centered on the astonishing spectacle of our nation's deadliest avalanche, Gary Krist's The White Cascade is the masterfully told story of a supremely dramatic and never-before-documented American tragedy. An adventure saga filled with colorful and engaging history, this is epic narrative storytelling at its finest.

Download or read book You Can t Return Home Except Through Photographs and Memory written by Marques Vickers and published by Marquis Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-03 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Marques Vickers returns to his hometown of Vallejo, California with his memoir “You Can’t Return Home Except Through Photographs and Memory”. The personal narrative traces his formation within a community that through his eyes has slipped a notch from both the middle-class and affluence. Vickers employs a light but candid tone on a gravely perceived subject, Vallejo’s regressive deterioration. The suburban San Francisco Bay Area town of 120,000 was formerly the California State Capital twice and home to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The base closed in 1996 creating an employment void that prompted stagnation within the downtown core. Vickers was raised locally during the 1960s-70s. He traces the specific causes for decline as the proliferation of long simmering racial tensions, homelessness, aggressive criminality and drug trafficking. Returning in 1987 as an adult following a twelve-year absence, he was struck by the town’s smallness of scale. In spite of the successful recruitment of Marine World Africa USA in 1986, the addition has not elevated Vallejo into a desirable extended stay tourist destination. He observes that seemingly for every positive step forward, the city tends to relapse two steps backwards. Despite the deterioration, most Vallejoans he knows are proud of their grounded heritage. His text is far from bleak and bitter. He cites the town’s distinctiveness, attractions and diversity that positively impacted his personal development. His photo compilation was prompted by a return for the funeral service of a 90-year-old friend Andy who died on New Years Day 2017. Andy, a former longtime resident, avoided local visitations noting the degenerating conditions from his residence in adjacent Benicia. The author’s own series of memories were exhumed at the same time as the body of his friend was being lowered into the ground for burial. Vickers surveys the present tense community with his camera lens portraying a bittersweet reality. Although he cannot overlook the obvious, he hopes the current downtown may ultimately be viewed as an isolated puzzle piece fitting into a larger positive legacy. Balancing his criticism with objectivity, humor and insight, Vickers attempts to accurate portray a subject he mourns and knows intimately.

Download or read book Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Washington written by Washington (State). Supreme Court and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 846 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Washington Reports written by Washington (State). Supreme Court and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 836 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Gold to Rust Monuments Icons and Whitewashed History written by Marques Vickers and published by Marquis Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-25 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Gold to Rust: Monuments, Icons and Whitewashed History” is author Marques Vickers’ offbeat commentary and unconventional photographic journal. The edition includes travel impressions accumulated from over thirty years of travel spanning four continents. His photography documents and isolates unusual signage, monuments, and unorthodox sights frequently overlooked by traditional travel guides and journals. Over seventy cultural monuments are highlighted including: Alexandria Hotel Los Angeles Architectural Bones Artist Cemetery Statuary Bach’s Leipzig Church Gig Berlin Burial Dilemma Berlin: Memorializing Dividing Demons Bob Arneson’s Bricks Bridge Love Locks Bubblegum Alleys California Admission Day Monument California State Capitol Building California’s Wine Industry Cascade Mountain Abandoned Railroad Tunnels Celebrity Burial Pilgrimages Chambers Bay Monolithic Ruins Charles Cros Claude Nicolas Ledoux Confederate Soldier Monuments in Western United States Cultural Gluttony Dijon’s Ancient Jewish Cemetery Drive-In Theatres Dumas Brothel East German Border Guard Towers Empty Open Air Cathedrals Espresso Art Father Junipero Serra Fabrezan’s Village Windmill Flooding Level Markings Frauenlob: Medieval Rock Star Gargoyles Atop Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral German City Holocaust Sidewalk Memorials Grand Park and Spring Street Junction Halley’s Comet Hearst Landmark Building Jack London: Short Story Virtuoso James Dean Memorial Kennebunkport: Too Much Information Sign Kiwi Bacon Sculpture Liberty Belle Slot Machine: Birthplace of The One-Armed Bandit Lil’ Sambo’s Heritage Los Angeles’ Chinatown Losing Everything Lotta Crabtree’s Fountain Lou Graham of Seattle Lowest Rent Accommodations Mainz’s Severed Extremity Sculptures Mechanics Monument Military Hardware Memorials Modesto’s Keyboard Crosswalks Montana State Prison Murder Memorials New Palace Hotel Panama Canal Memories Paul Revere’s Ride Personalized Soldier Memorials Pony Express Delivery Service Racetrack Church Raymond, Washington Iron Cut-Outs Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage Single Building School Houses Squatter’s Rights Stock Market Casualties of 1929 Story in the Stones Tiny Houses Twilight Tourism Vladimir Lenin’s Seattle Sculpture Voyeurism Sculpture Wilver Willie Stargell Wrinkles of the City Wall Murals

Download or read book Freebie Travel Guide to Western Washington written by Marques Vickers and published by Marquis Publishing. This book was released on 2021-06-14 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freebie Travel Guide to Western Washington Historical, Cultural and Sometimes Notorious on the Cheap The Freebie Travel Guide to Western Washington escorts you to renown but sometimes obscure attractions that are available to savor without the burden of admission fees (unless indicated otherwise). Featured are attractions known to insiders with unconventional tastes that provide legitimate insight into what distinguishes Western Washington. Many of the accompanying stories once made international headline news. Several of the profiles were once known exclusively only to locals. This guide not only photographs each location, but also provides specific background commentary, addresses and locations where each profile may be accessed. There is no equivalent touring guide that exposes both the aesthetic and gritty in such explicit fashion. If you are bored by limp and uninspiring travel advice, this guide is ideal for the restless searcher looking for something unique and different. Paranormal activity sometimes accompanies at no extra charge. The Freebie Travel Guide to Western Washington includes: Scenic, Adventure and Entertainment Sites Twilight Tree Graveyard of Rialto Beach, Abandoned Cascade Railroad Tunnels, Snoqualmie Falls, Camp Hayden, Ford Ward, Fort Worden, Gas Works Park, Lake Crescent, Sequim, Pike Place Market, Poulsbo, Life and Death Cycle Sites of Salmon, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and Tumwater Falls, Blakely Harbor Park, Shi Shi Beach and Cape Flattery Historical Oddities Watergate Figure John Ehrlichman’s Law Practice, Alfred’s Café Mysterious Sightings, Lester Brothel Plane Crash, The Monastery Disco, Old Town Café, People’s Theatre, Pioneer Square’s Totem Pole, Seattle’s Unlucky Thirteenth Police Precinct, Great Seattle Fire of 1889, Edith Macefield Holdout House, Sycamore Square Haunting and Bellingham’s Waterfront Tavern Killer Clientele. Architectural Wonders and Curiosities Rainier Square Towers, Amazon Spheres, Arctic Club Building, Cadillac Hotel, Port Townsend, Chamber Bay Monolithic Icons, Space Needle, Smith Tower, Columbia Center Tower, Dexter Horton Building, Flat Iron Building, JM Hotel and Café, LaSalle Hotel, Lou Graham Block, Matilda Winehouse Building, Merchant Café, Seattle Central Library, Seattle Tower, Skagit Hotel, Wayside Chapel and Yesler Hotel. Murder and Crime Serial Killer Ted Bundy’s Home and Crime Sites, Green River Killer, Floating Cadaver Fleet of Billy Gohl, Brides of Christ Cult Executions, Attorney Fred Cohen Execution. Pang Frozen Food Fire, Deadly Curse of Jake Bird, HI-Joy Bowling Alley Murder, Kenneth Bianchi, Maurice Clemmons Police Coffeehouse Execution, Incestuous Murder of Sylvia Gaines and Wah Mee Gambling Club Massacre, Deceased Celebrity Memorials Bruce and Brandon Lee Gravesite, Jimi Hendrix Memorial, Kurt Cobain’s Suicide House and Layne Staley’s Overdose Apartment Storied Bridges Amgen Helix, Aurora, Deception Pass, East 21st Street, Fremont, Montlake, Rainbow, Tacoma Narrows, Vancouver-Portland, West Seattle and Wishkah River Bridges Public Artwork Fremont Troll, Sacred Stone Labyrinth, Tacoma Bridge of Glass, Vessel Installation, Henry Moore’s Vertebrae Sculpture, Olympic Sculpture Park, Rain Forest Gates, Vladimir Lenin’s Statue, Mirall Sculpture, Hat n Boots Statuary, Raymond Iron Cut-Outs and Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. Cuisine Preparation Din Tai Fung’s Potstickers and Dumplings Assembly Room and Espresso Vivace Coffee Art

Download or read book Commercial West written by and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 1374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book National Power Survey written by United States. Federal Power Commission and published by . This book was released on 1936 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Washington written by Writers' Program (Wash.) and published by . This book was released on 1941 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: