Big Bend Railroads
By Dan Bolyard
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About this ebook
Dan Bolyard
Dan Bolyard has been a lifelong Big Bend area resident and railroad historian. His research has taken him to every obscure place known in the region in the interests of what once was. Images were selected from many museums and collections around Big Bend.
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Big Bend Railroads - Dan Bolyard
collection.
INTRODUCTION
The first lines constructed in the Big Bend were part of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern (SLS&E), which wanted to build across the state line. It started constructing its Eastern Division in 1888. This alarmed the established Northern Pacific, which then created a subsidiary, the Central Washington Railroad, to build into the Big Bend as well. Ultimately, the NP bought the SLS&E, ceasing further competition.
The Great Northern was the first main line to cross the Big Bend area; it followed the Crab Creek drainage for a long portion. Most construction through the area was completed in 1892, with the line finished as a through route in early 1893.
In 1903, a connection from the NP at Coulee City to Adrian on the GN was built, allowing grain shipments to be more directly shipped to the West Coast without having the backhaul to Spokane and then west.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul started to set up its Pacific Extension in 1905, with the company doing construction through the Big Bend, most commonly known as the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway. The line was completed as a through route in 1909.
Another NP subsidiary was established in 1909, the Connell Northern, which completed a line from Connell to Adrian. This allowed the NP to have a large loop through the Big Bend. Plans were to use this line to construct a cutoff across the Big Bend, bypassing the dip down to Pasco.
Part of this section was built from Ritzville to Bassett Junction, north of Warden, with surveys all the way through to the Ellensburg area. The grade of the uncompleted section to Ritzville can be seen today.
The town of Waterville had longed for railroad access, but when the GN bypassed the town while constructing to Mansfield in 1909, the citizens there formed their own line, the Waterville Railroad, to build the five miles from Douglas to Waterville.
Branch lines to Moses Lake and Marcellus were constructed in the 1910 time frame, allowing the Milwaukee to gain much needed local traffic. These were the only branches the Milwaukee had through eastern Washington, save for the line to Spokane.
Further major construction in the area resumed when the building of Grand Coulee Dam was imminent. The NP proposed building a line from Coulee City north through the Grand Coulee, if it were allowed exclusive access to transporting construction materials. The government balked at the NP’s demand for exclusive access and put the line up for bidding. The NP did get the bulk of the shipments.
The first line to disappear in the Big Bend was the Waterville Railroad, which lost over 50 percent of its tracks in the floods of May 1948. The flood also took out a large section of the GN line to Mansfield. The Waterville was never rebuilt, while the GN did fix its line to Mansfield.
The next line to be lost was the one to Grand Coulee Dam in 1950, as most of it was to be flooded by what is now Banks Lake. Portions of the line, along with the old engine shop at Odair and the crane building, can still be seen today.
Five miles of new track were constructed in 1969 when the Milwaukee Road announced it was building to the new industrial park at Royal City.
Abandonments began in 1979, when the line from Coulee City to Adrian was taken up. The removal contract was given to Monte Holm of Moses Lake, who wanted the rail for his train. Trains had been discontinued on this section since the mid-1950s.
The Milwaukee Road quit serving the lines west of Miles City, Montana, in March 1980, and service to the major industries in the Moses Lake and Othello areas was transferred to the Burlington Northern. Only the main line from Warden to Royal City Junction survived, as did the spur to Royal City and part of the branch to Moses Lake.
The next section to be taken up was the one from Adrian to Wheeler in 1983. This section had most recently been used to transport sugar beets from the greater Quincy area to Wheeler via Adrian.
Also taken up in 1983 was the last remaining section of the Lake Shore out of Davenport. This had been a short spur that remained to serve local grain elevators south of town.
In 1985, the branch to Mansfield was removed although it was nearly saved. A vote by residents to create a rail authority to operate the line was narrowly defeated. The Washington Central Railroad was created in 1986 to take over the operation of the line of the Burlington Northern from Connell to Wheeler and the former Milwaukee Road from Warden to Othello and Royal City and Moses Lake, amongst other lines in the state.
The branch to Coulee City survived until 1996, when it became part of the short-line Palouse River & Coulee City. Ten years later, the line was sold to the State of Washington, with a new operator taking it over, the Eastern Washington Gateway.
The Washington Central ceased operations in 1996, when it was bought out by Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) to gain control of other lines it owned in Washington state. The lines in the Big Bend were turned back over to the Columbia Basin Railway, which had similar ownership to the Washington Central.
This book is loosely based on the research I have compiled over the years on my Big Bend Railroad History blog at http://sdp45.blogspot.com/.