Milwaukee Road in Everett, WA

[Road Fan]

I'm researching the Milwaukee Road in Everett, Washington. I'm especially interested in finding any information on Milwaukee's trestle across the Snohomish River (NP's too if possible), and the 'Roads' turntable and depot at 37th & McDougall.  When did they go in (the Everett Sanborn maps show them in 1955, but not in 1914), when did they go out?  Does anyone have .jpg's of them or plans?  Locomotive rosters would be of interest too.

I sure would appreciate anyones help with this. 

 Thanx

[nanaimo73]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like an interesting project.

If you don't get answers here, may I suggest you also try asking on the Milwaukee Road Yahoo group?

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/MILW/

[carknocker1]

I used to live out there and spent alot of time in the Snohomish valley . From what I recall the Milwakee rd used the Northen Pacifics tracks in Snohomish but not until the late 1970's . I am not sure but I don't believe the Milwakee RD ever had tracks in Everrett WA. but I could be wrong .

[Road Fan]

I appreciate your help.

 Thanks

[GN-Rick]

I'm an Everett native-lived around there most of my life.  I do recall the Milwaukee engine facility at 37th and MacDougall.  As I was around there (and aware) only from about 1965 on, what I can tell you might be a bit limited, but, here goes.  As far as I can recall, during my time frame, the Milw only had a small service facility at that location. I don't recall a turntable at all, so if it existed, it may have been removed by that time.  The locomotives I remember seeing there were almost always one or two EMD end-cab switcher-type locos-like SW1200s or possibly NW2s.  The facility was accessed by a track that branched off the GN mainline-or possibly the NP branch-down at Lowell Junction.  Milwaukee also owned trackage down parallel to the Snohomish River extending from Lowell up to Pacific Avenue.  This included what was known as Belt Yard-which was removed only recently by the BNSF (within the last 3 years).  Milw also had some light industrial trackage that extended north from the MacDougall facility. On that trackage, up at 33rd and MacDougall was their freight station-which still stands, having been converted to a rustic little cafe.  I know from my own recollections that the Milw did most of the switching work down at the old Simpson Lee mill-also down in the Lowell area.  I know from photographic evidence that they might have run the Snoqualmie-Carnation-Duvall-Monroe branch power-usually SD7s and SD9s, into Everett for service as well, but that activity died out right around 1970-71.  Hopefully this will help you at least a bit.  Having been born in late 1959, it's difficult for me to remember very much of what went on that early, but if I can help further, just ask.

[Anonymous]

The Pacific Northwest volume of SPV (Steam Powered Video) shows the Milw going north out of High Rock,crossing the GN line at Monroe, following it northwest (on the northern side) to Snohomish Jct East where it ducks under the north/south NP line. A station was located just after the road crossed the Shohomish River.

It then proceeded northwest through Riverside and at Lowell, after it crossed the GN, headed north about 3/4 of a mile to the yard.

It indicates that the Milwaukee at some time had used the GN tracks from Monroe to Lowell.

The Atlases are not without errors; I have found a few around the Poughkeepsie NY area, but they keep correcting any errors. 

Art 

[comsopac]

The Everett Line was constructed in 1910-11.  Freight service expanded to the various small towns probably being brought in from Moncton(cedar Falls) by work and construction trains.  The line was completed through to Everett in July 1911 when the drawbridges at Ebey Slough and Lowell were completed.  Tri-weekly freight service was established in August and the line was officially opened to freight service on November 12, 1911 with one way freight in each direction daily except Sunday.

Passenger service wasn't started until April 21, 1912, partly because the line was finished during the previous Fall and they wanted the fills to finish settling before they placed passenger runs over the line.  For the first few years there was a sort-of commuter service between Everett and Monroe that at it's peak, made seven round trips per day, in addition to the regular passenger train between Everett and Cedar Falls.  This train originally tied up at North Bend overnight, but in later years the service was expanded to Seattle. Passenger service was discontinued August 30, 1930.  After the discontiunace of the passenger service a 16 cyclinder Studebakder bus was placed in service between Everett and Cedar Falls, where in made connections with "The Olympian" trains 15 & 16, besides passengers, the bus also carried the U.S. Mail.  This service was discontinued in 1937.  The Milwaukee maintained a City Ticket Office at 1517 Hewitt Ave. in Everett from 1934 until 1954, when the office was closed. 

There was originally plans to build a four stall enginehouse in Everett, but they never materialized and it remained an "open air" facility for it's entire existence.  The turntable came from Avery, Idaho and was installed on the North side of 37th St., To start with it was 85 feet long, but was extended in length when Mallets were put on the line in the 1940's.  Prior to the Mallets, C class Consolidation's were used.

Freight shipments consistedchiefly of logs from a number of logging operations that connected to the line.  Also there were quite a few shingle mills that shipped their product.  Also many cars of finished lumber from the big Weyerhaeuser owned mills in Everett and Snoqualmie Falls.  Other products were carloads of hay, straw, beet pulp , etc., to a feed mill in Carnation and also several local farmers including the famous Carnation Farms, who also shipped purebred cattle into and out of their farm.  In the early days there was also much milk shipped to the condensery at Monroe.

In addition to the two way freights, there was up to three additional log runs on portions of the line at various times and the passenger train to Seattle, making for four trains a day over the line, plus the Great Northern ran a round trip mixed train between Monroe and Carnation for a couple of years starting in 1917 when their paralled line was abandoned.

The Milwaukee abandoned their Everett branch between Monroe and Lowell in 1936 and began running over the GN in either July or August of that Year.  To gain access to "Belt Yard" the Milwaukee also had trackage rights over the NP from Lowell Jct..

The line was Dieselized in 1950 with TR-4 cow and calf units, which were replaced with SD-7 units in 1952.  SD-7 and 9's in 2 and 3 unit back to back lashups continued until 1968 when GE U33C were paired up. The Everett Local was pulled off in September 1970 when the new Bellingham through service was inaugerated via the Everett line.  The Local was reinstated in 1972 when the Bellingham runs were rerouted to the BN via Woodinville.  The Everett local made it's last run on February 9th, 1973.  By this time, the wood chip traffic from Snoqualme Falls had been diverted to trucks, and the line between Snoqualmie Falls and High Rock was pulled up during 1975-76.

The Enumclaw Local served the Wyerhaeuser mill at Snoqualmie Falls until the end of the Milwaukee in March 1980.  The BN which had trackage rights over the Milwaukee from Maple Valley to Snoqualmie Falls purchased the line at that time.

Hope this helps.

[Road Fan]

  I really appreciate your great information on this.  I remember seeing an old photo of Milwuakees ticket office in one of the digital on-line photo collections of the Everett Public Library- the ticket office was not the main subject of the photo, so it was just a lucky photo catch.

I've been curious about the size of Milwuakees turntable at Everett for a very long time and pondered the type of locomotives that made the trip to Everett and were turned there. 

The milk runs to the condensery at Monroe, the sugar beet pulp shipments, cattle runs and farm produce transport were completely unknown to me and are exciting new paths of research for me to follow.  The Monroe Historical Society.org has some great photos that include the condensery, but I didn't know of the the Roads connection to it.  The Society also has photos of the Roads covered trestle there too.

Thanks again for the great information.

 

[Bagehot]

"The milk runs to the condensery at Monroe, the sugar beet pulp shipments, cattle runs and farm produce transport were completely unknown to me and are exciting new paths of research for me to follow."

And I did not know that condensed milk was made at a "condensery." Makes sense. but is that really what they called it?

 

 

[Road Fan]

http://monroehistoricalsociety.org/condense.html                

Here is a link to the history and photos of the 'Carnation Condensery' located in Monroe, WA. The Monroe Historical Society (monroehistoricalsociety.org) have a great thumbnail galleries section that covers alot of great railroad history. I'm sure that they would appreciate the visits from the 'Classic Trains' family of readers.

I myself was unaware of the Milwuakee Roads presence at the 'Condensery' there until I received the post from 'comsopac'  I was also unaware that the Road had enlarged the turntable in Everett to accommidate biig Milwaukee Road Mallet's- that must have been a spectacular sight to see!

A special thanks to all who have contributed their great historical information concerning my question concerning the Milwuakee Road in Everett.  Please keep the great info coming- Thanks again

Road Fan

[Bagehot]

Road Fan

http://monroehistoricalsociety.org/condense.html                

Here is a link to the history and photos of the 'Carnation Condensery' located in Monroe, WA. The Monroe Historical Society (monroehistoricalsociety.org) have a great thumbnail galleries section that covers alot of great railroad history.

That is an interesting history. I've been through there many times on the railroad (GN/BN) and a few times on the highway. A nice rural setting. I always thought "the Condensory" was a local joke ... I guess not. Starting to see suburban sprawl ...

[Mr Zilla]

I grew up in Snohomish and the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Milkwaukee all three ran across our property.  Where the NP tressel crosses the river,  there was the remains of one of the concrete supports for the Milwaukee  just south of the tressel.  The wooden tressel support for the NP stops a little short of the river bank and the Milwaukee ran under the tressel between where the wooden support on land stops and the riverbank.  On the south end, where pine street stops and curves around into Lincoln Street (now Ave), on the south side of pine out in the stocker field, if that is indeed still farm land, there was a big man made hill which was part of the incline up to raised tressel running from there in a northwesterly direction down to where it ran under the NP tressel and then on pilings in the river.  I don't remember the year, but sometime between 70 and 75  Ed Stocker Jr. the land owner, removed the hill in his field to flatten out the field. 

[Road Fan]

Thanks for the new information.  The Milwaukee and NP trestles into Everett have always been a intriguing mystery.  I haven't come across any photos of them to show what they looked like.  The Sanborn maps depict them as swing bridges, but that's as much detail as I've come across.  I recall an old photo of a large mill at the location for the bridges, but you could barely see the approach trestles in the far distance from the Lowell side and that was it- no actual bridge structure.

 Thanks,

Steve M.

 

[Mr Zilla]

If you go to the following address www.historicalpublishing.org/pages%2014-22.pdf you can get some good pictures of the NP tressel and bridge.  It was about 100 feet tall.  Keep in mind that although the overall course of the Snohomish river is east west, through town it ran in a north south direction.  The Milwaukee went under the railbed of the tressel on the east side of the river to go onto the pillings in the river.  If you get a copy of the book Early Snohomish, Images of America and look on page 64 you will see a picture of the Great Northern bridge which is on the south end away from the NP.  On the web site there is a good picture of the NP bridge looking down the tracks.  The truss section is on the concrete pilling in the middle of the river but the rotating section pieces of the railbed that extend beyond the rotating section.  I don't know about the 80's and 90's but up until the mid 70's the bridge was fully operational and capable of being rotated, however I don't think that after the fifty's that it had to be opened anymore for river traffic.  If you look in the book, you will also see some good pictures of the wharves on the river.  Not the NP or Great Northern but the Milwaukee was a very important part of how the wharves were used in part.  Keeping in mind that through town the river actually is north south and the Milwaukee was on pilling in the river on the east bank,  the wharves on the east side could also be used to directly load and off load from the train.  The comment on the web site is right in that that the tressel is structually still capable of being used today,.  The logs that were used to build it are not pieced together.  From the bottom where they are buried in the ground upto the railbed, those logs came from trees that tall.  They are soaked all the way through solid with creosote, they are NOT going to rot for a LONG TIME!  At ground level, everyone of them is about four feet in diameter with very little tapper up to the top.  You can see the planks that are used for bracing and they are about 4 x 12's.  That thing is not going to fall down on it's own for a very long time.  The Great Northern bridge is also a swinging bridge and again up through the mid 70's it was fully operational but again probaly did not need to be opened and closed after the 50's.  Just as an additional reference,  on page 14 the document on the website, you will see a small boat ramp, that boat ramp is still there today..

[Road Fan]

Thanks for the great infromation.

 

Road Fan

[Mr Zilla]

For a good picture of the NP trestle, if you go to the city of snohomish historic district main web page, you will see a photo labeled historic train trestle.  That is the NP trestle.  Keeping in mind that the river flows north/south through town, this is looking from the south side north so the main business part of town will on your right north of there.  This view is as if you were standing in our field looking north.  It was then about a quarter mile across our field back to first street coming down the hill from the business area in town.

 

[DavidMilwaukeeRoad]

I would like to locate the video you are talking about.  I've been on the SPV website and they say nothing about a Pacific Northwest Volume.  I grew up in this area.

[Stourbridge Lion]

DavidMilwaukeeRoad - Welcome to trains.com!