Everett & Monte Cristo RR

[Road Fan]

I wanted to see if anyone knows where the Everett & Monte Cristo RR came into Everett, WA at.  Did it actually come into Everett, or did it connect to the NP at Lake Stevens or Snohomish.

Thanks

[GN-Rick]

The E&MC joined the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern (later NP) at Hartford Junction, now located on the east side of Lake Stevens.  It had trackage rights down to Snohomish, then over to Everett through Lowell (now an Everett district).  The swing bridge crossing the Snohomish River was at Lowell.  The E&MC's Everett station, and locomotive facility was located at the east end of Pacific Avenue in Everett. The road also had trackage rights up the east side of Everett to sevice the smelter, located on the northeast corner of the Everett Peninsula.  I live in Robe Valley, just across the river from the old ROW, and am lucky enough to own a few relics of the railroad.  Hope this helps.

[Road Fan]

This is great information.  This fills in a lot of  gray areas.  Do you recall when they shut down? 

Thanks again for this great information.

[GN-Rick]

There is no really simple answer to this question.  The Everett & Monte Cristo Railway went through several corporate and ownership changes over the years of its existence. After the disastrous flood of November 1897, the railway remained out of service for over two years, above Granite Falls, Wa..  After some financial shenanigans by John D. Rockefeller's representative Frederick T. Gates, which placed all the major mines under Rockefeller's control, they finally got around to rebuilding the road.  In February 1900, the railroad-between Hartford Jnction and Everett- was sold to the Northern Pacific.  Later that year, the NP reorganised the corporation, and dropped 'Everett' from its name-a reflection on the fact that the railway no longer ran on its own tracks into Everett.  In September of 1902, the NP bought the remainder of the railroad.  The NP, for a time, would operate the road as an independent subsidiary-which ended in October of 1903, when the NP eliminated the separate corporate identity and made the road the "Monte Cristo Branch" of the NP. This manner of operation continued through the waning days of mining at Monte-after Mr. Gates assumed control of the mines, he quickly sold them all off to the Guggenheim smelter trust, which wanted the Everett smelter for its own operations, but had no interest in the mines, so they were largely closed.  In 1909, due to lack of business, the NP reduced train service to Silverton only. This limited service was the way things were until 1915.  In May of that year, the NP-desiring to not have the expense of operating a money-losing line, forced two local lumbermen, the Rucker brothers, into signing a lease on the Monte Cristo branch so they could access their timber holdings in the region.  The Ruckers organised a firm to operate the railroad and called it the Hartford Eastern Railway.  The railway during these years operated with gas cars, rather than steam locomotives.  This lease arrangement went on till 1925, when the NP, Wanting to sever its ties with the railroad, conveyed its ownership to the Ruckers.  Through these years, minimal mantenance was performed on the property, and the railroad was slowly falling apart.  Adding to that, the increasing presence of motorcars were making the railroad a losing proposition.  The Great Depression was the final nail in the railroad's coffin. In 1933, the Ruckers petitioned the ICC. for abandonment, which was eventually granted, and the railway ceased to exist.  The rails were torn up in 1936 and sold as scrap to Japan.  The right-of-way was mostly used to build the Mountain Loop Highway-which is the road I live on.  There are two very good books out on the area. On, written in 1979, is called "Monte Cristo" and deals mostly with the mining community. It may not be easy to find, but as I own a copy, I haven't looked.  The other is called "The Everett and Monte Cristo Railway" and was put out about 5 years ago by Oso Press.  It is probably still easily findable and I strongly recommend it. It's full of pictures and data and is excellent. Hope this helps.

[Road Fan]

Thanks once again for your great information.  I will look into the books you mentioned.  Before moving out of state, I used to take the family out on 'drives in the country' to Silverton, Darrington, Stevens Pass (4X4'd into Wellington/Tye), Concrete etc, ostensibly to look for abandoned rail lines.

 

Thanks Again