Several of you have asked me about the origins of the Tacoma & Eastern virtual railroad. I could not find anywhere else to post this, so here is the story:
The Tacoma Eastern Railroad began life as a 30-inch narrow gauge logging road running from a wharf at the head of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The railroad left the wharf fronting Dock Street and continued southward through a steep chasm to a sawmill located near South 38th Street. The railroad, the wharf, and the sawmill were owned and operated by brothers John F. and George E. Hart. the little narrow gauge road brought dimensional lumber materials from the Harts' sawmill to their wharf, largely for export to the lumber-hungry markets of San Francisco.
The early operations of the railroad were successful, but the Hart Brothers became concerned about their ability to expand their market and move their product due to the fact they were unable to interchange cars with the (standard gauge) Northern Pacific Railroad. A reconstruction program was initiated to convert the railroad from narrow to standard gauge and the line became known officially as the Tacoma Eastern Railroad for the first time.
The Tacoma Eastern Railroad was not known for moving passengers, but moving timber—big timber and lots of it too. Ninety percent of all freight hauled by the railroad was extricated from the forests beneath Mount Rainier. Forty- and fifty-car trains were loaded with logs, lumber, cedar bolts, shingles, cordwood, wood pulp and delicately crafted wood trim. Of these materials, the logs were the most prevalent and many of these train cars were loaded with one enormous log that measured eight feet or more in diameter at the butt and could tip the scales at 40 tons. These massive logs were euphemistically referred to as “Tacoma Toothpicks” (Photo Below).
PASSENGER SERVICE BEGINS. The only President to have ridden the rails of the Tacoma Eastern was William Howard Taft. In 1911, President Taft came to Tacoma specifically to visit Mount Rainier National Park. Taft arrived in early October but an early snow storm had preceded his arrival by a few days, making the Presidential trip rather arduous. The train trip took two and half hours from Tacoma to Ashford. After that, the Tacoma Eastern became known as the National Park Railroad.
The Tacoma Eastern was eventually acquired by the Milwaukee Road as a part of a Pacific Expansion effort. Between 1919 and 1980, the National Park branch would consistently be ranked the second most economically viable branch in the entire 1700-mile Milwaukee Road system. However, on March 15, 1980, the Milwaukee Road became the single largest railroad failure in American history. The Tacoma Eastern Branch of the railroad was conveyed to the Weyerhaeuser Corporation who used the line to move logs from Thurston and Lewis counties to a trans-loading facility at the Port of Tacoma, and later, the Port of Olympia for international export. Oddly enough, the modern public pressure for access to the Mt. Rainier National Park has initiated a current movement to restore the line from Tacoma to Ashford for park access. The right-of-way is currently owned by the City of Tacoma, and public funding for the project is widely supported in the area. There is even some support for the short extension from Ashford to the old sawmill at Mineral Lake, which would be an excellent living museum and a further attraction for tourism.
My virtual railroad (Tacoma & Eastern) changes the name slightly for legal reasons, and is based on the timeframe of the early National Park era, circa 1917-1924. It is a mile for mile recreation of the original line at the time of its peak expansion. It was also at this time that the TE started using conventional locomotives (photo above), mostly for passenger service. They retained the geared locos for logging until the sale of the railroad and actually well beyond that time under the Milwaukee Road banner.
The Tacoma Eastern Railroad began life as a 30-inch narrow gauge logging road running from a wharf at the head of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The railroad left the wharf fronting Dock Street and continued southward through a steep chasm to a sawmill located near South 38th Street. The railroad, the wharf, and the sawmill were owned and operated by brothers John F. and George E. Hart. the little narrow gauge road brought dimensional lumber materials from the Harts' sawmill to their wharf, largely for export to the lumber-hungry markets of San Francisco.
The early operations of the railroad were successful, but the Hart Brothers became concerned about their ability to expand their market and move their product due to the fact they were unable to interchange cars with the (standard gauge) Northern Pacific Railroad. A reconstruction program was initiated to convert the railroad from narrow to standard gauge and the line became known officially as the Tacoma Eastern Railroad for the first time.
The Tacoma Eastern Railroad was not known for moving passengers, but moving timber—big timber and lots of it too. Ninety percent of all freight hauled by the railroad was extricated from the forests beneath Mount Rainier. Forty- and fifty-car trains were loaded with logs, lumber, cedar bolts, shingles, cordwood, wood pulp and delicately crafted wood trim. Of these materials, the logs were the most prevalent and many of these train cars were loaded with one enormous log that measured eight feet or more in diameter at the butt and could tip the scales at 40 tons. These massive logs were euphemistically referred to as “Tacoma Toothpicks” (Photo Below).
PASSENGER SERVICE BEGINS. The only President to have ridden the rails of the Tacoma Eastern was William Howard Taft. In 1911, President Taft came to Tacoma specifically to visit Mount Rainier National Park. Taft arrived in early October but an early snow storm had preceded his arrival by a few days, making the Presidential trip rather arduous. The train trip took two and half hours from Tacoma to Ashford. After that, the Tacoma Eastern became known as the National Park Railroad.
The Tacoma Eastern was eventually acquired by the Milwaukee Road as a part of a Pacific Expansion effort. Between 1919 and 1980, the National Park branch would consistently be ranked the second most economically viable branch in the entire 1700-mile Milwaukee Road system. However, on March 15, 1980, the Milwaukee Road became the single largest railroad failure in American history. The Tacoma Eastern Branch of the railroad was conveyed to the Weyerhaeuser Corporation who used the line to move logs from Thurston and Lewis counties to a trans-loading facility at the Port of Tacoma, and later, the Port of Olympia for international export. Oddly enough, the modern public pressure for access to the Mt. Rainier National Park has initiated a current movement to restore the line from Tacoma to Ashford for park access. The right-of-way is currently owned by the City of Tacoma, and public funding for the project is widely supported in the area. There is even some support for the short extension from Ashford to the old sawmill at Mineral Lake, which would be an excellent living museum and a further attraction for tourism.
My virtual railroad (Tacoma & Eastern) changes the name slightly for legal reasons, and is based on the timeframe of the early National Park era, circa 1917-1924. It is a mile for mile recreation of the original line at the time of its peak expansion. It was also at this time that the TE started using conventional locomotives (photo above), mostly for passenger service. They retained the geared locos for logging until the sale of the railroad and actually well beyond that time under the Milwaukee Road banner.
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