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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 14 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1909 | 5 |
| 1910 | 5 |
| 1911 | 2 |
49 stories matching trainmen
- A Federal Judge Orders the Northern Pacific's Workers Not to Strike
With wages about to be cut, railroad receivers win an injunction forbidding engineers, firemen, trainmen and switchmen from combining or quitting—setting up a collision between the courts and organized labor.
- The Brotherhood at a Standstill
When the Canadian Pacific Railway attempted to force workers to abandon their unions, the entire Pacific division walked off the job, halting freight and leaving the region’s supply chains in chaos.
- Fatal Accidents Claim Two Railway Workers
A local brakeman and an out-of-town conductor lose their lives in separate railroad incidents during a single weekend.
- The Wellington Disaster
A massive snowslide buries two Great Northern trains in the Cascades, marking one of the deadliest rail disasters in Washington history.
- The Iron Horse Makes Tacoma its Home
The Great Northern Railroad shifts its western terminus to Tacoma, promising a population boom and shifting the city's status in the eyes of national rail agents.
- A Second Railroad Strike Threatens Seattle as Union Demands Great Northern Stand Down
Seattle's American Railway Union president receives a telegram from Chicago ordering a halt to Great Northern's assistance to other roads — and local trainmen brace for another walkout.
- Horror on the Great Northern Rails
A head-on collision near Edwall leaves two trainmen dead and locomotives in flames, marking a deadly period for the railroad expansion.
- A Massive Display of Labor Power
Thousands turned out for an expansive parade through Hewitt Avenue to showcase the strength of Everett’s unionized workforce.
- A Peculiar Railroad Wreck Near Wallula
A freight car piled high with lumber capsized on a sharp curve, leaving a local blacksmith seriously injured.
- Northern Pacific Workers Face Widespread Wage Cuts
Facing revenue declines, the Northern Pacific Railroad imposes sweeping pay reductions on its staff, sparking potential strike actions across the system.
- The Final Spike: Connecting the Cascade Division
A commemorative ceremony at the west portal of the Stampede Pass tunnel marks a massive milestone for Northern Pacific Railway expansion.
- Coxey’s Army of the Unemployed Rolls Through the West
Across the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, an army of unemployed men seize trains and lobby local mayors for bread as they march toward the nation's capital.
- The Great Railway Labor Trust: A Pre-Strike Reckoning in 1902
As railroad clerks and telegraphers joined forces with trade unionists in an ambitious new 'trust' of laborers, the era's major rail lines braced for a nationwide standoff.
- A Lamp Against the Express
Mrs. A. McIlvain races down the Great Northern grade to warn an oncoming train of a fallen telegraph pole.
- The Pullman Strike hits Seattle
Striking railway workers and curious mobs gather at the Columbia Street depot, testing the city's resolve during the national railway paralysis.
- They Seized a Locomotive to Stop a Train—Then Faced Judge Hanford
After a mob of 3,000 surrounded a Northern Pacific train in Spokane, ten men were charged with contempt and riot; three pleaded guilty and two were sent to hard labor.
- Olympia Moves to Outlaw the Insanity Defense — and Gag the Press on Murders
With the 1909 session half gone, Washington's legislature advances local option and an anti-racetrack gambling bill, while a sweeping new criminal code would strip juries of the insanity plea and bar newspapers from covering homicides before trial.
- The Great Dayton Train Race
A Union Pacific engineer tried to humble a rival line, but ended up in a high-speed showdown to win local political favor.
- The Iron Flash: How Spokane Fell for a Railroad
In a daring midnight maneuver that bypassed local obstructionists, the Oregon and Washington Territory railroad laid its tracks through downtown Spokane in a single night, turning a political standoff into a civic celebration.
- Fifty Citizens Ask the Railroad to Let Them Cross Their Own Main Street
Newport's council petitions the Great Northern to open Fourth Street over its tracks — but the company's prior right-of-way may make a condemnation suit the only way through.
- Two Trains Met at McMillan Station. A Jury Blamed One Man at a Telegraph Key.
A coal train and a shingle train collided on the Northern Pacific near McMillan, killing trainman Louis Harmon. The coroner's jury ruled the death criminal negligence — charged not to the railroad's schedules, but to dispatcher F. S. Rawlins, who had been running a post-strike backlog.
- State Inspector Calls the Idaho Washington Northern the Best Railroad in Washington
After a complaint about dangerous track north of Newport, a state inspector rode the line and pronounced it first-rate — and praised the railroad commission as a bargain for taxpayers.
- The Tacoma Strike, Undone and Redone in a Single Day
Northern Pacific tries to declare victory, but firemen, switchmen and engineers vote to stay out—while Debs wires that the fight is still solid.
- The Soldiers Who Refused to Ride With Scabs
During the Pullman strike, a Washington National Guard company mutinied rather than travel on a train crewed by non-union men—and the colonel who disarmed them said the whole unit should be disbanded.