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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 25 |
| 1877 | 19 |
| 1878 | 18 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 8 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 42 |
| 1884 | 21 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 21 |
| 1887 | 20 |
| 1888 | 36 |
| 1889 | 48 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 41 |
| 1892 | 114 |
| 1893 | 92 |
| 1894 | 80 |
| 1895 | 45 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 12 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 26 |
| 1904 | 31 |
| 1905 | 4 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 14 |
| 1909 | 45 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 10 |
| 1916 | 18 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 3 |
897 stories matching rail
- The Mystery of the Creeping Rail
A phantom force is physically shifting the interurban line's tracks toward Tacoma, baffling engineers and causing havoc with the electrical system.
- Freak Rail-Cutting Accident May Cost Foreman His Eye
A. L. Bird, section foreman at Hay, was struck in the eye by a flying piece of metal while cutting a railroad rail. He traveled to Colfax and then Portland for treatment, but doctors fear the eye cannot be saved.
- Rescuing 2,500 Tons of Steel from the Sea
A massive engineering project is underway to salvage thousands of tons of steel rails from the wreck of the Abercorn.
- The Struggle for a Safer Seattle Waterfront
As the city rapidly expands its harbor, a push for a new railing along the waterfront aims to protect nighttime travelers from accidental falls.
- The Ghost Ship in the Surf
A speculative salvage mission seeks to recover a fortune in iron rails from a shipwrecked vessel buried in the sand.
- The Dream of an All-Rail Path to the North
A proposal for a massive rail corridor connecting Vancouver, B.C., to Alaska is being hailed as the natural evolution of Pacific commerce.
- Thirteen Carloads of Rail and Four Miles of Track: Olympia Gets Its Electric Streetcar
Delayed by a blizzard back East, the rails are finally in Tacoma and due tonight — and a crew will start laying them down the middle of Fourth Street tomorrow morning.
- The Passing of a Pioneer
John Cain, a sturdy rail-splitter and pioneer of the Puget Sound, passes away in Blaine at age 86.
- A Monorail on a 'Bicycle System': The 1892 Plan to Ride One Rail from Seattle to Tacoma
A company promised a thirty-mile elevated railway — cars balanced on a single steel rail, steadied by rubber wheels on an overhead guide — running across the tide flats and reaching Tacoma in forty minutes.
- The Deckhand Who Went Overboard in Box Canyon
Painting the steamer Metaline, Frank Spaulding missed a grip rail and plunged into the cold, swift Pend Oreille River—then nearly cramped before a crewman fished him out with a pole.
- Building a Railroad from Shipwreck Scraps
When a derelict ship wrecked off the coast, its cargo of steel rails became a tax-delinquent treasure for Aberdeen’s civic boosters.
- Aberdeen's Bold Rail Gamble
Citizens rally to secure the Northern Pacific connection by donating land, lumber, and labor to bypass rail delays.
- Terror on the Rails
Saboteurs remove a rail from the Northern Pacific track near Buckley, nearly killing hundreds in a deliberate act of destruction.
- The Great Northern’s Secret March: How Seattle Won the Rail War
While Tacoma watches in disbelief, eighty miles of steel rails and bridge materials are already en route to Seattle, signaling that James J. Hill’s new railroad will make the city its headquarters.
- A Narrow Escape on the Lake Shore Tracks
An evening train nearly derailed near Latona after striking a cow, mangling the animal and providing a terrifying ride for the passengers.
- The Perilous Sidewalks of Mill Street
Seattle’s rapid urban expansion in 1878 has left pedestrians navigating ten-foot drops without a single railing in sight.
- The Town Hall Tug-of-War Over the Rails
Local mill owners and merchants clash over demands for a Northern Pacific Railroad connection in a heated civic meeting.
- The City's Rebellion Against the Rail Monopoly
Tacoma’s business leaders unite in a desperate, organized campaign to bypass the Northern Pacific's grip on local commerce by demanding new rail lines.
- The New Rail Connection to Moscow
A rail expansion project promises a 'magnificent boom' for the towns of Pullman and Moscow, fueled by land donations and rapid construction.
- Horses Plunge Off Pacific Avenue Cliff
A panicked team of livery horses creates a scene of destruction on the Tacoma waterfront, leaping twenty-five feet over a railing.
- Villard’s Broken Promise to Seattle
After failing to deliver rail service to Seattle, Henry Villard’s company begins pulling up tracks, cementing Seattle’s economic frustration with Tacoma’s rail dominance.
- Train Derailment Leaves Commuters Stranded
A faulty rail causes a train wreck near Samish Lake, leaving passengers to walk twelve miles back to the city.
- The Unbuilt Dream of the Seattle Ship Canal
In 1892, rail giants and civic leaders pressed Congress for a canal to connect Seattle’s lakes to the Sound, arguing that suffocating railroad tracks were strangling local industry.
- Monopoly on the Rails
Tacoma shippers fight against Northern Pacific's refusal to grant access to competing railroads, stifling the city's trade.
- Northern Pacific Slashes Freight Rates in a Coast-to-Coast War
Seattle shippers get word that commodity rates from Chicago and the river cities will drop to match the Southern Pacific’s Sunset route.
Also about this, in other words
- The Tyranny of the Rails
For years, Seattle merchants have endured the 'thralldom' of the Northern Pacific Railroad; now, local business leaders are looking to the Canadian Pacific to break the monopoly.
- The Great Railway Pipe Dream
A century and a half ago, speculators and dreamers were already busy mapping out the future of Seattle's rail lines and debating the superiority of Puget Sound over Canadian ports.
- A Kingdom Waiting for Rails
In 1878, Eastern Washington farmers were literally building homes out of willow poles because the cost of shipping lumber across the Cascades was ruinous.
- Surveying the Wilderness for Iron Rails
As the Northern Pacific Railroad push reached deep into the Montana and Washington territories, engineers braved brutal winter storms and rugged mountain passes to chart the future of the Northwest.
- Rudyard Kipling's Western Frontier Dispatch
The renowned writer muses on the frantic growth of new towns, the 'epidemic of politics' in the Canadian prairies, and the restless ambition of the Pacific Northwest.
- Sabotage on the Coal Line
A dangerous attempt to derail a coal train near Seattle highlights the intense tensions surrounding the city's burgeoning industrial infrastructure.
- The Rails Come to Newport: Yards, Depots, and a Town Betting Its Future on the I. & W. N.
Railroad brass walk the ground for new yards, surveyors push down-river, a depot rises, and the town council is asked for a franchise — as high water stalls the Great Northern bridge at Albeni Falls.
- The Struggle for the Rails: Seattle’s Economic Isolation in 1880
As the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad is sold to Henry Villard's powerful combine, local editors fear the city's economic future will be shackled to Portland's river monopoly.