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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 10 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 13 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 7 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 14 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 7 |
| 1909 | 17 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
128 stories matching switch
- A Switch Thrown in the Dark: The Plot to Wreck the Portland Train
Someone opened a Northern Pacific switch on a waterfront trestle just before the night express from Seattle came through — and a quick-thinking crew stopped a hundred passengers short of the deep water.
- The Switch Engine Heist
A local manufacturer goes to court to find the thief who commandeered a switch engine and crashed it into a logging train.
- Expanding the Arteries of Tacoma's Waterfront
The Northern Pacific is laying new tracks and trestles along the bay to bridge the gap between rail and ship.
- Runaway Interurban Car Terrifies Passengers
A defective switch at Puyallup Avenue triggers a near-disaster as a transit car breaks away from its train.
- Switch Tampering Triggers Logging Train Accident
Two men face legal consequences after a construction car collision on the Satsop rail line.
- A Heroic Rescue on the Tracks
A longshoreman narrowly saves an Indigenous child from an oncoming switch engine near the Northern Pacific dock.
- An Open Switch, a Tipped Engine, and a Depot in the Dark
A Lake Shore passenger train hit a tampered switch at Dubuque station near Snohomish; the engineer was badly hurt, but every passenger walked away.
- Centenarian tribal elder killed by train in Spokane
A historic figure known as 'Indian Tom' is struck by a switch engine at a crossing.
- Gravel Car Derailment Disrupts Rail Service
A runaway gravel car caused a headache for Lynden commuters when it jumped the switch at the local yards.
- A Stolen Switch in the Fog: Seattle Streetcar Crash Injures Forty
Two speeding cars met on a single-track trestle above the tide flats; dozens of women and children were hurt, and the motorman who tried to steal the switch was among the severely injured.
- Two Boys, Two Open Switches, and a Train Barely Saved
Jimmy Francis and Johnnie Harrier, ages 11 and 12, were sent to reform school after opening railroad switches near Snohomish and nearly wrecking a passenger train.
- A Narrow Escape Near Prosser
An open switch sends a passenger train into a ditch, leaving the fireman trapped beneath a mountain of coal.
- A Ghastly Industrial Hazard
A horse is destroyed after a horrific accident at a railroad switch.
- Streetcar Collision on King Street
A motorman is hospitalized with a broken leg after two electric cars attempt to occupy the same track on Grant Street.
- Streetcar Smash-up on the Spur
A motorman is seriously injured in a collision at a local woodyard after a switch fails to be reset properly.
- Railroad Worker Killed in Pasco Yard
Charles B. Hunt dies under the wheels of a switch engine while crossing tracks at night.
- Fatal Collision at the Commercial Street Crossing
A young mill worker dies after being struck by a switch engine while rushing to a fruit stand.
- Streetcar Plunges into Seattle Waterfront
An electric car derails on the North Seattle waterfront, sliding into the tide flats and impaling a passenger on pier pilings.
- Fatal Slip at Orillia
A railroad brakeman was crushed to death while performing routine switching operations at the Orillia rail yard.
- Thrown Seventy Feet While Loading Coal
A Seattle teamster sued the Seattle, Shore & Eastern railway after a switch train smashed his wagon at Battery and Vine—and sent him flying.
- A Narrow Escape at the Shilshole Crossing
A switch engine slams into a team on Shilshole Avenue, killing a horse and nearly killing the driver—who crawled out thanks to a broken wagon tongue.
- Tragic Accident on the Tracks at Wilkerson
A deaf woman, known as an inmate of a 'disreputable house,' is struck and killed by a runaway box car while walking on the railroad tracks.
- Thirty Thousand Volts Killed Him. The Wall Brought Him Back.
A Seattle power-plant hand was dead for fifteen seconds in 1909 — until the shock hurled him into a cement wall and the impact restarted his heart.
- The Boy Who Tried to Derail a Train
A Snohomish County jury acquits two young boys who tampered with railroad switches to watch a crash, sparking a furious editorial on the failings of the justice system.
- A Runaway's Return
A Parkland father reunites with his son after spotting his face in a newspaper report about a train sabotage arrest in Ballard.