A Veteran Railroader Reflects on Seattle’s Industrial Growth
After a year as Lake Shore superintendent, I. A. Nadeau retires from the position, looking back on the era when the city’s rail freight grew from a single car of hardware to a hub of transcontinental commerce.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Newman Kline arrived in the city yesterday from St. Paul and will today take charge of the Lake Shore road as superintendent. I. A. Nadeau yesterday closed his work at the depot, after having had charge of the road for a year. He expressed great pleasure at the fact that his double duty was ended, and then indulged in some reminiscences of his connection with railroads in Seattle from the time when he entered the office of the old Puget Sound Shore road in 1884, saying: 'I remember when the first solid car load of freight came into Seattle, it was made up mostly of hardware consigned to several merchants who had clubbed together for the purpose. I have lived to see a solid carload of chewing gum come here. When I first began railroading here we had only one passenger train going in and out of the city. Now there are about thirty passenger trains running in and out. We had peaceable times when I entered the Puget Sound Shore office, but since then we have had one railroad fight after another.'
“When I first began railroading here we had only one passenger train going in and out of the city. Now there are about thirty passenger trains running in and out.”
Nadeau’s reflection captures the rapid, often chaotic transformation of Seattle from a frontier town into a railroad terminus. His mention of the city's 'railroad fights' echoes the ongoing civic tensions regarding transit infrastructure and corporate power in the Pacific Northwest.
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