The Great Northern Reaches the Sound
A celebratory train marks the completion of the Great Northern railway line into Seattle, signaling a new era of regional connectivity.
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.
At 11:20 o'clock last night engine No. 312, with Patty McEvoy at the throttle, hauled the first train into Seattle which came through from the interior over the Great Northern railroad. The train consisted of the private car of C. Shields, general superintendent of the Western division, and a second-class passenger car. As it pulled up in front of the Great Northern depot, a small party of officials boarded Mr. Shields' car and gave him and his party a congratulatory handshake. The party included J. D. Farrell, superintendent of the Washington division, and correspondent Herbert Heywood of the New York Times. The train started from the point of connection, 649 miles and 670 feet east of Lowell, and ran slowly to allow officials to inspect the new road. As it passed through Snohomish, the engine exchanged whistles with steamers on the river, and in Everett, citizens gathered at the depot to offer food and cheers, though the train pushed on to meet its arrival time in Seattle. Mr. Shields remarked that the track was in good condition despite the challenges of the mountain terrain.
“This is the smoothest traveling I have had on this line. I have tramped through these woods when I could make but five miles a day.”
The completion of the Great Northern railroad in 1893 transformed Seattle from a regional port into a transcontinental hub, mirroring the city's current efforts to expand high-speed transit and light rail to handle modern growth pressures.
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