The Iron Link Between Seattle and Tacoma
A new rail connection promises to unite Puget Sound commerce, despite local skepticism about the Northern Pacific's ultimate strategy.
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.
Tacoma desires to extend railroad connections to Seattle. It has been decided to connect the last named place as a terminal city by means of the iron track lying between the two, and before long the road will be open for traffic. The Northern Pacific will operate the line as far as Stuck, where connection is made with the Columbia Improvement Company's road from there on to Seattle. The road will be operated by the last named company. The Northern Pacific will furnish the rolling stock. Trains will be made up in the city of Tacoma. No through trains will run from Kalama to Seattle, as was announced in the Seattle press. A time card has not yet been arranged, as the Northern Pacific is waiting upon the Improvement Company for a finality of arrangements. It will be a study to watch the struggle for business between forty miles of railroad and twenty miles of steamboat.
“It will be a study to watch the struggle for business between forty miles of railroad and twenty miles of steamboat.”
The late 19th-century struggle to bridge the distance between Seattle and Tacoma mirrors the modern regional obsession with transit connectivity. Today, as then, the 'struggle for business' and the logistics of moving people between these two hubs continue to define the civic identity of the Puget Sound area.
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