The Bid for the Main Line
Citizens in Dayton and Waitsburg launch a collaborative lobby effort to convince railroad officials to connect their town branches to the main regional transit artery.
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.
Citizens of Dayton and Waitsburg are actively at work upon a project to have the main line of the O. R. & N. railroad pass through those two places, giving a direct route to these towns from Spokane and Pendleton. This would mean the building of 10 to 15 miles of new line from the Dayton branch, connecting with the Pomeroy branch at a point near the Tucanon. The grade, it is claimed, will not exceed 2 percent, and the new line will avoid the Alto grade. The Commercial Association of Dayton and the Commercial Club of Waitsburg have taken the matter up jointly. At a meeting of the Waitsburg club last Thursday, it was decided to petition the railroad officials to extend the road connecting the Dayton and Pomeroy branches. The committee representing the Dayton Mercantile Association is composed of T. M. Dancer, W. C. Godard, L. F. Jones, W. Bradford, and S. S. Moritz. The Waitsburg Commercial Club appointed J. H. Morrow, W. P. Brooke, J. B. Caldwell, R. H. Ormsbee, and J. W. Morgan.
“Citizens of Dayton and Waitsburg are actively at work upon a project to have the main line of the O. R. & N. railroad pass through those two places.”
This lobby effort echoes modern-day regional transit struggles, where small towns fight to ensure they aren't bypassed by major infrastructure and economic shifts. The desire to secure a 'main line' position remains a cornerstone of rural economic survival in the Pacific Northwest.
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