A Grassroots Rail Line Planned for Whatcom County
Granges in Ferndale and Custer initiate a cooperative traction railway project, with Lynden and neighboring towns invited to extend the line.
The granges of Ferndale and Custer decided yesterday to build a traction railway from Ferndale to Blaine, tapping all of that valley between those towns. It is probable that the granges of Lynden, Delta and Northwood will join and construct the line on to Lynden and possibly to Nooksack or Sumas. The line is to be a co-operative one. Probably steam or gasoline will be used as motive power. It is also significant that in all the preliminaries to the formation of the scheme to build, Bellingham, the largest seaport in the county, has not been mentioned as a terminus. The shipping end of the line will undoubtedly be Blaine.
“It is also significant that in all the preliminaries to the formation of the scheme to build, Bellingham, the largest seaport in the county, has not been mentioned as a terminus.”
This 1910 proposal reflects a era of intense rural cooperative organization to bypass larger urban centers. Today, the struggle has shifted from building rail lines to preserving rural connectivity and fighting the sprawl that threatens the agricultural valley lands these farmers were trying to protect.
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