Locomotives Bound for Japan Draw Crowds to Waterfront
A spectacular display of industrial engineering as Northern Pacific crews load massive steam locomotives onto the S.S. Tremont for export.
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.
A large crowd has been gathering at the Oriental dock to watch the steamship Tremont load railroad locomotives destined for Japan. Eight locomotives were brought from Seattle by rail yesterday. The Northern Pacific wrecking crew used cables to hoist the massive engines from flatcars onto the deck of the ship. The ease with which these heavy pieces of machinery are handled is a source of wonder to the spectators who throng the wharf all day.
“It is a sight that is not often seen and the ease with which these heavy pieces of machinery are handled is a source of wonder to the crowds which throng the wharf all day.”
Tacoma's identity as a port city reliant on heavy industry and trans-Pacific trade was forged in these early 20th-century spectacles, showing the infrastructure roots of today's Tacoma waterfront.
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