The Daisy of a Railroad
A skeptical journalist tours the Olympia & Tenino Railroad and finds a 'toy' line run by a one-man crew.
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.
We took the steamer E. S. Thompson for Kalama and entered the cars on the Kalama branch of the Northern Pacific. At Tenino, we obtained cars for Olympia, which is reached by a narrow-gauge railroad sixteen miles in length. The cars, engine, and track reminded us of the trains of cars used for toys when a boy. Two men run the entire train, which consists of an engine and two cars. The duties of conductor, brakeman, engineer, and general boss devolve on one man. We remarked to this important individual that it was a 'daisy' of a road, when he, not knowing who we were, observed that people who didn't like that road needn't ride on it. We told him to go there himself. The Northern Pacific Railroad Company recently tried to buy the line, offering $20,000, which the present owners refused. Consequently, the Northern Pacific declared war against the little road and now ships all freight to Tacoma, then up the Sound by steamer to Olympia.
“The cars, engine, track, etc., reminded us of the trains of cars used for toys when a boy.”
This reflects the fierce era of railroad consolidation, where big companies systematically destroyed smaller, independent lines to create regional monopolies. Today, public transit and rail infrastructure remain central to regional connectivity debates in Washington.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.