The Battle Over the Cascades Rail Route
Local critique of the Northern Pacific Railroad’s route selection, favoring the Tacoma Land Company's influence over the practical needs of the territory.
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.
The influence of the Tacoma Land Company appears to be again dominant in the councils of the Northern Pacific railroad, and the result is that the Natchez Pass is now designated as the one for the Cascade branch to go through, notwithstanding the public announcement that the Stampede Pass was much the best one of all explored. The route to it from the eastward goes through a great deal of good country, while that through the Natchez does not. The latter pass will require one tunnel of a mile and a half in length, and another of considerable length, presumed to be nearly a mile more. The grades on each side of the main tunnel will be not less than 116 feet to the mile for at least thirty miles. A grade of 116 feet to the mile means that all heavy work over it will require at least two engines to a train, thus adding largely to the cost of operating that part of the road. The interests of the people and the stockholders of the Northern Pacific should be considered, rather than those of the Puget Sound and Lake Superior Land Company.
“This Territory has suffered too much in the past from the movements of that organization to have any love for or trust in it.”
This piece chronicles the heavy influence of private rail and land monopolies on public infrastructure, a recurring theme in Pacific Northwest history. It echoes modern debates over how private corporate interests often dictate the path and funding of regional transit projects at the expense of efficiency.
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