The Trolley Plunge
A Ballard couple sues a railway company for a winter disaster where a streetcar slid off an icy trestle and into the bay.
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 $10,000 damage suit was brought by Paul and Catherine Geyerbiehl, a Ballard carpenter and his wife, against the West Street & North End Electric Railway Company. The suit stems from injuries received by Mrs. Geyerbiehl when a streetcar, on which she was a passenger, fell into the bay off a high trestle near Smith's Cove. The track was covered with ice, which the company allegedly failed to clear, causing the car to fail to stop at a sharp curve and fly off on a tangent. Mr. Geyerbiehl included a claim for $300 to cover his lost time while attending to his wife's recovery.
“At the time the track was covered with ice, and which it is claimed the company should have removed.”
Streetcar expansion was the defining 'boomer' technology of the 1890s, often built in dangerous, slapdash conditions. This story captures the frequent reality of early public transit infrastructure failing in the face of Seattle's geography and winter climate.
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