The Day the Trains Ran Dry
A property dispute in Ephrata leaves Great Northern locomotives stranded without water.
Spokane, Wash., Nov. 29—Because of the failure of the Great Northern railroad to secure a water right on the spring near Ephrata, where it has been getting water for 16 years, F. A. Tolliver and Son, of Taylorsville, Ill., made a filing and shut off the water pending the settlement of a suit, and a half dozen engines have gone dry on the main line of the Great Northern as a result.
“A half dozen engines have gone dry on the main line of the Great Northern as a result.”
This 1909 dispute over water rights highlights the perennial tension between private land ownership and the infrastructure needs of the state. Even today, water rights remain one of the most contentious legal issues in the arid regions of Eastern Washington.
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