The Seattle Railroad Dream Gets New Life
After years of uncertainty, local rail boosters secure backing from a California investor, promising to bridge the gap between Seattle and the inland empire.
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 Directors of the Seattle, Walla Walla and Baker City Railroad Company are in receipt of information that leads them to believe the building of their road is almost as good as insured. A single individual in San Francisco has offered to iron and equip the first thirty miles of the road, if the local management will attend to the right of way and grading. This is exactly what the management intended proposing and doing, and they will gladly enough accept the proposition of the California capitalist. In addition to this, however, the Company has an offer of help from the East sufficient to build the road fifty or sixty miles further, or into the country east of the mountains, if not actually complete it to Walla Walla and Baker City. This offer is not so definite as the other, but if on examination it is found satisfactory it will be availed of, and the road rapidly pushed forward. That this road will go ahead, there is small room for doubt, and that it will pay handsomely there is less. The first thirty miles will be one of the best pieces of railroad property in the country, and will enjoy an enormous transportation in lumber, coal, produce, passengers, etc. The truth of their assertion is fully recognized by the San Francisco man before referred to, and by all others who are informed. The amusement of the details will be next in order, to be followed at an early day by the putting at work on the grade of several hundred men.
“That this road will go ahead, there is small room for doubt, and that it will pay handsomely there is less.”
In 1882, Seattle's growth was entirely dependent on winning the 'railroad game' to secure trade routes over the Cascades. Today, Seattle’s infrastructure focus has shifted from transcontinental rail to regional light rail and ferry electrification, but the high-stakes battle to secure funding and build critical transit remains a defining constant of the city's civic identity.
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