UP Aerotrain Visits Seattle - 1956

Courtesy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection
Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
All Rights Reserved

In 1956 the Aerotrain visited Seattle's Union Station, where this photo was taken. Lightweight and powered by a switcher engine, the Aerotrain was designed by GM and used modified bus bodies for the car consist. It's still one of my favorite trains, because of its outlandish style and relationship to the classic cars that I already enjoy. Union Station can be seen in this photo behind the train; consists were backed into the line, unlike the run-through style used at King Street Station just a block away. Another view of the station can be seen HERE.

This photo would be impossible today, as all the ground and tracks have been filled in and tall buildings now occupy the site. All that remains is the station itself, now headquarters to Sound Transit.

Seattle Times : $4 gas to fuel new light-rail vote?

It was only a matter of time before this day came!

Local News | $4 gas to fuel new light-rail vote? | Seattle Times Newspaper

Seattle Times - Train safety: Stop, look, listen — live

Mark Sidran, Chairman of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, has written this vital opinion piece called Train safety: Stop, look, listen — live. The WUTC investigates all railroad fatalities. Anyone who comes in contact with tracks should read it - plain and simple.

Mark goes the distance to discuss safety and easy steps to keep yourself alive around the tracks. He also mentions by name the same people who have recently died on the tracks this year in Washington. It's a sad and avoidable end that I personally would like to see decrease in number over the coming years. My hope, like it has always been, is that their deaths aren't forgotten and that somehow at least one person will consider the danger the tracks represent.

Seattle and North Coast Video - 1982

Thankfully someone caught this short line on video before its demise! The Seattle & North Coast ran on former Milwaukee Road trackage on the Olympic Peninsula and had a very small yard in Seattle for the boat ride to Port Townsend. It's a shame it didn't last, because it operated in one of the most beautiful places in the state.

This blog post at Mile 15 gives a quick history of the SCN.

Northern Pacific Freight in Tacoma - 1888

Found this Government Archive photo today, showing the crew from the schooner Oscar and Hattie unloading the first halibut catch to be shipped on the Northern Pacific in Tacoma, September 20, 1888. The boxcar can be seen in the right side of the photo.

The Oscar and Hattie was one of a trio of fishing vessels that sailed from Massachusetts to the North Pacific, going around South America to get there. How times have changed!