A Short History of the Milwaukee
Road Pacific Coast Extension

By: Mark Borleske

The Milwaukee Road Pacific Coast Extension
- Chronology of Events:

1906 Milwaukee Road "Pacific Coast Extension" plans made public

1908 (October) rail service complete from Columbia River to St. Paul Pass Tunnel (Idaho-Montana)

May 19,1909 Golden Spike driven at Garrison, Montana

July 4,1909 through freight service inaugurated

July 10,1910 through passenger service inaugurated

May 1911 "Olympian" and "Columbian" passenger trains

August 5, 1914 breakthrough in the middle of boring the Snoqualmie Tunnel

January 24,1915. First train through the Snoqualmie Tunnel, Olympian

1920 Coast Division Electrification completed

March 5,1920. Milwaukee Road officials and press party inspection train from Seattle to Cle Elum commemorating the opening of the 207-mile Coast Division electrification

March 6,1920. Kent, WA. face-off between electric bi-polar and steam locomotive. The electric locomotive succeeds dramatically in this publicity event.

1925 Bankruptcy and receivership (first)

1926 Milwaukee Road sold and reorganized

1927 renamed Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad following bankruptcy sale in Butte, Montana

1927, July 5. Last addition to electrification completed, Black River Jct. to Seattle Union Station, 10 miles.

1927 Mileposts changed to originate in Chicago

1935 Second Bankruptcy

1941 Milwaukee Road purchases first diesel locomotive

1945 Reorganization following Second bankruptcy

June 29,1947 Inauguration of "Olympian Hiawatha" streamliner (the Olympian becomes Olympian Hiawatha)

December 2,1949 the lodge at Milwaukee Ski Bowl burns to the ground

1950 Milwaukee Road's "Centennial Year"

1952 Superdome cars added to the "Olympian Hiawatha"

1955 "Columbian" passenger train dropped from service

1958 "piggyback" freight service inaugurated

1958 bipolar electric locomotives transferred from Coast Division to Rocky Mountain Division (Idaho & Montana)

1961, May 23. End of passenger service in Washington as Olympian west of Deer Lodge, MT discontinued.

1963 XL Special (westbound 261) and "Thunderhawk" (eastbound 262) expedited scheduled freight trains inaugurated

1970 Burlington Northern merger (Milwaukee's major competitors join together)

1972 Coast Division electrification ends.

October 31,1974. Cle Elum is eliminated as a crew change point. Tacoma crews run through to Othello. Ending lunchroom, bunkhouse and continuous station operation at Cle Elum.

1977 Milwaukee Road's third bankruptcy since 1925

December 1977 to April 1978. Amtrak reroutes over the Milwaukee Road due to washouts on BN's Stampede Pass route (Easton to Argo)

March 13,1980- Last westbound Freight

February 19,1985- Milwaukee Road sold to the SOO Line

January 1, 1986- Milwaukee Road absorbed into the SOO Line

(Mark W. Borleske- March 2000)

Milwaukee Road Coast
Division Electrification Dedication.

By: Mark Borleske

March 5, 1920

The Milwaukee Road became a pioneer in operating long distance electric trains after the turn of the Century. It electrified its main line in the Montana Rockies and the Idaho Bitter Roots, extending from Harlowton, Montana to Avery, Idaho a distance of 440 miles by 1916. The Rocky Mountain Division electrification was so successful that the Milwaukee Road management decided to electrify the mountain sections of their route in Washington State, known as the Coast Division. Construction was underway, and as World War I was winding down, the Milwaukee Road was ready to run electric trains in Washington State, from Othello, across the Columbia River Basin, up the Saddle Mountains, across the Cascades and on to Puget Sound, eventually 214 miles of electrified main line in Washington state.

By early March 1920, the newspaper could report:

"Test runs have been made each day this week and all equipment is in excellent operating order The trolleys, transmission lines and substation equipment have been completed for several months, but construction of the locomotives which will command as much pulling power as three steam locomotives was delayed owing to the war. "

Finally all the elements were in place, new locomotives were received, the moment had come; March 5, 1920. The dedication of the Milwaukee Road's Coast Division electrification was a major event. It made the headlines for both the Seattle Times and the Post-Intelligencer. It represented the apex of technology and it was significant for it carried the image of harnessing the abundant natural power of water and applying it to move trains through mountains. The Seattle Times proclaimed "Current derived from Mount Rainier Glaciers." This represented a truly revolutionary idea and captured the imagination and attention of the country which was riveted to the latest technological and scientific advances.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer headline for Friday, March 5,1920 read "Milwaukee Train will Start East with Electric Locomotives Today. Olympian to be Pioneer Steamless Route in Mountains".

"Preceding the electrically pulled Olympian on its trip across the Cascade mountains will be a special electrical demonstration train carrying transportation officials, electrical authorities and press representatives." A total of 114 guests were on board. The demonstration train ran in advance of the Olympian from Union Station (then known as OW Station) in Seattle. The train was steam powered out of Seattle and an electric locomotive was added at Renton Junction. A stop was made at Cedar Falls to tour and inspect substation Number 26. Lunch was served aboard the train. "The special train was side tracked to allow the Olympian to proceed to Chicago. The special ran to Cle Elum where another transforming station was inspected."  The train arrived Cle Elum at 3:05 p.m. and departed for Seattle at 4:25 p.m.

There have been a number of photographs by Asahel Curtis and others of the group of railroad dignitaries at the Cle Elum substation. They are lined up wearing their dark coats, dark hats and displaying their cigars in front of the substation for the classic pose. According to the article from the PI of March 6,1920, the guests and dignitaries included: Vice President H. B. Earling, Macy Nicholson, General Manager, J.L. Brown, Assistant Superintendent, R. Vietch, Assistant Traffic Manager, R. Beeuwkes, Chief Electrical Engineer, H.W. Williams, and officials from other railroads including G.W. Mertens, General Manager of the Pacific Coast Line. John Fox was engineer, Fireman Elmer Ritter and two conductors W.J.Flavin and William Simmons.

The following day, Saturday, March 6th, the Milwaukee staged a publicity event at Kent.  A pushing contest between a bi-electric locomotive against a steam locomotive. The newspapers proclaimed the results "White Magic of Mountain Torrent Conquers Steam" "Titanic Electric Locomotive Masters giant Mallet." "Mastodon Veterans of Rail Giving Way to New King."  The electrification of the Milwaukee Road in the Cascades was underway. The Milwaukee Road showed its justifiable pride in its electrified operations, shortly thereafter the railroad developed the slogan: TO PUGET SOUND ELECTRIFIED.

Depot: circa 1908, wood frame construction with hip roof, measuring 132 feet long by 24 feet wide. The building was divided into four primary sections, the ticket office and station agency at the West end, the waiting room, a lunchroom/restaurant or "beanery" in the middle section, and a freight/baggage section in the East end. The building is well weathered, especially on the South side, and the roof in dire need of replacing. The building sits on a pile and wood frame foundation.  The depot last saw passenger service in 1961 with the discontinuance of the Olympian Hiawatha. It remained as a focal point for railroad operation as a crew change point for crews from Tacoma and Othello. In 1974 the crew change at Cle Elum was eliminated and freight crews were run through.

The Milwaukee Road ceased operations in the West in 1980, leaving the depot vacant and unused. A number of businesses later used the building, mostly for storage.  Little maintenance was done on the building and its condition deteriorated. Washington State Parks obtained the depot, substation and the railroad yard site in 1999. The depot is now vacant and is boarded up to prevent trespass and vandalism. During late 1999, a volunteer group known as Friends of the South Cle Elum Depot was formed. The Friends group, in coordination with Washington State Parks, has undertaken projects to stabilize the structure and assist in its preservation and restoration.  It is owned by the state of Washington, and managed by the Parks & Recreation Department from Lake Easton State Park. 

Substation #24: This classic brick structure with peaked roof was built by 1919. Measurements were on an irregular plan approximately 20 x 120 feet. It is a ten-sided red brick building that rises to a height of roughly 40 feet. The building rests on a poured concrete foundation. 

The substation coverts AC electric power from the commercial power grid to DC current fed into the Milwaukee Road's overhead electric system.  Substation operators would monitor and manage the electrical supply to electric locomotives on the line. Cle Elum had one motor-generator set, although the building could contain two motor-generator sets and transformers if needed. 

The Coast Division electrification ended in 1972. The Cle Elum substation, now owned by the State of Washington, has its windows boarded up and a perimeter fence installed to prevent trespass and vandalism. 

Iron Horse Inn (formerly the Moore House): This wood frame bed & breakfast, operated by Doug and Mary Pittis, was a former bunkhouse for train crew on the Milwaukee Road.  The Iron Horse Inn captures the flavor of is historic past as railroad crew lodging and has numerous displays of Milwaukee Road relics and photographs.  Two cabooses of non-Milwaukee Road origin are also on the property to serve as additional lodging for the bed & breakfast and add to the railroad atmosphere of the site. 

Bungalows. Three railroad built houses lie in a line directly West of the substation. They were built to accommodate the substation operators and their family. (One operator for each shift). These houses were sold to private individuals after the end of electrification. Although not in this project, they are of interest in that they were part of the Milwaukee Road community at South Cle Elum.

Cle Elum Yard/Iron Horse Trail. The state owns approximately 10 acres of land in the area. This includes the Milwaukee Road's main line right of way, which is now the Iron Horse Trail/John Wayne Trail.

The property also includes the site of the Cle Elum Yard, which was South of the main line. Yard Facilities included an eight-stall roundhouse, an 85-foot turntable, a water tank, an ash pit, and other service and support facilities for steam locomotives..  These steam locomotive facilities were made unnecessary by the inauguration of electrification in 1920, and were removed between 1920 and 1925. All gone except for traces of foundations.

There is a small wood auxiliary building still stands, just East of the depot. It was constructed as a coal and ice shed for servicing cabooses. In later years it was as railroad storage shed.

Mark Borleske (March 2000)