310:, after whom the pass is named. Stevens was born in 1853 and raised on a farm in Maine. Like many engineers of the time, he had no formal education but went to work for the railroad, first surveying in Maine and then moving west, working as a rodman in Minneapolis and a section hand in Texas. Before going to work for Hill in 1889, he had laid out the lines for half a dozen western railroads including the Canadian Pacific. He had gained an enviable reputation by dint of competent hard work and in his travels "he had been treed by wolves, chased by Indians, struck down by Mexican fevers, marooned by blizzards, given up for lost on more than one occasion (and) had developed a robust physique that seemed impervious to climate". The Great Northern was recognized as the best engineered railroad in the country and to Stevens must go much of the credit. In 1905 he was appointed by Theodore Roosevelt as Chief Engineer to the "graveyard of reputations", the Panama Canal, which he pulled out of inaction and placed on the road to completion. He went back to work for Hill in 1909 and then worked as a consulting engineer in New York. In 1917, he was asked by Woodrow Wilson to go to Russia as head of the American Railway Commission; at the request of the Russians, he stayed as an adviser until 1922. In 1927, he was elected president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and in 1937, at the age of 83, he flew to the Panama Canal in a Pan American clipper. He died on June 2, 1943.
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snows blocked exposed portions of the track. In 1913, the
Railway began a series of improvements on the west slope of the Cascade. As a result of these endeavors, eight of the twelve miles of track between the Cascade Tunnel and Scenic were covered by tunnels or snow sheds. Included in this construction was the Windy Point Tunnel, some 1,200 feet (370 m) long, which permitted the double tracking of the line along an almost vertical cliff. A second tunnel of note in the route was the Martins Creek tunnel, located immediately west of Martin Creek. Tracks approached the tunnel portal on a bridge and the tunnel turned about 170 degrees in a rising curve, the tracks crossing over Martin Creek again on a second bridge. The tunnel, built in 1911, was an unusual solution to a difficult problem and it was aptly called the Horseshoe Tunnel. The snow sheds added during this period were combination structures of wood and concrete. Reinforced or mass concrete was used for the back wall and timber formed the roof and supporting pillars; the largest shed constructed in this series was 4,100 feet (1,200 m) long. The maintenance of the sheds was expensive. Electrification of the line began in 1909. A simplified route was needed.
267:. Benches were cut into the mountainside. Timber trestles were used to span small valleys. Three lettered switchbacks were built on the eastern slope and five on the steeper western slope; the approach grade to each was a maximum of 2.2% although the grade increased within the switchback system itself to a maximum of 3.5% on the east and 4.0% on the west. Trains traversing the route entered a spur about 1000 feet long at the end of each switchback, the track was switched and the train moved out again to the next leg, a tedious process of going forward and then in reverse until the Cascade Range was crossed.
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The tunnel as completed in 1900 was 13,283 feet (4.049 km) long with a 1.7% grade descending to the west. The eastern portal was at elevation 3,347 feet (1,020 m) and the western at elevation 3,123 feet (952 m). Both portals have a concrete facing with two pilasters flanking the tunnel
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to 9.5 miles (15.3 km) west. A double-track reinforced concrete snow shed 3,900 feet (1,200 m) long was built in
Wellington. Believed to be the first double-track shed built. With the increase in traffic over the line made possible by the improvements, interruptions increased as heavier
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The switchback route was complicated and time consuming. Thirteen miles (21 km) of track were needed to connect two points three miles apart. Winter snows and slides made the passage slow and not practical for extended use. By 1897, a better route and method was needed to cross the range. A
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in 1910, the pass was protected by 17 snow sheds for a total length of 7,593 feet (2,314 m). The structures were added over time, as the need became apparent. The sheds did not block the slides but carried the debris over the right of way. Additions to the snow shed protection totaled
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240:, was found suitable at an elevation slightly in excess of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) about 45 miles (72 km) east of Seattle. The first effort an elaborate switchback system, replaced by a tunnel which was itself replaced by a second tunnel.
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is an area within a large rectangle 3.2 by 18.2 miles (5.1 by 29.3 km) and extends from the Martin Creek Tunnel on the western slope of the crest to the eastern portal of the present
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328:"Concrete and Timber Snowsheds on the Great Northern Railway". Engineering News, Vol. 36 No. 24 (December 15, 1910).
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above Nason Creek on the eastern slope. The area is ruggedly mountainous and the terrain is covered with timber and
331:"Tunnels and Snowsheds in the Cascades: Great Northern Railways". Engineering News, Vol. 71 No. 23 (June 4, 1914).
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construction of 5,411 feet (1,649 m) in length, located at 26 points from 29 miles (47 km) east of the
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Railway buildings and structures on the
National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)
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Anderson, Eva G. Rails Across the
Cascades. Wenatchee Wenatchee World Publishing Company, 1952 (?)
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mouth and a pyramidal cap. The entire length of the tunnel is lined with concrete. Prior to the
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Stevens Pass
Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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Hult, Ruby El. Northwest
Disaster: Avalanche and Fire; Portland: Binfords & Mort, 1960
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Probably no one was so firmly connected with James J. Hill's route over
Stevens Pass than
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Sandstrom, Gosta. Tunnels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1963.
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Stevens Pass switchback for railroad route, King County, Washington.
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Register of Historic Places listings in Washington (state)
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National Register of Historic Places in Chelan County, Washington
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tunnel was begun in 1897, which would by-pass the switchbacks.
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Railway tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places
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A survey was made in 1890 and 1891. A complex route over
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389:"Nomination Form for Stevens Pass Historic District"
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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297:Diagram of railroad paths across Stevens Pass WA.
16:Historic district in Washington, United States
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66:Stevens Pass First tunnel for railroad route
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236:. A gap in the Cascade Range, at
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214:Stevens Pass Historic District
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32:Stevens Pass Historic District
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160:13,000 acres (5,300 ha)
21:United States historic place
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707:Contributing property
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360:National Park Service
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228:interfered with the
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674:Bridges and Tunnels
282:Wellington Disaster
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105:across Stevens Pass
308:John Frank Stevens
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517:Grays Harbor
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314:Bibliography
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275:First Tunnel
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261:Stevens Pass
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238:Stevens Pass
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110:Nearest city
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662:Other lists
622:Walla Walla
265:switchbacks
247:Switchbacks
234:Puget Sound
144: /
132:121°00′06″W
120:Coordinates
722:Categories
336:References
129:47°46′15″N
617:Wahkiakum
597:Snohomish
527:Jefferson
444:by county
612:Thurston
592:Skamania
582:San Juan
562:Okanogan
542:Kittitas
507:Garfield
502:Franklin
482:Columbia
222:granitic
197:76001884
180:Built by
98:Location
632:Whitman
627:Whatcom
607:Stevens
602:Spokane
567:Pacific
552:Lincoln
492:Douglas
487:Cowlitz
472:Clallam
170: (
637:Yakima
587:Skagit
577:Pierce
537:Kitsap
522:Island
467:Chelan
462:Benton
457:Asotin
557:Mason
547:Lewis
512:Grant
497:Ferry
477:Clark
452:Adams
442:Lists
165:Built
532:King
393:and
212:The
172:1897
168:1897
157:Area
192:No.
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426:e
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