I have heard that in the 1920's? the Northern Pacific Railway had proposed a line through a pass in the Cascade Mountains, south of Mount Rainier. It would have Started at Yakima, WA, then run west - south of Mt. Rainier, then connecting w/ the Milwaukee Road at Morton, then further waest to Chehalis. Other than this, can somebody fill me in? Thanx!
Posted by futuremodal (Member # 1795) on :
The route probably would have used White Pass at 4500 feet elevation (currently used by U.S. Highway 12) running nearly straight west of Yakima. A longer route with a lower crossing elevation of 4200 feet lies a few miles to the north of White Pass but would have required the railroad to follow current state highway 410 northwest of Yakima, then turn southwest past Bumping lake. Once through the pass(es) the route would have followed the Cowlitz River valley through Morton to Chehalis, basically paralleling highway 12.
The interesting thing about the Bumping Lake route is that the pass could have been crossed without the need for a summit tunnel, with the east side approaches having a ruling grade potential of no more than 1.5%. Since the approach could have been done in the center of the valley prior to achieving the pass, there would not have been any need for extensive snowsheds either. Of course the westside approach would have been a bear, with 2500 feet of elevation to negotiate between the summit and the Cowlitz River valley.
[This message has been edited by futuremodal (edited 07-21-2002).]