Everett – Snohomish Interurban
| Everett – Snohomish Interurban Line | |
|---|---|
_(14760824402).jpg) Junction of the electrified route from the steam-
powered route of the Northern Pacific Railway | |
| Route length: | 14 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
The Everett – Snohomish Interurban was a 14 km long interurban between Everett and Snohomish , Washington . It was commissioned on December 1, 1903 by the Everett Railway & Electric Co.
lease agreement
The electric trains replaced the steam trains on the route previously used by the Northern Pacific Railway for their commuter trains as a branch of their transcontinental system. Transcontinental passengers, baggage and express on the Northern Pacific Railway were handled between Everett and Snohomish by the Electric Company. The Electric Company had negotiated a multi-year lease with the Northern Pacific Railway, according to which they undertook to provide a connection to all Northern Pacific trains in Snohomish and to handle passenger traffic and all regular luggage and express business between Everett and Snohomish.
Stops
A bus shelter was built at the end of the line in Everett and large platforms were built at various stops between the two cities. There were six stops along the line, each serving about 200 local residents living near the stops, who made a living primarily from agriculture and fishing.
electrification
The overhead line supplied by Ohio Brass Co with a cross-sectional area of 177 mm² was supported every 34 m by flexible brackets on side brackets. The 12-14 m high masts were made of cedar wood with a top diameter of 300 mm. They were set 2.4 m into the ground and just under 2 m from the rail. The catenary wire was 7 m away from the upper edge of the rails so as not to endanger the brakemen working on the roofs of steam freight trains. Due to the distance between the masts and the rail, a 3.0 m long bracket was used. A 1.6 km long supply cable, which had a branch every 300 m, and another 4.8 km long cable to the steepest part of the route supplied the electricity.
Two drawbridges were crossed by this railway, each with two power leads in the joint, one for the two poles of the power line.
All of the catenary construction had to be done while the Northern Pacific Railway ran an average of 10 steam trains per day. Because of the danger and the novel design, the work was carried out under the personal supervision of the company's inspector general.
The rails on the line were connected to one another with cables from Ohio Brass Co's, which were attached to the rails using 22 mm holes. The connecting cables were each 300 mm long. Cross connections of the same type were used every 300 m.
Electricity to run the railroad was provided by the Everett Railway and Electric Co.'s Everett Power Station, which was about a mile from the Everett Terminal and 10 miles from the other end of the line.
Rail vehicles
The fleet of cars on this line consisted of a combined passenger and freight car and two passenger cars. The combined car was 13.31 m long and 2.54 m wide. It had 40 seats and a 2.7 m long luggage compartment. The slightly shorter passenger cars were 13 m long and 2.54 m wide. They offered seats for 48 passengers. The wagons had transverse seats and double-wing windows, the upper wing was fixed and the lower wing could be lowered.
The cars were heated with the heaters from the Consolidated Car Heater Co. They were built on Brill # 27 E-1 chassis with 5 "(130 mm) and 33" (840 mm) spoke wheels supplied by the St. Louis Car Co. Each car had 4 Westinghouse No. 68 internal engines. Westinghouse K-6 controls and Westinghouse air brakes were used on all three vehicles.
business
The operation was carried out via telegraphic train orders from the chief dispatcher of the Northern Pacific Railway in Seattle. The line's card system was used because the Northern Pacific Railway continued to operate freight.
The fare from Everett to Snohomish was 25 cents. Round-trip tickets sold for 40 cents, including transfers to or from any part of the city. Tickets were sold at the two terminal stops and in the car. Five cents were charged between any two stations.
closure
The Interurban Bridge between Lowell and Snohomish, and part of the route east of Lowell, was destroyed during a flood in December 1921. It was not rebuilt and operations ceased.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Street Railway Review, Volume XIV, No. 2, February 20, 1904, pp. 79-81.
- ↑ A detailed description of the power station can be found in Street Railway Review of May 20, 1903, pp. 267–271.
- ↑ Train Service over Cascades Interrupted . In: The Seattle Times , Dec. 13, 1921, p. 4.
- ↑ Cheri Ryan, Kevin K. Stadler: Seattle Everett Interurban Railway . Arcadia Publishing , Charleston, South Carolina 2010, ISBN 978-0-7385-8019-7 , p. 52, OCLC 700409706, (accessed March 30, 2018).