Pacific Coast - Seattle's Own Railroad

By Kurt E. Armbruster

Early in 1872, citizens of Seattle, the leading port on Puget Sound, had high hopes that the Northern Pacific Railroad would make the city its western terminus. In July of 1872, the Northern Pacific chose a virtually undeveloped site on Commencement Bay called Tacoma.

In Seattle, panic gave way to resolution as the citizens rolled up their sleeves and spent May Day 1874 building their railroad. Exhausted city leaders took two years to enlist San Francisco capital to build the narrow gauge line that would bring coal to the city, to steamships and to San Francisco. That coal trade helped build the Pacific Northwest's greatest city.

The Pacific Coast was independently owned and operated until 1951, when the Great Northern bought it and operated it until the BN merger of 1970.

Over 160 photographs, maps, extensive archival documentation, and employee interviews make this the definitive account of one of the West Coast's most significant railroads.