Hustling East
A lone EMD in DPU mode trails on the end of an eastbound empty coal train that is but a blur passing the old depot adorned with signature monads still standing proud beside this former Northern Pacific mainline that is now the division point between modern day BNSF's Stampede Subdivision to the west (MP 0.0) and Yakima Subdivision the east (MP 127.0). Once again a heavy duty mainline for 13 years between 1983 and 1996 this was just a lonely branchline operated by a shortline after the Burlington Northern closed down Stampede Pass and sold the line east through here all the way to Pasco to the new Washington Central. But the growing Northwest container trade and the BNSF merger changed all that and the line was bought back, rebuilt and trains have run ever since.
Work on the Northern Pacific's second Ellensburg depot began in 1909, and was delayed twice, first by flooding on the site in 11/1909 and then unexpected labor setbacks during the spring and summer of 1910. The opening was set for 10/31/1910. Projected cost in 1908 for the project stood at $52,000.
This two-story depot has elements of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, most obviously its scalloped parapets. The Spanish Colonial was a popular style for Western American depots c. 1900-1910, particularly in the Southwest, along the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern Pacific lines.
Having seen the arrival of its last passenger train in 1981 when Amtrak abolished the Northcoast Hiawatha it fell into a period of disrepair. The railroad sold the old depot in 1987 and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places four years later. Now beautifully restored and safely in the hands of a nonprofit you can learn more here:
www.historicellensburg.org/home/train_depot
Ellensburg, Washington
Sunday January 7, 2018
Hustling East
A lone EMD in DPU mode trails on the end of an eastbound empty coal train that is but a blur passing the old depot adorned with signature monads still standing proud beside this former Northern Pacific mainline that is now the division point between modern day BNSF's Stampede Subdivision to the west (MP 0.0) and Yakima Subdivision the east (MP 127.0). Once again a heavy duty mainline for 13 years between 1983 and 1996 this was just a lonely branchline operated by a shortline after the Burlington Northern closed down Stampede Pass and sold the line east through here all the way to Pasco to the new Washington Central. But the growing Northwest container trade and the BNSF merger changed all that and the line was bought back, rebuilt and trains have run ever since.
Work on the Northern Pacific's second Ellensburg depot began in 1909, and was delayed twice, first by flooding on the site in 11/1909 and then unexpected labor setbacks during the spring and summer of 1910. The opening was set for 10/31/1910. Projected cost in 1908 for the project stood at $52,000.
This two-story depot has elements of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, most obviously its scalloped parapets. The Spanish Colonial was a popular style for Western American depots c. 1900-1910, particularly in the Southwest, along the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern Pacific lines.
Having seen the arrival of its last passenger train in 1981 when Amtrak abolished the Northcoast Hiawatha it fell into a period of disrepair. The railroad sold the old depot in 1987 and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places four years later. Now beautifully restored and safely in the hands of a nonprofit you can learn more here:
www.historicellensburg.org/home/train_depot
Ellensburg, Washington
Sunday January 7, 2018