BNSF RAILWAY ...im Modellbau - Geschichte von der BNSF... der Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
Geschichte von der BNSF...
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) (reporting mark SPS) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River. Remnants of the line are currently operated by BNSF Railway and the Portland and Western Railroad.
Logo Spokane, Port-land and Seattle Railway
Preserved SP&S "Northern" locomotive No. 700 in 2008
SP&S operated the Ocean Shore Limited, shown here at Seaside, OregonHistory
The railroad was chartered in 1905 by James J. Hill to connect the two transcontinental railroads owned by him, the Northern Pacific (NP) and Great Northern (GN), to Portland, Oregon from Spokane, Washington, to gain a portion of the lumber trade in Oregon, a business then dominated by E.H. Harriman's Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. Construction began in 1906 under the name Portland & Seattle Railway, proceeding to the east and south from Vancouver, Washington. The work included construction of three major bridges over the Columbia River, the Oregon Slough, and the Willamette River.
The northernmost of these was the first bridge of any kind to be built across the lower Columbia River. Despite legal challenges from Harriman, within a year the line had been built as far as Pasco along the Columbia River, where it connected with NP. The first section to open was from Pasco west to Cliffs (near Maryhill), a length
of 112miles (180 km), on December 15, 1907. Operation was extended west to Lyle, 33 miles (53 km) furtherwest, on January 15, 1908, as construction continued on the 221-mile (356 km) section from Pasco to Vancouver. In January 1908 "Spokane" was added to the railroad's name, making it the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway. SP&S freight and passenger service (from Pasco) to Portland was inaugurated in November 1908. By 1909 the railroad had completed construction of its line up to Spokane along the Snake River. In 1910 SP&S gained control of the Oregon Electric interurban railway, which the Great Northern had acquired two years before. Under the control of the SP&S the railroad was extended southward to Eugene by 1912. SP&S also operated a second subsidiary railroad in western Oregon, the Oregon Traction Company, which owned a route along the south bank of the Columbia River, through Astoria to Seaside.
A third route on which the SP&S operated extended southward from Wishram, Washington, to Bend, Oregon, was the Oregon Trunk Railway Company. Edward Harriman's Oregon & Washington Railway & Navigation Company also was building a railroad south from the Columbia River to Bend resulting in a railroad war in which each railroad attempted to sabotage the other. In the end, the railroad opened using mostly the track of the Oregon Trunk, with a short portion of the Oregon & Washington Railway & Navigation Company track, and both railroads used the route (an arrangement that still exists with BNSF owning the majority of the line and UP having trackage rights).
During World War II the SP&S carried war materials to the Pacific Theatre; new industries located along the Columbia River, taking advantage of cheap electricity from hydroelectric dams on the river. New industries served by the SP&S included aluminum plants, sawmills, chemical factories and grain elevators.
In 1954, a SP&S train derailed after hitting a rockslide on the route to Bend, Oregon, killing all crew members. Part of the train landed in the Deschutes River, including a boxcar, which landed in a rapid that was later named "Boxcar Rapids" after the incident.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway coach at Snoqualmie, Washington (Northwest Railway Museum collection)
Passenger Trains
The SP&S's passenger operations mostly involved hosting connec-tions with parents' trains, such as the Empire Builder and North Coast Limited, which were combined to form the Streamliner (#1/#2). Oriental Limited, Mainstreeter, and Western Star connected with (#3/#4). However, some of these SP&S trains were named. The Inland Empire Express (daytime) and North Bank Limited (overnight) provided daily, through service between Portland (Union Station) and
 EMD F3 #801 in 1970, departing Union Station in Portland, Oregon | |
Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
Reporting Mark | SPS |
Locale | Washington and Oregon |
Dates of operation | 1905-1970 |
Successor | Burlington Northern |
Track gauge | 4 ft. 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
Length | 922 miles (1,484 km) |
Spokane. The Columbia River Express (#5/#6) operated between Portland and Pasco, connecting at Pasco with Northern Pacific #5/#6 for service to/from Spokane.
The only surviving SP&S Business car, the #99 or "The Ruth M." is in operating condition, and resides at the Chehalis–Centralia Railroad. The car is used as "premier seating", and during dinner trains can host a private party of up to eight in its lounge and dining room. The car is in need of several cosmetic and mechanical repairs including a rebuild of its HVAC system to run on electricity/generator, there are several rust holes that need to be filled, and the car needs to be
Dining car of the North Bank Limited - 1923sandblasted and repainted. The SP&S Historical Society is assisting with the repaint efforts. wo surviving SP&S Sleeper/Lounge cars are housed at museums, located at both ends of the reach of the railroad. These were built by the Pullman Standard Manufacturing Co. of Chicago and delivered to the railroad in 1950 at a cost of about $250,000. These cars ran in the Empire Builder service (Trains No. 1/No. 2) between Portland and Spokane. Weighing 131,000 pounds and seating up to 37 (with seating for 22 in the lounge), these lounge cars allowed passengers to buy food and drinks to enjoy with comfortable seating. The Mt. St. Helens No. 601 is at the Inland NW Rail Museum near Spokane. The Mt. Hood No. 600 is owned by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and is housed at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland. These cars had a full-length antenna on the car roof. Of special note in the lounge was the push-button Farnsworth AM radio. The cars contained six single-person roomettes and three large 2-person compartments, two of them can be opened to provide a 4-person room.
A 40 Ft. steel, Spokane Portland & Seattle Railway box car. Built in 1949, 95 % restored. On society tracks
Spokane Portland & Seattle Railway Depot At Kennewick, WA in 1920 (Sorry - somewhat blurred picture. Please take to sharpen it according to taste - mustard...)
Attorney for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway in the Oregonian. Third and Stark, July 16 2010. Still waiting for that development.
The Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway Steam Locomotive sitting on a track near Oaks Park. I'm not sure what it was doing here, but there were some officiallooking people moving about, doing things. This didn't even appear to be any kind of station or maintenance yardPreservation
Preserved steam locomotives:
- Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 - A 1938 E-1 "Northern" 4-8-4 preserved and operational in Portland, Oregon.
- Spokane, Portland and Seattle 539 - A 1917 O-3 "Mikado" 2-8-2 preserved on static display in Kalama, Washington.
Preserved diesel locomotives:
- Spokane, Portland and Seattle 804 - A 1953-built EMD F7A, now preserved and to be moved to and restored at the Inland NW Rail Museum in Reardan, Washington. As of 2023, a fund-raising effort is underway to complete the restoration.
Update: 11.02.2024
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokane,_Portland_and_Seattle_Railway