85 years ago today . . . . January 12, 1929

The Great Northern Railway opened up the new Cascade Tunnel to daily traffic, and announced this fact to the world (or at least a significant number of radio listeners across North America).

William E. Conroy (General Superintendent in charge of tunneling work for A. Guthrie & Co.) and Charles O. Jenks (a Vice-president of the Great Northern Railway) prepare to open the ceremonial gate at the east portal of the Cascade Tunnel.

A great deal of information about the construction of the Cascade Tunnel can be found in other sources. The Great Northern Railway Historical Society has several “Reference Sheets” (articles), written by members of the society, that are available for purchase through the GNRHS Company Store . Several of these Reference Sheets address aspects of the GN’s challenges and successes in conquering the Cascade Mountain range in Washington state. However, I’m going to go ahead and detail a few key facts about the new tunnel and its improvements over the GN’s old line through the Cascades, which originally included switchbacks and later a tunnel (the “Old Cascade Tunnel”) of about 2 miles.

• Length of tunnel: 7.79 miles (longest railroad tunnel in the Western Hemisphere, at the time it was constructed)

• Reduction in elevation achieved with the new tunnel: 502 feet

• Reduction in curvature achieved with the new tunnel: 3,674 (over ten full circles)

The new tunnel eliminated use of over 19,000 feet of old tunnels, and nearly 40,000 feet of snowsheds designed to protect trains from avalanches. Completion of the new tunnel saved the railroad about $600,000 annually in snow-clearing expense.

The plan to build the Cascade Tunnel was approved by the GN’s board of directors on Thanksgiving Day, 1925. Work began less than a month later, on December 14^th. Excavation on the main tunnel was completed on December 8, 1928. By December 30, track was laid through the tunnel, and ballasting was completed on January 6, 1929. This coincided with the 36^th anniversary of the driving of the last spike of the Great Northern, just a few miles from the west portal of the new tunnel.

On the day of the opening of the new tunnel, a special train filled with about 270 people departed Seattle at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. This was the last passenger train to ever travel the GN’s old route that rolled through the tiny mountain hamlets of Tye (formerly Wellington) and Cascade Tunnel. At Berne, near the east portal of the New Cascade Tunnel, the train was combined with another train from the east (carrying another 125 or so people), forming a 24-car train poised to be the first passenger train to travel back westbound through the new tunnel.

The event was broadcast over a coast-to-coast network of NBC stations – a radio network established on December 28, just two weeks prior to the Cascade Tunnel broadcast.

 

 

 

At the celebration banquet, VIPs admire the huge cake representing the Cascade Tunnel. Front row (L-R): H.L. Mundy (President, A. Guthrie Co.); Gov. Roland H. Hartley (Washington State); Judge L.C. Gilman (V.P., Great Northern Ry.); Arthur Curtiss James (Primary investor, GN Ry.); John F. Stevens, pointing (locating engineer who surveyed the tunnel route); J.R.W. Davis (Chief Engineer, GN Ry.); and Wm. E. Conroy (engineer in charge of tunnel work, A. Guthrie Co.).

When the radio program came to a close at about 10 p.m. Eastern, the dignitaries and other celebrants assembled for a grand banquet at the dining hall of A. Guthrie Company’s construction camp at Scenic, near the west portal of the tunnel. Nearly 600 people gathered at the spacious dining hall, where they heard from several key dignitaries. L.C. Gilman, a Vice-president of the Great Northern Railway, served as toastmaster of the event.

The NBC broadcast of the opening and dedication of the Cascade Tunnel was recorded on a set of seventeen 78 RPM records by the Victor Talking Machine Company. That recording is one of only a handful that still exist regarding the Great Northern Railway and their grand advertising campaign, the Empire Builders radio series.