As you can see I am new to posting to this forum, but have been lurking for a while. I am new to model RR, and am planning a modest layout in N scale. After quite a bit of looking have found the Columbia & Puget Sound to be of interest, because it was local, and was formed to support the logging and coal mining of the area. Ok, that was the intro, Now can anyone help me with the following? 1. Book titles or websites that can help me get a feel for these industries in the northwest from 1900-1950 (I haven't decided on an era yet). And yes I know the C & SP became part of the Pacific Coast Railroad Co in 1916, and the the Great Northern in 1951, but a little historical fiction and who knows what will happen. 2. The same for Pacisic Coast RR and GN. Ok I guess that's it for now, any help and pointers will be apriciated. Thanks,
Hello and welcome. Good to see lurkers posting I cannot help with your queries, but I would guess someone here can. Good luck with the model railroad.
JW, I live in the Pacific Northwest, in Bellingham along the GN line to Vancouver, Send me an E-mail and I can give you some leads.
Welcome aboard! Your best bet for industries is forest products. Paper mills, woodchip industries, sawmills, lumber disrtibutors, etc. Fishing and canning are big on the coast, I would suspect. Don't forget fruit and vegetables farms, plants, processors, etc. And in your era, icing facilities are going to be a big industry for your layout. HTH!
C&PS/PCRR once hauled a lot of coal. As did the NP, and Milw. A commodity many folks who model the area overlook. Boxcab E50
Really? Coal in the PNW? I didn't know that.... Where were the deposits located? Did they run out by merger day in '70?
Hemi, I just ran across your question here and I have part of the Answer. There were a few coal mines up here in Whatcom County, Bellingham Area. Just South of the Mall in town used to be a huge coal mine, and there was one East of Lake Whatcom and one Near Sehome Village (South East of Bellingham.) Hope that helps a little.
Glad that Clayton brought this topic back to life. I also missed the return question! There was coal all over Washington. Prominent deposits north of Cle Elum, in the Roslyn-Ronald area. On the west side, a large area. That one could roughly outline, by noting the Bellevue (Newcastle) to North Bend areas. And down south of there to around Black Diamond, (catch the name? Coal!), and vicinity of Enumclaw. The Depression pretty much ended these efforts. Boxcab E50
Up until about 95' or 96', BN was still pulling a train about every week or so out of the hills just east of Black Diamond before they re-opened Stampede Pass. The coal was coming from Palmer Coaking co. in Black Diamond and they would ship it up to Robert's Bank, B.C. for export. Pick up a couple of Warren Wing's books at the library, they have all sorts of old pictures from the area.
