In northern Washington there is the abandon roadbed of the original Great Northern Railway over teh Cascade mountains. The line opened in 1893 using switchbacks to get over the top. In 1900 the first Cascade Tunnel opened. It's 2.663 miles long. The line was expensive to maintain as there were many snowsheds required to keep the track clear in winter. In 1929 the present Cascade Tunnel opened and during the summer the original line was abandon. In the autumn of 1929 the GN burned the town of Wellington to the ground. At Wellington today there is the west portal of the original Cascade Tunnel, the foundation of a watertank, the foundation of a coaling tower and the concrete snowsheds built in 1911. The roadbed from Wellington to Scenic is now the Iron Goat Trail. The trail is nine miles long on a 2.25% grade going down westbound. Along the trail are several BIG concrete walls. These walls are the anchor walls for a snowshed. The rest of the snowshed was wood and has rotted away. There are several tunnels. DO NOT ENTER!! any of them. All have caved in or are in the process of caving in. From the Windy Point Tunnel approach it's possible to look down in the canyon and see the west portal of the present Cascade Tunnel. There are remains of tools and other railroad artifacts along the trail too. The trail is a interesting hike after reading up on the history of the railroad in the area.
Wish I could get over that way, and give it a try. Probably couldn't go very far. I'd like to photo the scenery and wildlife along the way.
We have hiked the trail four times in the past. I would like to do it one more time with the video camera but don't think i have enough soop left in me to do it. The photos are of a all wood snowshed that's collapsed and rotting away.
I'd love to hike some of the CMStP&P right-of-way with my wife, but we live in the Carolinas and so it must remain a dream for the time being.
