In its early history as a small town, Hoquiam was part of a railroad network that served the different transport needs of the vast number of communities in and around the State of Washington. This was the great “Prairie Line” of the Northern Pacific railroad company. The Prairie line trains served passengers, goods and raw materials such as logs taken from the rich forest surrounding the city.

Locomotives with their trains such as the “Grays Harbor Express” the “Puget Sound Express” or the “Grays Harbor Limited” were serving the lines of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company went west from Lakeview to Nisqually on the American Lake Line proceeding towards Grays Harbor destinations of Moclips and of course the logger’s city of Hoquiam near the mouth of the river that is its namesake.

What remained in the town is the Train Depot, Built in 1914 this is where the great and powerful trains of the prairie line once got repaired and rested from their long, eventful trips from city to city, state to state. This station served as a terminus for three transcontinental railroads, the Puget Sound & Pacific railroad, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and of course the Northern Pacific Railway.

The only remnant of the glory days of the once mighty Prairie Line is the Train Depot that was constructed back in 1914. This is where the trains of the North Pacific Railroad Company went to be serviced, after their long journeys through the transcontinental railroads of the Puget Sound & Pacific railroad, the Northern Pacific Railway, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The Train Depot served as the terminus for these three railroads.

Most of the prairie line has now been largely ignored and most of it will probably cease to exist quietly without anyone noticing and with most of its historic railroad and stations having no chance of ever being re-built to be appreciated by future generations to come.

Aside from the train depot, which the town has honorably chosen to save and refurbish, almost all of the once proud Prairie Line has been forgotten and inevitably lost without so much so as a whisper of a goodbye from those who benefited from their power and tracks. Most of the stations and railroads have been removed or destroyed due to neglect and age, never to be used again or even seen by others who have never experienced the Prairie Line of old.

The historic train depot, through the efforts of the residents of the city got the building as a donation from Burlington Railroad, the company that acquired the old prairie line. The city fathers spent $1.2 million for the restoration of the 96 year old train depot to the respectable structure that it once was, most of the funding came from grants from the Federal Highway Department.

The station has been extensively rehabilitated and converted to serve as a Washington State Driver Licensing station for a lease of 10 years, with a portion of the lease updates going to the future rehabilitation and maintenance of the historic, beautiful and still useful train depot. The fate of the once proud “Prairie Line”. A railroad line that was once fought over and sought-after as the most vital feature for development for local Northwest communities is mostly to be forgotten and laid to waste, but not in the City of Hoquiam were traditions and heritage are always something they cherish, just like the restored train depot, its not only serving the city residents but people from all over the state of Washington just like it was meant to be when it was first built.

Find out further about Wade Entezar.

Postingan Terkait

• PBB Millenium Development Goal untuk akses berkelanjutan terhadap air minum bersih mungkin Dicapai
• Enter The World Of CPA Riches And Let Go You Anxiety
• Find A Awesome Apartment Now