Dispatch Dedicated to the historic preservation and/or modeling of the former CMStP&P/Milw. "Lines West'

Volume 8, Issue No. 3 August 1995

CATENARY FOR STEAM RAILROAD ELECTRIFICATION By Noel T Holley

P a r t II.

The first part of this article was printed in the May 1995 issue of the Dispatch. This will conclude the article. MilWest thanks Noel Holley for permission to print his clinic.

W I R E C E N T E R I N G

For good operation, the wire should be kept within one foot of track center. In no case should it be more than two scale feet from track center. Destructive dewirements may result i f these standards are exceeded. In order to accurately align your catenary when building it, and in order to maintain the alignment, you wi l l need to make an alignment gauge. Without one it is hard to visually determine whether or not the wires are in proper aligimient. When tight radius curves are in use, pantographs mounted at the ends of some locomotives may swing far out from the track center line. I f the wire over the curves is offset to accommodate those locomotives, the wire wi l l be unsuit­able for any other type of locomotive.

W I R E STAGGERING

Staggering is a method of spreading pantograph shoe wear by stringing the catenary in a zigzag line. Most American railroads chose not to do this because the rocking of the locomotives spread the pantograph wear

FEATURES THIS ISSUE Pages 1-7; Part II . Catcmity Construction, Noc! HoUc> Pages S - 9 Photos r\'igc 10: DFW

satisfactorily. The practice of staggering originated in Europe. There, the mainline rights of way were often maintained to perfection, rail joints were parallel rather than staggered, and the catenary was originally strung at dead center above the tracks. When the catenary wore grooves in the pantograph heads, European railroads remidied this by staggering the wires. American tracks were never manicured and the wires were never stmng at dead center. Instead, they were hung at somewhat random locations anywhere plus or minus nine inches from track center. The only time a modeler would want to stagger the wires i f they are modeling AMTRAK's new Northeast Corridor wire work, the Black Mesa & Lake Powell, or EC Rail's Tumbler Ridge line. The catenary on all of these lines was designed by European consultants and is stag­gered.

If the wire is to "be staggered, set it at one foot inside of track center at the even poles and one foot outside of track center at the odd poles. When modeling catenary which is not staggered, just make sure that you do not set all of it at dead center.

SWITCHES AND DEADENDS

When building catenary for pantographs, there is no need to put a frog in the wires above switches. On many railroads, the catenary for the diverging track simply passes through the catenary for the main track, with the diverging wire lying on top of the main track trolley wire. On the Milwaukee, the two catenaries came together and ran parallel for a short distance, tiien one was deadended. In both types of wire work over switches, both catenaries are intercormected. The intercormection assures that a panto­graph caimot push up on set of wires without pushing up on the other set. This prevents the pantograph from riding 25 feet on a siding for instance, and then hooking its homs into the 24 foot high main track wires as they converge over a switch.

Catenary is deadended to the side of the track rather than at its end. This provides a clear path for the tracks to continue on, or for rolling stock to run off the end

Page 2

WOOD SCREWS REMOVABLE BRASS PEGS

USED AS WIRE GUIDES

3 LENGTHS

OF .015 PIANO WIRE

.015 HANO WIRE LEADERS GUITAR TUNING KNOBS

AND GEAR SETS

MilWest Management ^ MilWest is a Washtngton State rw)I p ofit cOTporation ftHUKied in October 1987. B serves

: 0 preserv* artd ptot^H Uie ht$tof> of the tfojuief) CMAPS, CM&StP, CMStPA.P, MILW UnesWcst.

, Annual manbereiBp is based on the. c«iaKW year, coet $10,QO (US), and is tbie tw later Tha ftwttiary I Pte«s* make aJl femittw^ p9iy'Bt>Io to "M4lWe$f' and stnrf to (he ggg :-

;: PcisOTis joining dohng a year will recdve 'ail insues of the t&pattli for that year. tHhc :•" back ftre avail»bt^ from the Secfet&ry-

NfUWest IHspatch welci nies oon£nbu&onis -of non-co{ TTgh(«d aitides, photos, anrf other reprocbcitie material for publication, with the understanding thai, no payment of any

:, larti wUl be tt>3d« for ftdi" uise Ait iwton^ Ri pubtic«ition slK>iiJd be $ant to the Man^ iny Editcr. Please dotiWe-spBce type aJl manusc-riptis w c iittct Etfalor to iutMnif on com'

Oopvnght i9?>.5 by MilWest Repjodtictioft iii whole or in part hy pemusaon oiUy.

, Jf jtw tTxjv<*, please tiotify The ^cr^aa'-ofyom new adcltess pr<4npt3y.

W H O M D O 1 C O N T A C n

Matters pertaining to MilWest policy, ajinnal meetings, et*:., contact the General Manager

Payment of dues, nieintxirship applications and mqiiines, non-receipt of the Dispatch, address chajigcs. back is,sues, contact the Si rciarv'.

General Manager, Tojw Dell. 1704 N. 15lh Avenue Pasco, WA 99301

Ass'l General Maiuigcr, Art Jacobsen, 1870 liisy Street, Helena. MT 59^)1-1172

Secretftry, Ron Hamilton, 3191 SW Yew A\Redmond. OR 97756

Treasurer, John Hemy, Eiist 2406 South Allamont Blvd.. Spokane, WA 99202

Staff Assistant. Position open balance of 1995

Slftff Assistant, Doug Nighswonger, 23715 N E 6th Ct Redmond, WA 98053

Managing Editor. Rockv Gibbs. 444 W, 15th Ave. Spokatw. WA 99203-2110

of the track without teaiing down the catenary.

CATENARY PULL-OFFS

At every point where the catenary changes di­rection, pull-offs are needed in order to hold it in align­ment. These pull-offs are typically on curves, through switches, and at deadends. The natural tendency of a wire under tension is to make a straight line between two points. Without pull-offs, the catenary wi l l not line up with any­thing in between. Pull-offs consist of a bracket which is designed to clear pantograph shoes and a cable which anchors the bracket. I have found it to be quick and simple to make one piece pull-offs out of .015 piano wire. An example was shown in Part I , May 1995, page 6, A drawing of a prototype pull-off appears in the drawings which are an attachment to this article.

PAINTING

I find that part of the enjoyment of having cate­nary is being able to see it. Catenary which is black or dark brown is hard to see. I paint mine copper oxide green to give it visibility. The Milwaukee's catenary near Seattle was that color. As a result, it was easy to see it from a quarter mile away. Most of AMTRAK's ex-Pennsy and New Haven catenary is green also.

If the catenary is to be painted, I recommend Floquil brand lacquer based Railroad Colors. With these, it is easy to mix any color you want, and it adheres well to metal. My copper oxide green is a pale mixture of Jade Green, Refer White, and Grimy Black. After painting the catenary, clean the bottom of the trolley wire with Methyl Ethyl Ketone. The MEK wi l l dissolve and remove the paint

Page 3

CATENARY GAUGE

Dummy pantograph shoe has notches sawed in at center, one foot, and two feet. The zone from one foot to two feet is painted yellow. The zone from two feet to the end of the pantograph homs is painted red. The pan head can be raised up and down on a boJt mounted in an old passenger car truck, or a block of wood which is grooved to sit on the raiis. Because this gauge is adjustable vertically as well as horizontally, it can be used to check wire height as well as lateral alignment.

sewing machine oil to the trolley wire. I ran a Q-Tip dipped in oil along the bottom of the wire.

FUNCTIONAL O V E R H E A D POWER SUPPLY

On prototype railroads, the wires are negative and both rails are positive. A model railroad wi l l ran quite well i f wired that same way. The pantograph always makes good contact because it tends to scrape all dirt and oxides off of the trolley wire. The wheels tend to make excellent contact with the rails since all of them are grounded instead of only half of them. The drawback to this system is that steam engines and diesels can no longer ran on the same railroad.

Electrics wi l l ran just fine from two rail supply, but it seems hke a waste to build a functional overhead wire system and not use it. I f the pantographs are going to touch the wires, then the wires must be properly aligned. Dead wires must be just as carefully constracted and aligned as live ones. Otherwise, the catenary wil l be hooked by the pantographs of moving locomotives.

Two types of compromise systems offer an al­ternative. The first alternative involves having the electrics ran from a power supply which is connected to the over­head and one rail. The steam engines and diesels operate from a separate power supply which is connected to both rails. With the electrics, all wheels on one side are grounded while all those on the other side are insulated. The electrics must always remain headed in the same di­rection to operate in this system. I f they are put on the track backwards, no current wi l l flow through them. As a result they must be banned from wyes and return loops. The second compromise possibility uses only one power supply

quickly. Just put a small amount on some cloth and ran it along the underside of the wire. Use a small mirror to inspect the wire for any remaining paint.

W I R E LUBRICATION

Most railroads found that by lubricating the pantographs and trolley wire, they could keep wire and pantograph shoe wear down to a negligible level. The Milwaukee Road applied a mixture of graphite and axle grease to the locomotive pantographs. I found lubricating models to be valuable also, espe­cially i f steel trolley wire is used. Steel is quite hard and can be somewhat abrasive to the panto­graph shoes. In order to prevent wear, I applied a small amount of

• • • •

Catenary tlignmenc over iwitches - PcnmyNania and Virginian

m • •

• • • • • Catenary alignment over iwitchci • Milwaukee Road

• • • • Catenary deadend

Page 4 for electric and non-electric motive power. Under this system, the electrics cannot be separately controlled, and i f they are on the track backwards, they wi l l create a dead short. Electricity wi l l pass from the pantograph directly to the wrong rail, without passing through the motor.

Considering the difficulties which are involved in supplying power from the overhead, you might wonder why anyone would want to utilize it for power supply. After all, it is practical to run everything from two rail supply and leave the wires dead. My answer to that is that a lot of satisfaction comes from knowing that the overhead really works and from watching an occasional arc flash as the trains roll by. - Noel Holley

Fleuble Pull-Over for use with putognphs

GENERIC AMERICAN COMPOUND CATENARY

G E N E R I C A M E R I C A N S I M P L E C A T E N A R Y A S D X A O R A M E D B Y O H I O B R A S S C O M P A N Y

1 •» • ! « '

A

4 -

Page 5

A R R A N G E M E N T S OF T Y P I C A L M I L W A U K E E R O A D T R O L L E Y SUPPORTS

SUPPLflteMTAPr 3000 VOLT DC ft€DCIt •t^ACKCTA/HI SUMVRT

-tiesscmaf mire -IMSULArOlt -TWO TftoLterwrnes

At I ftittnl nit. pokt in not plttd ox Iht iniidt o/« cunt. Hofmtr. if Itrrmin mmtlmis placuit ihtm ihtrt, Iht pok ihowm tbow a ustd. na lypt a! pok a tnnd railttr ihaii tujitd tnd iht puU-oXf a aiU tr-rtiittd 10 pull lowrd iht ouuidt of iht cunt.

Pok cwhitd ' ptr fool. 112' from rtnktl ti Irolky wit htifhl.)

On irtakt. Iht MUwtuktt ofun j Iht lrolk)i with wooOtm porul anctura. Oh tomt intikt. iht Milwtulitt uxd Mmgk poki mmchtd lo out tidt of iht inak.

Spm wint tuch m ihott shown tboot ore ttntnlly uitd lo luppon coitntry tbow I wo or mart irockx. Tht maximum mumbtr of irocks sponntd inihis man-ntr wot lunt. Somtiima whtn tcmrnl irmcki wtrt brini ipinntd, t middk pok wmt tbo uatd. Cmitmrj wm noi atctaorll/ tbo^ oil irtdu Mponntd m « ytrd.

-RAIL TROLLEY WIRE

In lunntls. iht Milwcuker hunt 'he irolky from in-sukltd mtlal bracktis like Ihe one shown tbovt.

Page 6

-enouMo Line 4/a iteeATi^c

6IKXMO SIMfACe aH

-c.ufST.Kin

l^'-O'lA^HtOXIMATCI

- VAHIAtLt—

0ieMT or mirtme

so--o~-

Tmamisjion 4 Disinbviiom Sjaitm. Conmiiomtl Cms Stami o/Riglii of Wiy wiih 100' wUih.

SittI bridtt lypt imlky supports wrrt found on iht htUwmikit only in Rtnion. Washingion, whtrt iht Irocks rrni down iht enMr of Hoiatr Sirtti. Tht spocint of ihtst supports MS> }S0 ' raihtr ihm Iht IX' ustd tisewhtrt wiih woodtn potts. Al iht lint Ihtst bridgts wtrt buill iht sirttI coniointd iwo irvcks. Ont wm luir rtmorti. This lypt of doubk irock irollty support wm

tiUom ustd on iht MUwauktt. It wm iht primary lypt of irollty support only along tha itD milts of Iroct btlwttn Stttik and Black Khur Jynetion.

Om truss brtdgts. tht MUwauktt usually sup-pontd tht irolky wah a disc msukior hung from t site! btam.

This lypt of span win construction wm ustd u> singk track inm whtrt tht Irolky must follow "5" currts m Iht track. Tht ont wtrt span wm somtttmas aba ustd in doubk track artm.

TABLE SHOWS MAXIMUM PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE (MIDDLE ORDINATE) BETWEEN CHORD AND CURVE | AND INDICATING CONDITIONS WHICH REQUIRE USE OF ONE, TWO, OR THREE TROLLEY PULL-OFFS PER SPAN

MAXIMUM PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE, INCHES, CHORD TO CURVE (MIDDLE ORDINATE) CHORD / TRACK CURVATURE DEGREES LENGTH IN FEET 1-00" 1-30" 2-00" 2-30" 3-00" 3-30" 4-00" 4-30" 5-00" 6-00" 7-00" 8-00" 9-00" 10-00" 11-00" 12-00" 13-00" 14-00" 15-00" 16-00" 17-00" 18-00"

150 5.9 8.6 11.8 14.8 17.7 20.7 23.6 26.6 29.5 35.4 41.4 47.2 53.1 59.1 65.0 71.0 77.0 82.9 88.8 94.6 101.0 106.3 135 4.8 7.2 9.6 12.0 14.4 16.7 19.1 21.5 24.0 28.7 33.5 35.9 43.0 47.8 52.6 57.4 62.1 67.0 71.7 76.5 81.3 86.0 120 3.8 5.7 7.6 9.5 11.4 13.2 15.1 17.0 18.9 22.7 26.4 30.2 34.0 37.8 41.6 45.4 49.2 53.0 56.8 60.5 64.3 68.0 105 2.9 3.6 6.0 7.3 8.7 10.2 11.6 13.0 14.5 17.3 20.2 23.1 26.0 28.9 31.8 34.7 37.6 40.5 43.4 46.2 49.2 52.0 90 2.1 3.1 4.3 5.3 6.3 7.5 8.5 9.6 10.7 12.8 14.9 17.1 19.2 21.3 23.4 25.61 27.7 29.8 32.0 34.1 36.2 38.3 75 1.5 2.2 3,0 3.8 4.5 5.2 5.9 6.7 7.4 8.9 10.4 11.8 13.3 14.8 16.2 17.7 19.2 20.6 22.2 23.6 25.1 26.6 60 1.0 1.5 1.9 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.9 6.8 7.7 8.6 9.5 10.4 11.4 12.3 13.2 14.2 15.1 16.0 17.0 45 0.5 0.8 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.6 3.2 3.7 4.2 4.8 5.3 5.8 6.4 6.9 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.1 9.6

SPAN LENGTH BETWEEN POLES 1

FOR CASES INSIDE SINGLE LINE ED-107B CALLS FOR ONE PULL-OFF j FOR CASES INSIDE DASHED LINE ED-107B CALLS FOR TWO PULL-OFFS FOR CASES INSIDE HEAVY LINE ED-107B CALLS FOR THREE PULL-OFFS

1 1 1 1 NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRIFIED STEAM RAILROAD CATENARY SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

1 1 1 1 RAILROAD TROLLEY TROLLEY CATENARY CATENARY POLE SPACING POLE OR

NAME MINIMUM STANDARD TYPE CURVE CATENARY SPAN SUPPORT HEIGHT HEIGHT CONSTRUCTION LENGTH MATERIAL

Black Mesa & Lake Powell 20" 6" 21'0" simple chord 200' wood Boston & Maine (Hoosac Tunnel) 15' 6" 22'0" compound inclined 300' steel British Columbia Railway 19' 10" 21'4" simple chord 230' steel Great Northern Railway 19'0" 24' 0" simple inclined 150'& ISO' wood Milwaukee Road 18'9" 24'2 ' simple chord 150' wood New Haven 16'0" 22' 0" compound inclined 300' steel Norfolk & Western 17'0" 23' 9" compound inclined 300' steel Pennsylvania 15' 8" 22' 0" compound inclined 285' steel South Shore 17'6" 22' 0" compound chord 166'&300' wood & steel Virginian 17'10" 24'6" compound inclined 300' 1 steel

Page 8

Workers are taking a break posing at Laconia (today's Snoqualmie Pass). This illustrates the practice of running locomotives and rotary plows back to back so they would not get trapped by snow. The lead rotary is C M & PS #20, labeled "Rotary Snow Shovel". The locomotives are Prairie's. - Milwest Archives.

Page 9

This photo shows the sluicing operation used in the construction of the fill that covered the trestle at DD206. A trestle was flrst constructed, then the surrounding hillside is washed down into the terrace work by hydraulic means. The high pressure water stream is at work just be­low the treeline at the far end of the tresde. - Milwest Archives

In 1993 Ron Zammit had his MILW motorcar on the track in front of substation #21, the first substation west of Othello on the Coast Division Electrification. - Ron Zammit photo.

Page 10

fim^ hertf tire a ''<xiiedt~a&" tm a vme^ cf XHtraai.

WASHINGTON STATE PARKS ACQUIRES CLE ELUM FACILITIES

The following news was reported in the Yakima Herald-Republic of July 4, 1995. Washington State Park officials plan to use $240,000 in federal funds to help purchase and renovate some centiuy old structures along the 240 mile Iron Horse Trail across the Cascade Moun­tains and into central Washington. The plan includes a multimedia railroad museum in the former Milwaukee depot in Cle Elum, WA. This proposed center is one of six transportation enhancement projects in the Yakima Valley and Kittitas County slated to receive $809,000 in federal funds. Some matching funds wil l be required from local governments and support groups. These federal funds are part of $10.7 million slated for 72 projects statewide dis­tributed from the 1991 federal Intermodal Surface Trans­portation Act. (Editor's Note: At our 1995 Annual Meet we learned that the State Park has already acquired the former MILW yard area, has reached agreement for pur­chase with the owner of the substation, arvd is negotiating with the owner of the depot.)

The Iron Horse Trail's depot museum would feature a history of the railroad industiy in Washington with authentic artifacts and video displays. A onetime electricity generating substation and a switch yard in a forest clearing would also be part of the attraction. State matching funds and money raised by the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust are expected to cover the rest of the project's $375,000 cost. Work on the center should begin within the next six months according to Bil l Jolly of the State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Judy Moen, manager of the Cle Elum Chamber of Commerce, said she's confident the center would be a hub of tourism for the area. The proposal also calls for the site to be designated as South Cle Elum's first historic district.

Those who attended MilWest's Annual Meet in 1993 wi l l remember our tour of the former substation, now owned by MilWest member David Fluke. As noted then, the former depot was privately owned and strictly "off-Umits" to visitors. I f all the above reported plans come to pass, this would be a wonderful salvation of fomier M i l ­waukee facilities. It would also be an excellent project for MilWest to be involved in, both to provide historical in­formation to them, and perhaps some volunteer labor. While the plans for the museum would seem to encompass more that just the Milwaukee Railroad, MilWest could be helpful in getting as much "MILW flavof in it as possible, perhaps with recommendations on building colors and signage, etc. This should be a lively topic for discussion at

the 1995 MilWest Annual Meet. We wi l l continue to follow and keep you appraised of ongoing developments for this project. - News article courtesy of MilWest member E. R. Emanuel.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON MILWAUKEE?

Commentary continues regarding possible res­toration of the BN line over Stampede Pass, and possible retracking of the former MILW r-o-w from EUensburg to Lind. Thanks to some MilWest members, we are in receipt of several articles from Central Washington newspapers with articles quoting various officials involved. On the way to Tukwilla, Art Jacobsen met with Colleen McKee from Lake Easton State Park. She confirmed that they have acquired some of the facilities at Cle Elum and are nego­tiating for more. She also reported that BN has officially informed her that they wil l be operating trains over the Stampede Pass hne within a few years, but would not give an exact schedule. This was a courtesy to State Parks as the BN track and the trail (former MILW grade) are very close to each other for much of the distance from Cle Elum to Easton, posing a safety hazard to trail users.

Statements made in the various newspaper arti­cles confirm the need for BN to reopen Stampede Pass due to traffic density. At public meetings held in Yakima and Tri-Cities, BN Assistant General Manager David Hatzen-buhler stated that BN is looking at both routes as possi­bilities; the former NP line through Yakima (now Wash­ington Central), and the former MILW grade from El-lensburg to Lind. BN has concluded that expansion of the GN line over Stevens Pass, and the river line from Seattle to Pasco via Vancouver is not feasible due to environ­mental and existing trackage constraints. The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, as well as BN, expect container traffic to double by year 2015. Mr. Hatzenbuhler stated BN wil l make whatever investment is needed to assure efficiency of their Northern Rail Corridor between Puget Sound and Seattle as it is the premier route for shippers, being a full day sailing time shorter to the Orient than California ports. If the two routes were open today, he said BN would likely us the MILW route for containers, saying business sense dictates using the shortest route, and frankly, BN does not want containers taking a sidetrip through Pasco. Appar­ently BN is gaining political support with local commu­nities and Washington State for retracking the MILW line. BN has asked for support from Rep. Doc Hastings, in congress with the Federal Government, and particularly the U.S. Army at the Yakima Firing Center, who is taking over the area over the Saddle Mountains that the former MILW r-o-w crosses. Lt. Gen C. G. Marsh has replied that the Army recognizes the benefits to the region and nation of such a line, but many issues and activities would need to be resolved before they could agree to trains mnning through the Firing Center.

One person opposed to any possible retracking of the former MILW r-o-w is Nick Temple, the owner of the

Page 11 Washington Central RR. He wants BN to use the former NP line through Yakima to Kennewick. The newspapers state WCRC as owning the former NP track (MilWest has always been under the impression that the WCRC does not own any track, but in fact leases their track from BN). The papers claim Mr. Temple wants BN to pay him for trackage rights use. He feels that an alternate route over the MILW r-o-w would allow BN to bypass his track, or use it in only a secondary status. He also feels it would allow BN to siphon off much of his WCRC traffic by building a con­tainer loading terminal in EUensburg. He agrees to the logic of a Central Washington container terminal, but wants it to be served by WCRC, not BN. Other Yakima frait growers fear BN would ignore them and other valley shippers who want to use a BN connection to ship produce and goods to the East Coast, Southern California, and Mexico. Mr. Temple further claims that Washington State DOT staffers have improperly encouraged BN to retrack the MILW r-o-w, and i f they had not interfered by placing the John Wayne Trail on the table, BN and WCRC would have resolved the expansion issue long ago. DOT Com­missioner Dick Thompson said use of the John Wayne Trail came up as one of about 50 issues a governor's railroad policy committee was discussing. In other speculation, there has even been talk of Union Pacific mnning trains over WCRC track to EUensburg and then over Stampede Pass.

Another item speculated on in the newspapers are the Olympic Pipeline Corp. plans to build a gasoline pipeline from Puget Sound to the Tri-Cities using the former MILW r-o-w over the Cascades to the Columbia Basin and then veer south near Othello. One more item of speculation is the rebuilding of the Hanford line (former MILW) up to the BN track relaid over the MILW r-o-w. The MILW track from the Beverly bridge to Hanford has been removed, but much of the track inside the Hanford site is intact and in use, being operated as Hanford's own railroad. The DOE is currently looking for a private op­erator to take over the operation and maintenance on their hne.

A l l of this discussion about the former MILW r-o-w is providing interesting reading at least. What will ever come of it, only time wil l tell. We must all remember that while there are a few facts in all this discussion, it is mostly mmor, speculation, and wishful thinking on the part of many people. We wi l l continue to report on these de­velopments as they occur but always remember, nothing in these discussions is tmth until factual armouncements are publicly made by the parties involved. I wish to thank MilWest members who have contributed the copies of newspaper articles from which I gleaned the above in­formation. I urge them to continue sending me copies of pertinent articles on this subject so that we may all keep abreast of this continuing development. Thanks to Bil l Curry, Steve Koberstein, and E. R. Emanuel, for the ar­ticles from the Tri-City Herald, The News Tribune, and the Yakima Herald Republic. - Rocky Gibbs

TRAIL CELEBRATION In September 1994, the former MILW tunnel over

Snoqualmie Pass was reopened for trail use by the Wash­ington State Park system. They now plan a celebration of the first anniversary of this opening on September 23,1995 at the tunnel. They plan to have informational and other exhibits as well as commemorative speakers. In the event of rain, they wil l move to an indoor location. Contact Lake Easton State Park for further details.

TRAIL UPDATE

The Taft Tunnel Preservation Society (TTPS) is a nonprofit organization formed to assist in restoration of the former MILW r-o-w over St. Paul Pass. They have been conducting informational meetings for the public to sohcit support for their cause. They wil l also be conducting fund raising activities for trail restoration. The Forest Service was awarded $390,000 last year for design and survey studies on the trail restoration. A recently completed study tagged the cost of refurbishing the structures on the Idaho side at $200,000. The study funds can not be used for any restoration so there are no work funds available now. TTPS hopes to assist here by seeking help from various or­ganizations, applying for grants, and soliciting donations of material, time, and expertise. Anyone interested in assist­ing can conract the TTPS at 208-556-1535.

The 11 mile section of the former MILW line between Cliff Creek Road and Moon Pass Road was closed on May 17, and wil l not reopen until guard rails are in­stalled along the trail's trestles. This action was prompted by greatly increased use of this trail section in the past two years. No funds are currently available for this work so there is no schedule on reopening. Jim Fowler of the TTPS figures that the trestie work estimated at $200,000 could be done with volunteer labor and money for $50-75,000. The trail was closed with a six-foot chain hnk fence at both ends.

The Forest Service is accepting proposals for a concessionaire to provide the capital and technical ex­pertise to complete tunnel and tiestie repairs, trail surfac­ing, parking and trail-head development, toilet installation and interpretive signing along the trail. The business could raise the money from grants and donations. Under the proposal, the concessionaire would have two years to complete the restoration, and then be granted a five-year permit to operate the ttail. It is assumed tiie concessionaire would charge a fee to users to provide funds for continued maintenance of the tiail. The TTPS has already submitted their application to the Forest Service. Thanks to MilWest member Steve Koberstein for copies of the Shoshone News Press articles from which the above information was ob­tained. - Rocky Gibbs.

BULK RATE Vol. 8, Issue No. 3 us. POSTAGI

August, 1995 SPOKANE, WA

MilWest Dispatch 444 W, 15th Spokane, WA 99203-2110

I L

A Marvel of Mountain Scenery

The route of "The Olym­pian" passes through the

The Olympian to Seattle-Tacoma One of the world's finest trains! Pro­vides every desired travel convenience, including library and barber, bath and val­et services. Observation club car; stand­ard and tourist sleeping cars; coaches. Dining car serving all meals—the fam­ous "Milwaukee" kind. Open observation cars during the summer months.

most gorgeous mountain scenery that this continent

has to offer and where Nature reaches heights of grandeur, the road is electrified. No cin­ders, smoke or soot to mar the view. No jerking, jarring, grinding of the brakes.

f Any of OUT pmnmngar ropro—ntmtip— > d mill ho flmd to —wuty^ booUotm and L ^ n\aha aUaping tar waam aationa. X