Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railroad |
| Founded | 1873 |
| Founder | Arthur A. Denny, John Collins, Franklin Mathias, Angus Mackintosh, Henry Yesler, James McNaught, J. J. McGilvra, J. M. Colman, Dexter Horton |
| Fate | Purchased by Oregon Improvement Company in 1880; renamed Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad |
| Headquarters | Seattle , United States |
Area served | King County, Washington |
Key people | J. M. Colman (leader), Chin Gee Hee (labor contractor) |
The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad—initially known as the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation Company—was a narrow gauge railroad that represented the first significant rail line serving Seattle, Washington. Despite its ambitious title, construction was confined entirely within King County. Following its purchase by Henry Villard's Oregon Improvement Company in 1880, the company was renamed the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, and later, in 1916, it became known as the Pacific Coast Railroad Company.
Seattle and Walla Walla
In 1873, when the Northern Pacific Railway designated nearby Tacoma as its western terminus, Seattle risked economic isolation on Puget Sound. Unlike other communities bypassed by the main line, Seattle actively sought to establish a direct rail link eastward. The railroad was formally incorporated on September 19, 1873, with founding trustees including influential figures such as Arthur A. Denny, John Collins, Franklin Mathias, Angus Mackintosh, Henry Yesler, James McNaught, J. J. McGilvra, J. M. Colman, and Dexter Horton. Their vision was to construct a route traversing Snoqualmie Pass to reach the grain-producing regions of Eastern Washington.
Leading this effort was J. M. Colman, proprietor of a major lumber mill in Seattle originally founded by Henry Yesler. Colman contributed an initial personal investment of US$20,000—a substantial amount given the economic downturn following the Panic of 1873—on the condition that additional financing would be secured from local investors. He enlisted labor contractor Chin Gee Hee, who organized an economical workforce comprised mainly of Chinese laborers; Chin would later emerge as a prominent railway entrepreneur in China.
Construction commenced on May 1, 1874, at Steele's Landing in Georgetown (present-day vicinity of E. Marginal Way S. and S. Lucille St.). By October of that year, twelve miles of track had been laid entirely through volunteer work by Seattle residents. The railroad extended to Renton's coal mines by 1877, with the inaugural train running on March 7 and commercial service beginning on October 15. Although the line never connected Seattle to wider national rail networks, transporting coal provided a reliable revenue stream.
One notable engineering obstacle involved building a trestle over tidal flats from King Street Coal Wharf to what would become Seattle's Industrial District. Constructed by Joe Surber using pile-driving techniques, this structure suffered damage from shipworms and had to be replaced within five years by the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad.
By January 18, 1878, the railroad reached Newcastle's coal fields, encompassing roughly with a fleet consisting of five locomotives, two passenger cars, and sixty freight cars. Despite these expansions, insufficient capital prevented extending the line all the way to Walla Walla.
On November 25, 1880, Villard's Oregon Improvement Company acquired the railroad and merged it with the Seattle Coal and Transportation Co., renaming it the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad. While this acquisition yielded profits for early investors, it did little at that time to connect Seattle directly with national railway systems.
Columbia and Puget Sound
The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company (C&PSRR), which succeeded the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, was established on November 26, 1880. It extended its rail network throughout Western Washington's coal-producing regions, reaching from Renton southward and eastward through Black Diamond to Franklin by December 1884. Additional short branches were constructed to Denny (later renamed Bruce) and Kummer by 1903. Around May 1893, a branch line connecting Maple Valley to Taylor—a company town owned by the Denny Clay Company—was inaugurated. In total, C&PSRR managed roughly 60 miles of track.
C&PSRR played a vital role in linking Seattle to rail systems in the southern and eastern regions. At Maple Valley, it intersected with the Milwaukee Road’s Chicago & Puget Sound Railway. Beginning July 1, 1884, Northern Pacific operated broad-gauge trains over C&PSRR’s narrow-gauge rails between Black River Junction and Argo, thereby connecting Seattle through the Puget Sound Shore Railroad.
Nevertheless, the Puget Sound Shore Railroad failed to provide an effective connection to national rail lines. Although constructed from Black River Junction through Kent to Stuck Junction near Tacoma, Northern Pacific largely neglected its maintenance and operation. This resulted in unreliable service that was expensive and limited exclusively to carload freight. These shortcomings motivated Seattle to establish the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad. A cooperative arrangement with Northern Pacific was not finalized until 1903.
The Great Seattle Fire of June 1889 caused extensive damage to C&PSRR’s facilities, destroying its station, workshops, roundhouse, docks, freight cars, and a locomotive. Despite this setback, the railroad resumed operations before the end of that year. The economic downturn known as the Panic of 1893 severely affected the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC), which entered receivership in 1895 and later reorganized as the Pacific Coast Company in 1897, reflecting its expanded portfolio that included the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.
By November 1897, C&PSRR had completed its conversion to standard gauge. The 1903 agreement with Northern Pacific granted access to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company's newly built coal pier at Dearborn Street in Seattle, where C&PSRR also constructed a new roundhouse near Railroad Avenue (later renamed Alaskan Way).
Following an agreement reached in 1906, the Milwaukee Road obtained comparable trackage rights in 1909. By 1913, C&PSRR's equipment roster comprised 11 locomotives, 8 passenger cars, 152 freight cars, and 236 coal cars. On March 26, 1916, the company was merged into the Pacific Coast Railroad Company.
Pacific Coast Railroad Company
Incorporated on November 27, 1897, the Pacific Coast Railroad Company commenced operations on March 23, 1916. The segment running from Renton to Newcastle and Coal Creek was abandoned in 1933. Subsequent closures included the stretch from Black Diamond to Franklin in 1936; Maple Valley to Taylor in 1945; and Maple Valley to Henry's in 1947. By that time, only approximately remained operational—linking Seattle through Black River Junction and Renton to Maple Valley as well as Henry's to Black Diamond.
In 1951, this company became a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway and was later sold to Burlington Northern (currently part of BNSF Railway) on March 2, 1970. These transactions illustrate ongoing strategic consolidation within the railroad industry aimed at enlarging parent companies' market presence and operational reach throughout the Pacific Northwest.