KBTC's 'Full Focus' presents 'Railroad Ties'

Watch Railroad Ties on PBS. See more from Full Focus.

If you're interested in local railroad history, KBTC, Tacoma's PBS station, has a local documentary series called "Full Focus,"and earlier this month they aired a half hour documentary titled "Railroad Ties," about the role of the Northern Pacific Railway's Chehalis and Centralia depots in the area's history:

Railroads helped build the cities of Chehalis and Centralia, Washington. During the late 1800’s trains carrying freight, lumber and passengers abounded. Businesses and hotels sprung up around the rail lines, and in 1912 two new train depots were built to help keep up with demand. Full Focus explores the importance of the Chehalis and Centralia depots to the history of Washington’s twin cities.

"Full Focus" has produced a number of fascinating documentaries so far, which you can find here.

Sometimes you don't see the full picture...

At first glimpse, you might think this is the original Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern depot in Arlington. But it's not.

Lesson #1 of historical research: double check your "facts."

It seemed legitimate. I purchased this photo at an antique store in Arlington a few years back, where a fellow sells reproduction enlargements of antique photos. I was told by a shop employee that these photos are derived from old glass negatives which this gentleman purchased from the Arlington Times at some point in the past.

So it would be easy to assume this is a turn of the century photo of a trainwreck at the Arlington Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern/Northern Pacific depot, right?

To someone without an expert eye, yes.

But to my fellow members at the Northern Pacific Railway TellTale discussion group, there are several red flags. Roger Barrow best summed it up:

Prominent in the picture is an N&W [Norfolk & Western Railway] coal hopper. The depot is board and batten with gingerbread on the gable, and a lower-quadrant train order semaphore. The station platform is brick and a water tank appears in the (south?) distance. Helping to date the picture, we see a mix of steel and wooden hopper cars, and
rail with no tie plates.

So face bright red with embarrassment, I went to do some additional digging, and it turns out this is a postcard view of NOT the SLS&E/NP depot in Arlington, WASHINGTON, it's of a 1913 derailment at the depot in Arlington, OHIO.

Now it is possible the photo did come from The Arlington Times -- from other research I've done, the paper did publish news photos from other parts of the country, and many of them have been related to railroading.

I was excited about this photo when I bought it because I really thought it could be connected to a 1910 Northern Pacific blueprint which shows a (proposed) remodel or rebuild of the Arlington depot. Could it be a picture of the original SLS&E depot built in 1890?

Well, no. I should have looked more carefully at this photo of the depot, from the Stillaguamish Pioneer Museum:

Or this one, taken by former NPR employee Jim Fredrickson:

 Or this one:

Or this one, by former NPR employee Russell C. Johnson:

OR, just take a look at any other photo of original SLS&E depots, and you'll see the siding is horizontal, not vertical.

This might also be a lesson in what happens when you've been away for awhile from writing and research, and possibly what they call "chemo brain."

I'm just grateful that the folks at the TellTale group were so kind and helpful about my gaffe. With all  sincerity, they are truly a valuable resource for details on local railroad history -- which I will certainly call upon in the future. :)

Happy Birthday, Edward R. Murrow

The Blanchard Community Hall was previously the town's Great Northern Railway depot.

I happen to share a birthday with one of the most influential journalists of the 20th century, Edward R. Murrow, who was born on this date in 1908.

As it happens, Murrow has local ties. Born in North Carolina, his family moved to the small town of Blanchard in Skagit County, in 1913, where he lived until 1925, when he went to Washington State College. Now Washington State University, the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication is named for him there.

Murrow went onto a storied career at CBS, first in radio, reporting in Europe during World War II, then television, with the show "See It Now."

Murrow with his parents, Ethel and Roscoe, in Blanchard.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29, Blanchard is hosting a celebration of Murrow's life, first with a talk at the historic Blanchard Chapel, and continuing at 3 p.m. at the Blanchard Community Hall, with displays, snacks, photos -- and cake.

Beginning May 12, The Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner will also be hosting a special exhibit, "Peak of Their Professions: The Murrow Brothers," about Edward and his older brothers, Lacey and Dewey,  who all grew up in Blanchard, attended nearby Edison High School and Washington State College. A special Opening Gala is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10, presented by the Museum and Skagit County Washington State University alumni.

Arlington Depot Grand Opening - be there!

This is the old Arlington Northern Pacific Railroad depot, photographed sometime in the 1960s.

It's a long story which I can probably cut shorter.

I really only had a small part in the overall project -- in 2007, when I was a commissioner on the City of Arlington's Parks, Arts & Recreation Board, I had been researching Arlington's original Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern/Northern Pacific/Burlington Northern depot, which still existed, but had been moved out of town in 1983. I had the bright idea it could be moved it back to town and restored.

When that plan clearly wasn't feasible, I put together a proposal -- which wasn't necessarily a new idea around town -- to build a replica of the depot. I presented it to my fellow board members, and we passed a resolution in support.

But City of Arlington Recreation Manager Sarah Lopez describes the process much better in her press release:

The PARC commission recommended to City Council that this new facility could serve as the Centennial Trail trailhead facility, a visitor information center, with public restrooms and a meeting/ exhibition space. The proposed location would be the property located between Legion Park and City Hall next to BNSF rail yard siding. The Arlington City Council approved to move forward with the project. Plans were made for a more affordable, scaled down, version of the depot.

In 2010, the City applied for and received several grants to fund the “depot” project. After successfully applying for the WA State Recreation and Conservation grant, the State notified the city that their funding was not available. The City did receive a grant from the Arlington Hotel/Motel Tax fund for $48,000, a donation of $5,000 from the Burlington Northern Railroad Foundation, and the generous gift of $1,000 from a private citizen. State Representative Kirk Pearson was able to secure $110,000 in grant funds from the State Capital Budget in 2011. This money enabled the city to break ground in December 2011.

Original concept of the depot facility, created by artist Darwin Hennings in 2010. Courtesy City of Arlington.

While I had to step down from the Board not long after due to health issues and work obligations, as you can see, some very committed people in city and state government continued on, and now the Arlington Depot restroom and visitor information facility will have a grand opening event this coming weekend.

The new facility waiting for finishing touches, 2012. Photo courtesy the City of Arlington.

I'm very pleased and humbled to have been invited to help cut the ribbon at the grand opening ceremony at noon Saturday, April 28.

But that's not all that's happening on Saturday. It's a day long event:

• At 10:30 a.m. group bike rides start on the Centennial Trail (meet in the Legion Park parking lot, 114 N. Olympic Ave.), with two rides to choose from: A short ride to Bryant for youngsters and slower paced cyclists; and a quicker paced ride for bike enthusiasts south on the trail. Riders are encouraged to bring a can of food for the Arlington Food Bank. 
•  T-shirts commemorating the opening will be available for purchase with an artistic print created by Caroline Sumpter. 
• Arlington Rotary Club and the Kiwanis of Arlington will be hosting refreshments for the event.
• Starting at 11:30 a.m., the Brass Menagerie Band performs old time music.
• Vintage cars, tractors, and old time machinery will also be on display.
• At noon, the ribbon cutting takes place with special guests State Representative Kirk Pearson, Mayor Barb Tolbert, Council member Marilyn Oertle and representatives from Arlington’s Park, Arts and Recreation Commission. 

It's not the exact replica I had proposed (i.e. probably a lot more expensive to build) but it certainly evokes the spirit of the old depot and I think really fits right in with the location between the Centennial Trail and the BNSF track siding.

And what's this? Now there's talk floating around town about my other "dream" (I'm not the only one whose had this idea either) of how to bring a tourist train to Arlington...

On this date: Seattle World's Fair opens

For pretty much everyone on the west side of the Cascade Mountains, it's hard not to avoid the fact that today is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

I have a small, eclectic collection of Seattle World's Fair memorabilia, even though I wasn't born until five years after it originally opened.

What I do have is memories of the Seattle Center facility after the Exposition closed; the Bubbleator, a "futuristic" bubble shaped elevator, which remained for many years in the Food Circus/Center House; the now-defunct Fun Forest amusement park (called "the Gayway" during the Fair); and of course, the Space Needle.

To the left is the cover of a map of the fairgrounds that Standard Oil gave out. Standard Oil was among the exhibitors at the Fair; its building was smack-dab in front of the U.S. Science Pavilion, what we know these days as the Science Center. 

Below is the inside of the four-fold brochure, with a nice illustration of the Fair's layout. It's amazing how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same... but that's a topic for another day...

Bry's ApplianCenter - Marysville WA

Did a little digging and discovered that The Marysville Globe has (only) two pre-21st century issues that are digitally archived (and searchable) -- 1959 and 1962.

This was fortuitous, because in 1961, my grandfather, Francis C. "Bud" Bry, purchased Marysville ApplianCenter from Clen Berglund (who'd founded the store in 1955), changing the name to Bry's ApplianCenter.

So what's the first photo I find of him in the archive, from the Jan. 25, 1962 edition? Unloading appliances from a rail car at Marysville's Great Northern Railway depot.

Grandpa Bry sold the store just eight years later to Rod Wolfe, in 1969, retaining the "Bry's" name.

In 2007, Wolfe passed the business on to his sons, Chad and Josh, and "Great Buys at Bry's" are still going strong. The "secret room" in the basement still lives on -- where the hi-fi stereo equipment used to be -- now it displays home theater systems.

Historic Skykomish tavern destroyed in arson fire

Originally named the Olympia Tavern (right), the Whistling Post Tavern was one of Skykomish's notable historic buildings.

The Sky Valley Chronicle reports that the historic Whistling Post Tavern in Skykomish was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning, and officials are now saying the blaze was likely arson.

The tavern first opened in 1897 as the Olympia Tavern & Pool Hall.

Skykomish got its start thanks to the Great Northern Railway, which was seeking a route to the Puget Sound through the Cascade Mountains. An expedition by John F. Stevens in 1890 led to the discovery of what we now know as Stevens Pass, and construction commenced.

Tiny downtown Skykomish has seen two major fires, the first in 1904 (during which the Olympia Tavern was destroyed, but rebuilt in 1905), then again in 1970.

Fire remains one of the great major threats to historic preservation in Washington State and the western U.S., where so many buildings were built from the once plentiful timber harvested from the mountains and foothills. It is even more devastating, as in the case of the Whistling Stop, that the fire was set intentionally.

The current owners are saying they plan to rebuild, and I hope they do... I've also been hoping restoration of the amazing four story Skykomish Hotel will occur in the near future. Unfortunately, it appears there is much weirdness going on between city government and the owners, whose blog is rather eyebrow raising, to say the least.

If you'd like to explore more of Skykomish's history, check out the Skykomish Historical Society's site.