Stevens Pass Avalanche 3-01-1910: Wellington Disaster

[Vincent]

The Seattle Times has a story about the March 1, 1910 avalanche on Stevens Pass that killed 96 railroad passengers and workers on 2 trains that had been stuck in deep snow drifts for 6 days. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... on28m.html

brief quote from the Seattle Times/ Lynda V. Mapes:

In all, 96 souls were lost in the Wellington disaster on March 1, 1910. It was the most deadly avalanche in U.S. history. A century later, it still is.

The avalanche forever changed railroading through the high Cascades. Afterward, the Great Northern Railroad — today's Burlington Northern Santa Fe — built massive concrete snowsheds over the tracks. Eventually, a 7.8-mile-long tunnel was built through the mountains at lower elevation, opening in 1929 and still in use.

[GN 599]

Anyone interested in this should read ''White Cascade''. I cant recall the authors name but it gives a first hand narrative of the events leading up to the avalanche, the avalanche and the aftermath. Great read!

[Otto Vondrak]

I also strongly suggest "Vis Major" by Martin Burwash:

http://www.amazon.com/Vis-Major-Railroa ... 1440161771

See also: http://ramblingwest.blogspot.com/

-otto-