A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is a contiguous network railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. Although Europe is crisscrossed by railways, the railroads within Europe are usually not considered transcontinental, with the possible exception of the historic Orient Express. Transcontinental railroads helped open up unpopulated interior regions of continents to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible. In many cases they also formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road", was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The Olympic Peninsula is the large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Hood Canal. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous United States, and Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point, are on the peninsula. Comprising about 3600 square miles, the Olympic Peninsula contained many of the last unexplored places in the Contiguous United States. It remained largely unmapped until Arthur Dodwell and Theodore Rixon mapped most of its topography and timber resources between 1898 and 1900.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company, the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.
The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an 87-mile-long (140 km) American short line railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company, also known as the Dan Patch Lines. On 2 June 1982 it was acquired by the Soo Line Railroad, which operated it as a separate railroad until merging it on January 1, 1986, along with the Milwaukee Road.
A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as distinguished from "auto ferries" used to transport automobiles. The wharf has a ramp, and a linkspan or "apron", balanced by weights, that connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for the water level to rise and fall with the tides.
A railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is towed by a tugboat or pushed by a towboat. As such, the car float is a specialised form of the lighter, as opposed to a train ferry, which is self-powered.
The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban that operated between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee. The 85-mile route of the North Shore Line utilized a combination of private rights-of-way and street running as well as trackage rights over the Chicago "L" network. In addition to operating passenger and freight trains, the company also provided streetcar and motor bus services throughout its history.
Lake Crescent is a deep lake located entirely within Olympic National Park in Clallam County, Washington, United States, approximately 17 miles (27 km) west of Port Angeles, Washington on U.S. Route 101 and nearby to the small community of Piedmont. At an official maximum depth of 624 feet (190 m), also the maximum depth of the depth sounder used to find that depth, it is officially the second deepest lake in Washington. Unofficial depth measurements of more than 1,000 feet (300 m) have been rumored in the region for years, although this figure has recently been proven false after a lake-wide bathymetric survey was performed from 2013 to 2014 by Eian Ray and Jeff Enge. The results of this survey showed the maximum depth as being 596 feet. Using GIS statistical analysis, this survey also showed the lake contains approximately 0.5 cubic miles of fresh water.
The Olympian and its successor the Olympian Hiawatha were passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The Olympian operated from 1911 to 1947 and was, along with its running mate the Columbian, the first all-steel train to operate in the Pacific Northwest. The streamlined Olympian Hiawatha operated from 1947 to 1961 and was one of several Milwaukee Road trains to carry the name "Hiawatha." The Olympian Hiawatha was designed by industrial designer Brooks Stevens and included the distinctive glassed-in "Skytop" observation-sleeping cars. It later featured full-length "Super Dome" cars.
Iron Horse State Park, part of the Washington State Park System, is a 1,612-acre (7 km2) state park located in the Cascade Mountains and Yakima River Valley, between Cedar Falls on the west and the Columbia River on the east.
The Sacramento Northern Railway was an 183-mile (295 km) electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City, Chico, and Woodland and ran passenger service until 1941 and freight service into the 1960s.
The Snoqualmie Tunnel is a former railroad tunnel near Snoqualmie Pass in the U.S. state of Washington, located east of Seattle. The tunnel crosses the Cascade Range about three miles (5 km) south of pass, which is used by Interstate 90, on the border between King County and Kittitas County. It is 11,894 feet long and is at an approximate elevation of 2,600 feet (790 m) above sea level, just north of Keechelus Lake. Its east portal is at Hyak.
The Woodinville Subdivision is a railroad line that was formerly owned by BNSF Railway. It takes its name from one of its original end points in Woodinville, Washington, United States. The line extends approximately 42 miles (68 km) in east King County and Snohomish County. The line's ownership has been transferred in a deal involving King County and the Port of Seattle. The section from Snohomish to Woodinville is operated, on contract, by a company called Eastside Rail Freight, which is associated with the Ballard Terminal Railroad and Meeker Southern. However, train traffic on the subdivision is exceedingly rare, with the Seattle region's rail operations now conducted on other higher capacity routes.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad South Cle Elum Rail Yard located in South Cle Elum, Washington, was a division point on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad's Coast Division. It was established by the railroad in 1909 during construction of its "Pacific Extension".
The Spruce Railroad Trail is a rail trail located on the shores of Lake Crescent about 20 miles (32 km) west of Port Angeles, Washington, and is part of the 134-mile-long Olympic Discovery Trail. The trail follows the former Port Angeles Western Railroad grade along the shores of Lake Crescent. Built during World War I for the Spruce Production Division to transport spruce from the western Olympic Peninsula for the aircraft industry, it was completed in 1919, a year too late for its intended purpose. The trail is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) one way, and trailheads exist at both ends. The trail is fairly level in most spots and could be hiked by most amateur hikers. Points of interest include the McFee Tunnel, a bridge that spans a bay called Devils Punch Bowl, and Harrigan Point.
The Dungeness River Bridge is the centerpiece of Railroad Bridge Park near the town of Sequim, Washington. It crosses the Dungeness River. The bridge was first constructed by the Seattle, Port Angeles, and Western Railway, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1916. Because of the ready availability of timber, the bridge was built of wood. This first bridge was replaced in 1930. The new bridge was also built of timber, and like its predecessor, is a through Howe truss 156 feet long and 22 feet high. Two wooden trestles are on the east and west approaches.
The West Michigan Railroad is a shortline railroad in southwest Michigan. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford and Paw Paw, Michigan. That company had taken over operations in 1987 from CSX Transportation.
Lake Crescent Lodge, originally called Singer's Lake Crescent Tavern, is a historic resort situated on the shores of Lake Crescent west of Port Angeles, Washington. Located on the Olympic Peninsula within Olympic National Park, the Lodge is owned by the National Park Service and operated by Aramark. The Lodge resort is open seasonally from early May until the end of January with select cabins available during the winter months. Hiking and boating are popular activities for guests, and several peaks, including Mount Storm King and Pyramid Mountain, are easily accessible from the resort. Other hiking opportunities include Marymere Falls, Spruce Railroad, and Barnes Creek Trails.
The Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad gave Ojai, California, a connection to the national rail network Pacific Coast Line at Ventura Junction. Ventura Junction was located at Southern Pacific Railroad milepost (MP) 397.3 a short distance west of Ventura station. The railway required grades as steep as three percent following the Ventura River upstream through Chrisman, Wadstrom, Ortonville, and then turning east through Mira Monte into Ojai. The line completed by Captain John Cross in 1898 became a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1899. The first passenger train reached Ojai on 12 March 1898. Trains leaving Ojai at 07:20 and 16:00 made passenger stops at Grant, Tico, Las Cross, and Weldons before turning around at Ventura to return to Ojai at 13:00 and 20:15. Southern Pacific operated only one daily passenger train during the summer months; and all passenger service ended in the early 1930s.
