The Snoqualmie Tunnel is a former
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
tunnel near
Snoqualmie Pass in the
U.S. state of
Washington, located east of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. The tunnel crosses the
Cascade Range about south of the pass, which is used by
Interstate 90, on the border between
King County and
Kittitas County. It is long and is at an approximate
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...
of above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
, just north of
Keechelus Lake. Its east portal is at
Hyak.
The tunnel was originally constructed for the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in the early 1910s and was abandoned in 1980. It now serves as part of a
rail trail in
Iron Horse State Park, known officially as the
Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. The trail was formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and commonly called the Iron Horse Trail.
A major renovation to the walls, ceiling, and path were completed in July 2011 after a two-year closure.
History
The tunnel was constructed from 1912 to 1914 by the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("The Milwaukee Road") as part of its line from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, completed in 1909. It replaced a temporary surface line over
Snoqualmie Pass at ; this grade from Hyak to
Rockdale later became
U.S. Route 10
U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Unlike most U.S. routes with "0" as the last digit of its route number, US 10 ...
, now the eastbound lanes of I-90. The tunnel is aligned east–west and
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histo ...
in 1917 eliminated smoke dissipation issues.
In 1980, the Milwaukee Road received approval from the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...
to abandon its lines west of eastern Montana. On March 15, 1980, the final Milwaukee Road train passed through the tunnel. Later, the State of
Washington acquired the
right-of-way for recreational use.
Today the tunnel is part of the
Iron Horse State Park rails-to-trails project. It is usually closed between November 1 through early May due to ice formations inside the tunnel. On July 5, 2011, the tunnel re-opened after 11 months of renovations. The $700,000 renovation added a layer of concrete to the walls and ceiling, a reinforced structure, and a new and improved walking surface of crushed rock.
[
]
Gallery
Image:Tunnel inside.jpg, About 200 yards from exiting the west side of the Snoqualmie Tunnel
Image:Tunnel west.jpg, The west entrance to the Snoqualmie Tunnel
Image:Tunnel nametop.jpg, Snoqualmie Tunnel 1912–1914.
Image:Snoqualmie_Tunnel.jpg, Inside the tunnel 2008.
See also
* Cascade Tunnel − Great Northern @ Stevens Pass
* Stampede Tunnel − Northern Pacific @ Stampede Pass
* St. Paul Pass Tunnel − (Idaho-Montana)
References
External links
{{commons category
Washington State Parks
- Iron Horse State Park Trail
Washington Trails Association
- Iron Horse tunnel
Railroad tunnels in Washington (state)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Transportation buildings and structures in King County, Washington
Transportation buildings and structures in Kittitas County, Washington
Tunnels completed in 1914
Pedestrian tunnels in the United States