This Was Railroading, Part 2

By George B. Abdill

This is Part 2 of a historical collection of rare photos and true stories about the tracks, trains and trainmen of the Pacific Northwest…including Northern California.

Railroading is the massive Mallet and the caboose hop. It is the lonely track walker, the roundhouse rumors, the water tender, the engineer’s long-spouted oil can. It is the age of steam centered in the most romantic field of industry and commerce ever to intrigue Mr. America. And here in this book of beauty and memory is the graphic story of railroading as the “New West” saw it and rode with it.

Railroading to author George B. Abdill is the sound and picture of black bulk streaking and shrieking through the night with a jet of steam trailing back along the boiler. He saw and heard this as a boy on an Oregon farm and has carried it in his heart ever since. Now as a Southern Pacific engineer—”hoghead” to you—and a dedicated collector of railroadiana, he raises the lid of his personal locker to all other railroaders, active and armchair.

Get into the cab and as Engineer Abdill steams up the grade he’ll spin you tales of the rails and illustrate them with a part of his precious collection, many of these photographs museum pieces of the first water, most of them never before published, all are rare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Release date: Jan 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781787208285

George B. Abdill

George B. Abdill (May 30, 1920 - October 11, 1982) was the son of Archie B. and Vivian (Dodge) Abdill. He was educated in the public schools of Newberg and Dayton, Oregon. He married Annette (Gibbons) DeDobbelare in Roseburg, Oregon in 1955. The couple had three children: Michelle, Daniel and Karen. They divorced in 1973. Abdill married his second wife Joyce Ellen Ruff in 1974 in Sunnyvale, California. Abdill worked for 39 years with the United States Army’s Military Railway Service in the United States, France, Belgium and Germany. After resigning, he became the Director of the Douglas County Museum and published a number of railroad history books. He served as director of the Douglas County Historical Society and editor of the “Umpqua Trapper.” He passed away in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon in 1982, aged 62.

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Text originally published in 1958 under the same title.

© Papamoa Press 2017, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

THIS WAS RAILROADING

by

GEORGE B. ABDILL

PART 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

FROZEN NORTH 4

GOLD RUSH ROUTE 4

MOOSE GOOSER 10

FARTHEST REACH 13

EMPIRE BUILDER 18

BILLY GOAT 18

THE WELLINGTON DISASTER 27

NORTH BANK ROAD 32

CANYON WAR 36

STEEL TO THE SEASHORE 47

BELOVED CLAMSHELL 47

PUNK, ROTTEN, AND NASTY 55

NORTHWEST CORNER 66

OLYMPIC FIASCO 66

HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER 69

NORTH TO THE LINE 71

JOHNNY COME LATELY 75

RAILS TO YREKA 82

CALL THE BIG HOOK 92

RAIL THRILLS 92

THE LOGGERS 106

DIESELIZED! 117

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 118

FROZEN NORTH

GOLD RUSH ROUTE

(WP&Y.)

When the steamer PORTLAND warped in alongside the Schwabacher Wharf in the Puget Sound metropolis of Seattle in 1897 her famous Ton of Gold cargo touched off the great Klondike mining excitement. Swarms of depression-wearied men from all walks of life fought for passage to the new El Dorado. Every ancient tub that could float deposited scores of prospectors at Dyea and Skagway, Alaska, at the head of the Lynn Canal.

Ahead of these Argonauts of the Far North lay two equally heartbreaking ways to the golden riches of Dawson and the Klondike. These two trails led over Chilkoot Pass and White Pass, great snowy barriers that dwarfed the ant-like line of weary miners who struggled up the icy, nearly-perpendicular slopes.

To overcome this difficult and hazardous journey, the White Pass Railway was organized and construction begun at Skagway in 1808. The route selected into the Klondike was 110 miles in length. To lessen construction costs, the narrow gauge of 3 feet was chosen for the width of track.

British capital financed the road, headed by the firm of Close Brothers, and E. C, Hawkins was engaged as Chief Engineer.

The contractor building the line out of Skagway was Michael J. Heney, with P. J. O’Brien as bridge constructor, By July 2, 1898, Mike Heney had the first mile of track laid and the first locomotive in Alaska running upon it. The engine was a diamond-stacker built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and was a 2-6-0, or Mogul, type.

After the first 5 miles of track were spiked down the road began to encounter difficult going. Almost constant rockwork was necessary to push the rails up to White Pass summit. From sea level at Skagway the line climbed to an elevation of 2,885 feet in just over 20 miles. The roadbed had to be hacked and blasted out of the sheer rock walls and 2,000 men were employed in the task. The labor turnover was high because of the extreme hardships of the job during the winter months. Weary laborers threw down their tools and hiked back to the glowing lights of Skagway.

The blasting caused great avalanches of snow to engulf the new grade and rock slides also hampered construction.

The track reached the summit of White Pass on February 20, 1899, and a celebration was held in Mike Heney’s tent. However, a new obstacle appeared at the summit in the form of a British guard. The boundary question between Alaska and British Columbia at this location had not been settled and the guard was posted to prevent the track from crossing into British territory. Rumors filtered down to Skagway that Mike Heney had dispatched a local character called Stikine Bill up to pay the guard a social visit, armed with two bottles of Scotch whisky and a box of cigars. When the glorious hangover ended the two ribbons of steel were across the disputed border and winding down toward the shores of Lake Bennett.

On July 6, 1899, the line was completed to