Stampede Pass - The Summit Switchback

The Summit Switchback

The Northern Pacific Railway (now the BNSF Railway) would complete Stampede Tunnel under Stampede Pass in 1888 (see section below). In the meantime, however, the NP decided not to wait for completion, and built a switchback across the summit of the pass.

According to A Brief History of the Northern Railway, a switchback with 5.6 percent grade was studied by Chief Engineer Anderson as early as 1884. The line was surveyed in spring of 1886. There were three switchbacks on each side of the Cascades, and a great double horseshoe at the summit. Construction of the switchback was plagued by snowfall, and a cut through snow 40 feet (12 m) deep was required at the summit. The switchback included a mile of solid log cribbing, ¾ miles of snowsheds, and 31 trestles. When the ground thawed in the spring of 1887, it shifted and settled the newly laid track, requiring more work. The Northern Pacific spent $15,000 on laborers' protection during the switchback's construction.

To operate the line the Northern Pacific ordered the two largest steam locomotives in the world (at that time). Despite their size, the steep grades meant one locomotive was stationed at each end of their five-car trains. Trains took an hour and fifteen minutes to traverse the eight-mile (13 km)-long switchback, a brakeman riding the rooftops every two cars. The first experimental train over the switchback was on June 6, 1887. The first scheduled passenger train over the switchback arrived in Tacoma at 7:15 PM on July 3, 1887.

Even after the completion of the tunnel, the switchback was reopened for brief periods in the 1890s as maintenance was carried out below.