Alaska Way Run #2

Northern Pacific Railway, Alaska Way, Seattle, June 1958. This is one of my all time favorite photographs. We were still living in Prince Rupert, but family business and a vacation brought us “home” for two weeks. Watch the post dates of my blog, and you can see the progression of PGE and CPR entries for June 1958.

There were few footbridges from First Avenue to the waterfront over Alaska Way. I have forgotten which overpass this was taken from, perhaps Seneca Street, but that IS Alaska Way, and that IS a Northern Pacific Railway transfer unit shuffling south bound on Alaska Way from Great Northern’s Interbay Yard, with the massive support pillars of the Alaska Way Viaduct in the background.

She may have also come from the area around Lake Union, as there was an NP bridge over the Lake Washington Ship canal just west of Ewing Street. No matter.

Because of the closely spaced city blocks, cross traffic, and tourists wandering the waterfront, this was not your high-speed connection between Interbay and Stacy Street, down by the colossal Sears-Roebuck store! A lot of “school clothes” were purchased there, and the “tower” can be seen in the background of “Death Row."

There was another yard that I had forgotten about, located between Stacy and Argo, called the “Duwamish Interchange.” It had about a dozen tracks designated for NP, GN, MILW, and UP car exchange.

This is the "classic" ALCo S-1. Often confused with the S-3, look at the trucks, the running gear. The S-1 is riding on a proprietary design Blunt Truck used only by ALCo. The S-3 rides on AAR "Type A" trucks. This is also the only clear difference between the S-2 (Blunt) and S-4 (AAR "Type A.")

The reason I love this photo so much is that it is in an era when things were different, when motor vehicles and railroads had defining and distinct personalities, when rail personnel were helpful and ostentatious, and I was all of 15 years old!

Check out the switchman, riding casually on the front porch, as the bell is unmistakably ringing, and seagulls are squawking in the heavy salt air, with just a "hint of fish 'n chips!"

Railroad Stuff: NP 603, ALCo S-1, 660hp, built 1945, sn: 73585. Sold to Pacific Railway Supply Co., December 1968.