The Tacoma station was a passenger

rail station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, owned by the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), 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 company experience ...

(the "Milwaukee Road"). It opened in 1954 and closed in 1961. It was the Milwaukee Road's final station in Tacoma, replacing a station formerly owned by the

Tacoma Eastern Railroad The Tacoma Eastern Railroad was officially established by John F. Hart and George E. Hart in 1891. The enterprising lumberman received leases from Pierce County to harvest lumber from sections of a local school district. By 1890, most available ...

Design

The building was designed by K. E. Hornung of Chicago. The station interior was and included a ticket office, baggage room, restrooms, and a separate lounge for women. A noteworthy feature of the waiting room was a gold-toned mural of the Chicago skyline (the Milwaukee Road's headquarters were also in Chicago.) The

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

construction incorporated a Red Roman brick finish. The building's centerpiece was a tower topped by a large

stainless-steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's resis ...

sign bearing the name of the company. The waiting room itself featured full-height glass windows on two facings, overlooking the Milwaukee rail yards. The station cost the Milwaukee Road $150,000.

History

The Milwaukee Road had used the

's former station since beginning service to Tacoma in 1909. That station was located at South 25th and A street, near the present location of the South 25th Street

Tacoma Link The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels between Tacoma Dome Station and Downtown Tacoma, serving six stations. The li ...

station and

Interstate 705 Interstate 705 (I-705, Tacoma Spur) is a short Interstate Highway that is a spur route of I-5 located entirely within Tacoma, Washington, United States. The freeway serves as the connector between I-5, Downtown Tacoma, Tacoma's waterfront ...

. The new station sat at East 11th and Milwaukee Way, near the Milwaukee Road's yard in the

Tideflats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

area and roughly from the old station. The first train to use the station was a westbound ''

Columbian Columbian is the adjective form of Columbia (disambiguation), Columbia. It may refer to: Buildings * The Columbian Theatre, a music hall in northeastern Kansas * The Columbian (Chicago), a building in Illinois Published works * ''The Columbian' ...

'', which arrived from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on April 20, 1954. The first train to depart was an eastbound ''

Olympian Hiawatha The ''Olympian'' and its successor the ''Olympian Hiawatha'' were passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road") between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The ''Olympian'' operated from ...

''. Service ended with the discontinuation of the ''Olympian Hiawatha'' on May 22, 1961.

References

External links

*{{commonscat-inline, Milwaukee Road Tideflats station Buildings and structures in Tacoma, Washington Former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad stations in Washington (state) Railway stations closed in 1961 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1954 1954 establishments in Washington (state) 1961 disestablishments in Washington (state) Transportation in Tacoma, Washington

Design

History

See also

References

External links