The Puget Sound Electric Railway was an

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

railway that ran for 38 milesPerpetual Motion Pictures. '' The Seattle-Tacoma Railway: A Journey into the Past''. Seattle, WA. 1996. between Tacoma and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington in the first quarter of the 20th century. The railway's

reporting mark A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...

was "PSE". Portions of the right-of-way still exist as multi-use trail through

Milton, Washington Milton is a city in King County, Washington, King and Pierce County, Washington, Pierce counties in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 8,697 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton borde ...

, as well as from

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Tukwila, Washington Tukwila ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located immediately to the south of Seattle. The population was 21,798 at the 2020 census. Tukwila is a community of communities, with residents of many diverse origin ...

History

The PSE began operations on September 25, 1902 with a line that started in downtown Tacoma, ran along Pacific and Puyallup Avenues, followed the course of present day Pacific Highway through

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

and to

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

, turned southeast towards

Puyallup Puyallup may refer to: * Puyallup (tribe), a Native American tribe * Puyallup, Washington, a city ** Puyallup High School ** Puyallup School District ** Puyallup station, a Sounder commuter rail station ** Washington State Fair, formerly the Puya ...

and paralleled the path of today's SR 167 through

, Algona,

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Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of Cent ...

and Renton, then into Seattle on its own dedicated right-of-way, via

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

, from there running on surface streets to the area near

Pioneer Square Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

. There it terminated at Occidental Way and Yesler Way in front of the Interurban Building, then known as the Pacific Block when the depot was located in the building's corner room from 1902 to 1928. From there it interchanged with other interurbans and street car lines in the area. At its peak the line saw 27 daily departures and arrivals split between the Tacoma and Renton branches with trains running from 7 in the morning to midnight. Power was supplied via overhead wire in urban areas, and

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

in rural areas. The third rail was the cause of several accidents throughout the PSE's operations which involved livestock or people being electrocuted, and in some cases dead cows caused accidents involving the trolleys themselves. The railroad ran for 26 years, until competition from trucks, buses, and automobiles on an ever-expanding road network, as well as the steam railroads, led to reduced ridership in the early 1920s and a decision to shut down operations was made by the operators. Despite protests, the interurban was allowed to suspend operations by a federal judge in a ruling made on October 13, 1928. The final trains ran on December 30, 1928. The rails were not pulled up until 1930. It was headquartered in Kent, Washington.

Stations

Map of Puget Sound Electric Railway c 1912

As of 1910. *Seattle (Yesler Way and Occidental Avenue) * Georgetown *Duwamish *Riverton *Foster * Tukwila *Renton Junction * Renton *

*O'Brien *

*Thomas *Cristopher *

* Algona * Pacific City *

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*Tacoma (North Eighth Street & A Street)

Second life

Portions of the PSE exist today as multi-use

trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

and linking Tukwila,

, Algona, and

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

. The City of Edgewood's portion is currently in planning stages, with construction slated to begin in the Summer of 2011 and it is currently being/almost built as of 2021 10 years later. Work starts this summer on long-awaited Edgewood trail"
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References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puget Sound Electric Railway Defunct companies based in Tacoma, Washington Railway companies established in 1902 Railway companies disestablished in 1928 Defunct Washington (state) railroads Interurban railways in Washington (state) Seattle metropolitan area Transportation in Seattle Transportation in Tacoma, Washington Companies based in Kent, Washington 1902 establishments in Washington (state) 1928 disestablishments in Washington (state)

History

Stations

Second life

See also

References