The Wilburton Trestle is a historic wooden

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

, Washington. Measuring high and long, it is the longest wooden trestle in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. The trestle carried a single track of a former Northern Pacific branch line over a valley that used to be an extension of

Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...

. The line ran approximately from Renton in the south to Snohomish in the north. Before the abandonment of the rail line by BNSF, freight trains ran six days a week, including those carrying

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

's aircraft fuselages to its assembly plant in Renton. It was also used daily by the popular Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, but this service ceased at the end of June 2007. The trestle was originally completed in 1904 as part of the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

Belt Line from Black River Junction (south of

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 ...

) to

Woodinville Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King ( Cottage Lake) and ...

. It was subsequently rebuilt four separate times, in 1913, 1924, 1934, and 1943, due to deterioration of the timber. In 1973, a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, the Lake Hills Connector, was cut through the trestle, replacing a short section with concrete piers and steel deck girders. Wilburton Trestle saw its last regularly scheduled daily-except-Sunday passenger trains (Northern Pacific Nos. 445-446) on July 19, 1922. The train schedule was ended during a national railway strike and never resumed. Several

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

excursion trains crossed the trestle in the 1950s and 1960s. The Spirit of Washington dinner train operated between Renton and Woodinville from May 1992 to July 31, 2007. The last train over the trestle was a BNSF freight carrying Boeing 737 fuselages to Renton, on February 26, 2008. In May 2008 BNSF sold the railway line to the Port of Seattle, which in turn later sold it to King County. The trestle is a distinctive landmark noticed by travelers on Interstate 405 through Bellevue. While it is believed that this is the trestle pictured in the 1963

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

It Happened at the World's Fair ''It Happened at the World's Fair'' is a 1963 American musical film starring Elvis Presley as a crop-dusting pilot. It was filmed in Seattle, Washington, site of the Century 21 Exposition. The governor of Washington at the time, Albert Rosellini, ...

,'' further evidence indicates that that trestle was over the White River between Enumclaw and

Buckley Buckley may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Buckley's, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation * Buckley Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer * Buckley Broadcasting, an American broadcasting company * Buckley School (California), ...

. Wilburton Trestle should not be confused with Wilburton Tunnel, which was a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

for the southbound lanes of I-405 under the railroad. The tunnel was located about a quarter mile south of the trestle prior to its demolition on August 16, 2008 for freeway improvement and widening. The trestle is planned to be rehabilitated with deck repairs and seismic upgrades to prepare for its use on the Eastrail pedestrian and bicycle trail network. The trail section is planned to open by 2026 and is estimated to cost $7.5 million, to be funded by a grant from

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

References

External links

Virtual Tour of Wilburton Trestle
at VR Seattle (requires

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

) {{Bridges of Seattle Bridges in King County, Washington Railroad bridges in Washington (state) Bridges completed in 1904 Buildings and structures in Bellevue, Washington Wooden bridges in the United States Trestle bridges in the United States