The Snoqualmie Tunnel is a former

railroad 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 ...

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 ...

near

Snoqualmie Pass Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County. Snoqualmie ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, located east 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 ...

. The tunnel crosses the Cascade Range about south of the pass, which is used by Interstate 90, on the border between King County and

Kittitas County Kittitas County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. At the 2020 census, its population was 44,337. Its county seat and largest city is Ellensburg. The county was created in November 1883 when it was carved out of Yakima Coun ...

. It is long and is at an approximate

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, just north of

Keechelus Lake Keechelus Lake () is a lake and reservoir in the northwest United States, near Hyak in Kittitas County, Washington. Approximately southeast of Seattle and a few miles southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, it is the source of the Yakima River. Keechel ...

. Its east portal is at Hyak. The tunnel was originally constructed for 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 ...

in the early 1910s and was abandoned in 1980. It now serves as part of a rail trail in

Iron Horse State Park Iron Horse State Park, part of the Washington State Park System, is a state park located in the Cascade Mountains and Yakima River Valley, between Cedar Falls on the west and the Columbia River on the east. The park is contiguous with a ...

, known officially as the

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail The Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and the Iron Horse Trail, is a rail trail that spans most of the U.S. state of Washington. It follows the former railway roadbed of the Chicago, Milwaukee ...

. The trail was formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and commonly called the Iron Horse Trail. A major renovation to the walls, ceiling, and path were completed in July 2011 after a two-year closure.

History

The tunnel was constructed from 1912 to 1914 by the

("The Milwaukee Road") as part of its line from

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

, completed in 1909. It replaced a temporary surface line over

at ; this grade from Hyak to Rockdale later became U.S. Route 10, now the eastbound lanes of I-90. The tunnel is aligned east–west and

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

in 1917 eliminated smoke dissipation issues. In 1980, the Milwaukee Road received approval from the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon its lines west of eastern Montana. On March 15, 1980, the final Milwaukee Road train passed through the tunnel. Later, the State of

acquired the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

for recreational use. Today the tunnel is part of the

rails-to-trails project. It is usually closed between November 1 through early May due to ice formations inside the tunnel. On July 5, 2011, the tunnel re-opened after 11 months of renovations. The $700,000 renovation added a layer of concrete to the walls and ceiling, a reinforced structure, and a new and improved walking surface of crushed rock.

Gallery

Image:Tunnel inside.jpg, About 200 yards from exiting the west side of the Snoqualmie Tunnel Image:Tunnel west.jpg, The west entrance to the Snoqualmie Tunnel Image:Tunnel nametop.jpg, Snoqualmie Tunnel 1912–1914. Image:Snoqualmie_Tunnel.jpg, Inside the tunnel 2008.

References

External links

{{commons category
Washington State Parks
- Iron Horse State Park Trail

Washington Trails Association
- Iron Horse tunnel Railroad tunnels in Washington (state) Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Transportation buildings and structures in King County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Kittitas County, Washington Tunnels completed in 1914 Pedestrian tunnels in the United States

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links