The 1910 Wellington Train Disaster

Just after one o'clock in the morning, on a frigid, starless night in March 1910, more than a hundred souls aboard Great Northern Railway's Spokane Local No. 25, a passenger train, and Fast Mail Train No. 27, slept tightly bundled in their cars. They'd been stuck near Wellington in King County, Washington, for almost a week - waiting as railroad crews attempted to clear the tracks of snow, which had been accumulating at a record pace. Each time they tried, their enormous rotary plows either broke down, ran out of fuel or got stuck, forcing crews to try digging out from the five-to-eight-foot snow drifts by hand while passengers hunkered down and waited for the blizzard to pass.

But it didn't pass. The snow just kept on coming. High above them loomed the peak of Windy Mountain, and below them, the Tye Creek ravine. On the last day of February, the snow turned to rain. Lightning and thunder erupted across the Cascade Mountains, and one fateful lightning strike touched off the deadliest avalanche in United States history.

[qualitycontrol]

I'm obsessed with train travel, okay maybe not "obsessed", but I really love train really enjoyed this video. Thank you very much. Great upload, very informative

[stephaniebanks]

Thank you for a great video, very informative 🎩👌

[NordicDan]

I grew up in south Everett and spent a ton of time around Stevens Pass. I remember walking right up to the tunnel several times in my teenage years (the 90s) and it wasn't uncommon for bicyclists to travel the length of it, with headlamps of course. Didn't realize there had been a cave-in until watching your video.

Very well done.

Also for anyone who isn't aware, there's a functioning railway diorama at the history & culture museum in downtown Wenatchee that has mockups of notable events throughout Washington's railway history, including a section that focuses on the Wellington disaster.

[DaveEverson-uk]

I was raised in the western cascades, I went to school in skykomish where they cut in the helper which was the old , A n B streemliner units, the 4 units where cut into the middle of usally 2, 3 mile trains, and it through the cascade tunnel to Merritt or sometimes all the way to Wenatchee, I knew 2 engineers then, but I hiked up to to the old tunnel in 1971, when I was 12, it didn't have all those trail hiking land marks etc, and I went to the shed, in fact there were sheds all throughout the old route which was actually a higher route than the new built route which eventually connected back to the original, and also. I hoppec a couple times, through the tunnel to once Merritt and back, and to Wenatchee and back and once I came up from Idaho and cought a freight from Wenatchee to skykomish because it's bad hitchhiking from Wenatchee to the west side, and ya alot of people still hopped around on the trains, alot of people heading to the east to that big concert Woodstock plus the regulars dreges which also featured the FTRA which were all boozing and raising hell throughout the states, the freight train riders of America, I got drunk with alot of those caractors and the regs would be back around and tell story's about there trips and meyam etc there were some pretty heavy people, like that all throughout the western cascades, and I met people heading to Woodstock, there are people lost up there in those hills that got frieket out and would jump off the train because when your way up there past the tunnel the train starts rocking Back and forth like your about to fall off the tracks, the train would be doing about 25 or so rpm...in some places, and ya it gets smokey in the tunnel, ya have to bring jug of water and extra shirts or something to mask up, back then alot of the empty boxcars were always open, now days you hardly see any boxcars like that on modern frieights, but ya I knew 2 helper engineers Wayne Williams which was our neighbor and roy Austin which his son was my best friend then, Jerry Austin, this was in skykomish, but about wellington wreck, old rumers had it that they couldn't retrieve some people and they are still somewhere up there, but they had Talley anyways ALL people, and also supposably they didn't find a mailcar shipment of the currency and gold, don't know how much, but I'll bet someone did SEE? ya but that old rumer did have people go trapsing around and trying to figure THAT and as for the town itself, some of it was wiped, but that too was speculation but most likely fact, like same goes for people...and not to mention old freight riders throughout time of the history, ya alot of trippy stuff that went on back in the day to now days that sociatv don't know or ever will about the rail riders trampin around Ya so it's pretty cool, Wayne gave me old pictures of derailments in the cascades through out the days of g.n including the toga ridge derailment, funny thing, I don't know what ever happened to those pictures, there were less than 10 I remember, and s couple other memberabia, I was about 11 12, anyways I think my stepdads freind stole the stuff, but I just don't Ya I remember though when all the railroads merged, and I remember when the brand new green Burlington northern engines and cars came out, alot just painted over and also new, the Burlington route engines were gray, and great northern were blue and the old ones orange like the new engines of bnsf today, probably a selute to the couse if ya know what I mean, I use to like the colors of the others too like northern Pacific black yellow, and s.p.& s. Spokane Portland Seattle, western Pacific red, etc all w see were pulling together till it all became GREEN b.n.by about the late 70, s ya pretty

[imwhitewolf]

my dog Buck and I hiked to the site several times. the last time he actually went into the tunnel. the presenter did a great job on this video.

[billiepeterson]

What a great documentary! I appreciate your delivery and thank you for your sharing of information in such a thoughtful, insightful, and interesting way.

[GrocMax]

My grandmother was around 7-8 years old and was living there before during and after this event.

Back in the day off road vehicles were allowed all the way across the old north side switchbacks and tunnel.

[fredgarv]

I walked this a few years ago. 40 years before that we used to go skiing and would see that strange looking tunnel but never knew what it was. I watched a few local ghost hunters from Seattle videos that would go up there at midnight and tried to record voices. It's always the same thing, something garbled that sounds like static, then they go "see! it said "leave me alone" or something, then you'd listen to it back and think no it just sounds like garbled static. There was a zombie show on Sci-Fi a few years back that was pretty good and they filmed one show in my city of Everett, WA so I e-mailed the producer of this show and told him about this place, that it would make a great location for you show. He thanked me and said it was very interesting

[rockymountainjazzfan]

What most people don't know about avalanches (commonly called "snowslides" in much of the U.S. West) is that it is the air concussion that occurs immediately ahead of the avalanche that causes much of the damage and destruction. I lived in or near avalanche country for a number of years and have witnessed some big slides firsthand. In the old days, a common way to look for victims or survivors buried in avalanches was to take the handle off of one end of a two-man long manual logger's saw and use the long saw blade to probe the avalanche, with the hope that the saw's teeth might snag and bring up some scraps of clothing or flesh of the victims. Macabre business to be sure, but some survivors were located and rescued using this rather crude method.

[wmb]

Wow.. great history, sad, been in the cascades & seen the massive snow.

[ghostlyimageoffear]

I hiked that when the trail had only been open a year or two. Heading down the switchbacks, I found the top of a toddler's ancient leather shoe, with two lace holes. Since it is illegal to remove artifacts, I placed it in the the open mouth of an old open pipe that laid horizontal and waste high along the switch backs.

[debrabye]

When you said, who am I to say ghosts don't exist, hasn't happen to me. DId that ring true with me. I was the same way, didn't really believe. I tell people when ghost stories come up in conversations that they'll never believe it till they see one. I experienced one in Wyoming in a old house we we're renting 11 years ago. Never would have believed it unless I saw that woman with my own eyes. I can't tell you how scared I was. Anyway my granddaughters love when I tell this story.

[grandmakellymcdonald]

Boom lert's go let's go treasure and adventure✌👵

[hoggravyandchitlins]

For a lot of years, this disaster was somehow ignored, completely left off of deadliest train disaster lists and so on.

[BenBigBananaFranklen]

There are still parts of the trains still down in the river

[tammysellen]

The remains of Northern State Hospital (puzzle factory) in Sedto Woolley, Washington has a lot of buildings and grave yard. It has been said its haunted. The town has used it in the past for a haunted house in the past.

[colvinator]

Could they have backed the carriages into the tunnel with the loco disconnected outside ?

[Raven-]

I'm not saying it's a Ghost, But I can hear my Exwife Still Screaming at me

[jakedode]

That creepy feeling you get is nationwide. demon crat effect...