The was a . It was conceived and financed by Seattle business interests in response to the
Northern Pacific Railway 's selection of Seattle's southern rival
Tacoma as its western terminus. By
1889 , construction had only reached
Sallal Prairie , just east of
North Bend . In
1890 , the plans were amended to focus on connecting Seattle to the
Canadian Pacific Railway at
Sumas .
The company was placed in receivership on
June 26 ,
1893 , and was sold in foreclosure on
May 16 ,
1896 . The lines in western Washington became the Seattle & International Railway Co., which was taken over by the Northern Pacific in
1901 . The eastern Washington line became the Spokane & Seattle Railway, which was puchased by the NP in two parts. The first--
Medical Lake to
Davenport --was purchased in 1899. The remainder, between Davenport and
Spokane , was bought in 1900.
In
1971 , much of the right-of-way, by this time part of the
Burlington Northern system, was abandoned. Seven years later, in
1978 , the 12.1 miles between Seattle's
Gas Works Park and Tracy Owen Station in
Kenmore was reopened as the
Burke-Gilman Trail , named after the leaders of the group that founded the railroad,
Thomas Burke and
Daniel Gilman . A 5.5 mile section of the railway, between
Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend, was preserved in
1975 , and is now owned and operated by the
Northwest Railway Museum .
The eastern Washington lines did not fare much better. The only remaining section by 1970 was a small spur out of Davenport, also now abandoned.
- Donald Robertson, ''Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History Vol. III'', The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho, 1995
- Guy Reed Ramsay, ''Postmarked Washington Lincoln County'', Lincoln County Historical Society, n.d., n.p.
- W.H. Ruffner, ''A Report on Washington Territory'', Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern Railway, New York, 1889
- ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' newspaper, 1885-1896.
