Weston, Washington

The Northern Pacific Railway station at Weston, Washington c. 1913

Weston, Washington, began life c. 1885-6. Located at the foot of the western 2.2 percent grade of the Northern Pacific Railway's climb up Stampede Pass to Stampede Tunnel, the town served as the western helper station on the pass, counterpart to Easton, Washington. Facilities included an engine house, telegraph station, water tank, turntable and some ancillary residences and eating houses.

With the Cascade Range to the north and the Green River to the south, Weston was disadvantageously located for future expansion. In 1891-2, the Northern Pacific moved its western helper terminus approximately four miles to the west at a point it designated Lester, Washington. Weston was unique in that the Northern Pacific, crossing the Green River twice, also created a short cut-off line at Weston, creating a complete loop. (Further to the east, approaching the summit of Stampede Pass, the Northern Pacific's engineers alignment created what came to be known as the Borup Loop [so named for the telegraph station located at the center of the loop—Borup, Washington], this however was a misnomer, as the alignment is actually an elongated S-curve created by back-to-back horseshoes.)

Weston lasted as a small telegraph station (one story, twenty by thirty feet) and water stop on the Northern Pacific until c. 1915, when double tracking of Stampede Pass between Lester and Easton (sans the summit tunnel area itself) completely replaced the Weston Loop and Weston. The image accompanying this article looks down from the large viaduct which crosses the Green River and replaced the old loop arrangement.

Geography

The exact location of Weston, Washington is still unknown, however it was most likely along the Green River southeast of Lester, Washington and east of Enumclaw, Washington. Old maps show it as being near the confluence of Green River and Intake Creek. Somewhere near 47°12′14″N 121°24′42″W / 47.20389°N 121.41167°W / 47.20389; -121.41167. There are many long overgrown man-made clearings in this area and evidence of the original rail line cut through the trees.

References

Carter, Clive and Ann (2009). Washington State Railroad Depots Photo Archive. Iconografix. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-58388-245-0.

External links

N.P. Ry. Spelled in Reverse: E.G. Morgan and a Town called Nagrom Article on the history of Nagrom, Washington and other areas around Stampede Pass including Weston.

Municipalities and communities of King County, Washington, United States

County seat: Seattle

Cities	Algona Auburn‡ Bellevue Black Diamond Bothell‡ Burien Carnation Clyde Hill Covington Des Moines Duvall Enumclaw‡ Federal Way Issaquah Kenmore Kent Kirkland Lake Forest Park Maple Valley Medina Mercer Island Milton‡ Newcastle Normandy Park North Bend Pacific‡ Redmond Renton Sammamish SeaTac Seattle Shoreline Snoqualmie Tanner Tukwila Woodinville

Towns	Beaux Arts Village Hunts Point Skykomish Yarrow Point

CDPs	Ames Lake Baring Boulevard Park Bryn Mawr-Skyway Cottage Lake East Renton Highlands Fairwood Fall City Hobart Klahanie Lake Holm Lake Marcel-Stillwater Lake Morton-Berrydale Lakeland North Lakeland South Maple Heights-Lake Desire Mirrormont Ravensdale Riverbend Riverton Shadow Lake Snoqualmie Pass‡ Union Hill-Novelty Hill Vashon White Center Wilderness Rim

Unincorporated communities	Bayne Cumberland Ernie's Grove Grotto Kanaskat Kangley Krain Osceola Palmer Preston Selleck

Indian reservation	Muckleshoot Reservation‡

Ghost towns	Hot Springs Lester Nagrom Sheridan Wellington Weston

Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.