February 28, 2014: Anxiety

Down in the canyon below Wellington, laying amongst the fragmented remains of a passenger car is this seat frame.  Who sat here 104 years ago?  Did they survive?  Snowbound for nearly a week, the person in this seat was confined by the weather to this car and an unpleasant hike to the Bailets Hotel for food.  By now this person was hearing rumors of the railroad snowplows being stalled, rumors of food supplies running low, rumors of slides coming down off the surrounding mountains.  The person who sat here might very well been warm and fed, but was far from being comfortable.  As this person sat, wiping the frog off the window and peering into the darkness of this night, they could see the snow turning to rain.  With it, was this passenger's anxiety turning to fear?

February 27, 2014: Silence

104 years ago the giant wheels of the Great Northern's fleet of steam rotary plows sat silent, stalled in the snow, cut off from fuel and water.  The only hope to get Stevens Pass open had failed. The will of Mother Nature had proved stronger than the combined wills of men and their machines. Trains 25 and 27 remained her captive at Wellington.

February 26, 2104: Pettit Would Understand

A few winters back I caught this scene at Berne, near the rail summit of Stevens Pass.  A broken rail ahead had the westbound Empire Builder waiting for the repairs.  Having experienced power problems earlier the train was already running late and making the last leg of the trip over the Cascades with but one locomotive.  Now this, in the latest serious of delays had the train's conductor pacing, wanting to get his train and his charges into Seattle quickly and safely. 

I couldn't help but wonder; was the spirit of Joe Pettit, the conductor of ill-fated Train 25 also here giving an all knowing and understanding look?  104 years ago, he too was stalled just past the summit of Stevens Pass in a small town named Wellington.  He too only wanted to get his train moving and his passengers down off the mountain safely.

The little drama presented here ended well.  Within an hour the Empire Builder was once again moving west.

Pettit and 35 of his passengers were not so fortunate.