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Karen
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Karen
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PostSat Jun 26, 2004 5:57 pm 
Today we enjoyed an urban walk beginning from Roxhill Bog in West Seattle to the Butterfly Pavillion and salmonbone bridge (near Genesee St, West Seattle). This is an urban trail (King County Parks & Recreation) and a work in progress and part of the trail near Longfellow Creek is just a hop, skip and jump from my back door. Anyway, it's a pleasant mix of greenspaces and pocket parks (Greg Davis Park, for one) with much of the trail following along Longfellow Creek (the creek begins from the bog), part of the trail is on residential streets but I'd say more than half of the "trail" is in forest or near the creek. The name of the trail is the "Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail". We did a short car shuttle so we could hike the trail one-way and as we neared the end of the trail (Genessee St), we walked down a stairway to a pond and an unexpected artifact -- part of an old rail grade over the creek. Does anyone know anything about a railroad grade in West Seattle? Past the artifact (which is not open to the public but can be viewed) it is just a short way to the salmon bone bridge (really lovely) and a bit beyond, the Butterfly Pavillion (this part of the trail is still being worked on but the big Butterfly is there). The trail ends on SW Andover St. I know it's a long shot but if anyone knows anything about an old railroad in that vicinity, I'd love to hear about it. Karen

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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Karen
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PostSat Jun 26, 2004 6:06 pm 
Ooopsy, meant to include this photo of railroad lore ..... Not a great shot but maybe it will trigger someone's memory .... Karen
Old track near Genesee St West Seattle
Old track near Genesee St West Seattle

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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MooseAndSquirrel
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PostSat Jun 26, 2004 6:39 pm 
Wow neat about the rail line Karen! I looked thru my few NW railroad books (Warren Wing, Charles Wood) and found nothing on West Seattle lines. I wonder if the Historylink website would have info? But thanks to your post I enjoyed looking thru my books of old NW railroading glory days! Warren W. Wing's To Seattle by Trolley just makes my heart ache that all the trolley and interurban lines were removed- just so sad. There are great photos of the old Mt. Vernon- Bellingham interurban's line over Samish Bay on trestles and alongside Chuckanut Drive. I think some of the old pilings still remain in places. EDIT: FWIW here's a thumbnail history of West Seattle and some rail lines are mentioned- who knows, maybe the rail section you photographed had something to do with one of those lines.

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jimmymac
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PostSat Jun 26, 2004 10:16 pm 
I hate to be the thrower of cold water, but that steel structure is too new and too flimsy to be an old RR bridge. Also the concrete abutment seems insufficiently weathered to be from the first third of the last century. My guess is that it was built as part of an early phase of a recreation trail or for a neighborhood pedestrian connectivity project. The Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation should be able to give you a rundown on what it is, and what happened to the funding that would have completed it.

"Profound serenity is the product of unfaltering Trust and heightened vulnerability."
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Karen
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PostSun Jun 27, 2004 7:46 am 
I'll do some more research on this, will let you know if I find out anything to report. Sigh, I'd love to think it is as part of something "old" as opposed to a a park project that fell through .... I do know there was (perhaps still is) a nearby steel mill. I'll look into that too just on the off chance a railroad grade did exist in that region at one time. Also, will check out Moose&Squirrel's link to historical data but not now as I'm leaving in a few minutes to hike in the mountains. Karen

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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MooseAndSquirrel
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PostMon Jun 28, 2004 7:15 pm 
No you're all wrong- I just found out it's for the new monorail. The important thing is to start getting the infrastructure built- then worry 'bout the details later! agree.gif

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jimmymac
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PostMon Jun 28, 2004 10:08 pm 
MooseAndSquirrel wrote:
No you're all wrong- I just found out it's for the new monorail. The important thing is to start getting the infrastructure built- then worry 'bout the details later! agree.gif
Don't laugh. In 1988 the Seattle Times championed the demand from some to install tracks in the roadbed of the nearly completed downtown bus tunnel. What kind of tracks? For what kind of rail system? Using whose specifications? At what cost to core project? Those issues were unimportant. The main thing was to avoid the appearance of shortsightedness. So Metro threw in a "set of tracks" at the last minute. The action appeased the modestly-informed rail boosters and the great engineering think tank known as the Times editorial board. Fast forward to 2004. Closing the tunnel for a year to rip up and replace the ill-suited tracks will be one of the major work items needed to complete the Sound Transit Link light rail project.

"Profound serenity is the product of unfaltering Trust and heightened vulnerability."
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MooseAndSquirrel
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PostMon Jun 28, 2004 10:30 pm 
Well I could have said all that I guess but I didn't want to bore the hell out of everybody! embarassedlaugh.gif I stayed away from Sound Transit because...well, everybody is sick of Sound Transit. But the Monorail is coming to West Seattle and is new and sexy huh.gif and will surely come in under budget! lol.gif and if they can't use that curved piece of steelwork discovered by Karen as track support they can always use it as a passenger walkway. agree.gif There, that's solved...what's next on the agenda?

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