Laconia Railroad Station

This winter scene of the Laconia Railroad Station, at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, was photographed sometime between about 1911 and 1915. The original Sunset Highway ran along the back side of the buildings seen across the tracks in this photograph. The rock peak seen in the middle background of this photograph is Guye Peak, and the more distant snowy peak to the left of Guye Peak is Snoqualmie Mountain. The Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway began hauling freight over the Snoqualmie Pass route, through Laconia, in 1909. Passenger service over this high line route began in 1910. Passenger service was expanded on May 29, 1911 when the Olympian and Columbian passenger trains went into service. The Olympian passenger train cars typically consisted of, from front to back, one combination mail and express car, one baggage car, one day coach, one tourist car, one dining car, two standard sleeping cars, and one observation car. The Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway was the original name for the Pacific Coast extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, west of the Missouri River bridge at Mobridge, South Dakota. The name Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway lasted from only 1909 until 1912 at which time the Pacific Coast extension of the railroad also became known as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. The Laconia Railroad Station was located below the present Summit West ski hill at Snoqualmie Pass. The eastbound steam train seen in this photograph is approaching the location about where the present day segment of road is now located along the front of the Traveler's Rest. The railroad bypassed Laconia when the long 2.3-mile Snoqualmie Tunnel, between Hyak and Rockdale, opened for regularly scheduled train service on January 15, 1915. The railroad tunnel is now part of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail / Iron Horse State Park corridor.

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