Trolley Thursday 2/13/20 - The End of the Tacoma Interurban

It's always tragic when a streetcar service goes out of service, as many Angelinos will know whenever we sit in hour-long traffic jams on the 110, the 710, and so on. (Bit of regional humour there) However, the reality is private transit is a tricky business to uphold, and when you've got more affordable cars riding on better-paved roads across the country, you'll find your business won't be as strong as you first thought it was. The same can be said for the Puget Sound Electric Railway, which came to an end on New Year's Eve, 1928. As usual, all the info this month came from Warren W. Wing's book, "To Tacoma by Trolley".

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Puget Sound Train 55 bound for Seattle, 1925
(SouthSound Talk)

The first paved highways in Washington began showing up in June 1925, crossing the Puyallup River in Tacoma just 100 feet away from the Puget Sound Electric's (PES) tracks and trestle. The closeness required PSE to remove the alignment, which was merely the first shot in their slow end. In late October 1926, Stone and Webster (PSE's former owners, having sold the company to the city of Seattle in 1918) merged several local companies into the new North Coast Transportation Company. These included the Park Transport Company, Tacoma Bus, the Portland-Seattle Stage bus company, and the bus division of PSE. (Wing, 72) 

North Coast's Seattle Bus Terminal, 1928
(Washington State Digital Archives)

January 1927 saw the first operations of the North Coast, now North Coast Lines (NCL, which seems like a familiar acronym), replacing interurbans north of Seattle to Everett and the opening of the new Puyallup Highway Bridge in Tacoma. Nine miles between Tacoma and Seattle were shaved off thanks to the new highway, and the State Highway Department (SHD) continued investing in new buses and new paved roads in Tacoma for the buses to ride on. Despite the intense growth, the PSE continued operations as normal, cutting back when needed but still doing their best.

1928 was the death knell of the PSE. The Auburn Globe Republican was the first to report in early January, noting "ELECTRIC LINE HAS TROUBLES". "Troubles" was an understatement, as PSE defaulted on company bonds worth $2,427,000 that were due by that February. (Wing, 111) This wasn't the first time PSE had defaulted, as Puget Sound Light & Power (PSL&P) refused to grant more funds to its interurban division. PSE was not allowed to sell any rolling stock or properties following an injunction on behalf of the Old Colony Trust of Boston in federal court.

Artwork of the Puget Sound Electric in the 1910s
(Northwest Railway Museum) 

No advertising for the PSE appeared in the papers between then and August, when new bus and trolley connections were scheduled for daily service. Then, one week later: "MAY ABANDON TROLLEY LINE." The Federal Court of Tacoma granted Scott Z. Henderson, an attorney from Old Colony Trust, recievership of the PSE. Road construction and new coach service continued up and down the Sound as the PSE filed for termination in December of 1928, with service shut-down one year later. 

An October 1928-dated schedule for interurbans
and stages, two months before termination
(HistoryLink.org)

Some time before the last train, NCL put out a new schedule showing which buses would be replacing the Puget Sound Electric in Auburn, thought to be the center of a new transit hub. The interurban was not going to be part of the hub, as the last train would leave December 30th from Seattle, bount for Tacoma. Motorman Roy Kelly was granted the job of hatchet man, delivering the last load of passengers and then going up the line to collect any and all freight cars left. In the wee small hours of December 31, 1929, all power for the 26-year-old system went off for good. 

The story doesn't stop there, surprisingly, as the PSE's physical assets (cars and track) went to a public auction. The highest bid for ownership came from PSE's parent company, PSL&P , but three other companies put in large bids to just get the cars, whether for secondhand operation or for scrap. The entire value was worth $389,541, or about $5.8 million in 2020 dollars, which PSL&P did pony up until a landslide bid of over $400,000 was put up by representatives of a marine wrecking company and a brass and metal company. Everyone had no doubts the cars and systems would go to scrap. 

The bids were eventually thrown out in Tacoma's federal court by 1930, which gave enough time for people to begin grumbling about the shutdown. The Interurban Confederated Community Club (ICCC) was formed of 100 or so citizens looking to bring back the interurban, having been dissatisfied with the new buses. Scott Z. Henderson was grilled by the ICCC and claimed that while the PSE might have been making a profit, the cost of upkeep of the stock and logistics made it wiser to end operations with no mention of the new highways. PSP&L were also quoted, by Henderson, as wanting to "get out of the transportation business." (Wing, 116)

Some of the cars not sold to Pacific Equipment found
new life as roadside diners
(HistoryLink.org)

By April, a new auction had begun and PSP&L, to almost nobody's surprise, won ownership of property and right of way. The cars were sold to the Pacific Equipment Company of Portland, Oregon, where they were lated scrapped. Henderson continued to try and dissuade residents from demanding services resumed, while those with their heads in sand believed that service would eventually continue, just not as often. Tacoma would continue to have a local streetcar service until 1938, but the glory days of a direct interurban up the Sound had come to an end. 

A Tacoma streetcar passes by a replacement stage bus prior to end of service
(Historylink.org)

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Thus ends today's report on the end of the Tacoma Interurban. Next Tuesday, we start on Seattle's streetcars from its beginnings with the Puget Sound Electric all the way to the modern Sounder light rail in operation today. Until then, ride safe.