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By its sharp curves, short, steep gradient, lightweight rail and street running, Walla Walla Valley’s
interurban heritage was quite evident. But atypical of many electric
interurban railroads, the Walla Walla Valley survived as a freight hauler
for another 40 years after passenger service ended during the Great
Depression of the 1930s.
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1905-1931: WWV's
Early Years as a Passenger Hauler
Incorporated
on May 17, 1905, the Walla Walla Valley Traction Company was
franchised by Walla Walla to operate trolleys in city limits. Despite
Walla Walla’s small size, it was blessed with an extensive street
railroad system. Within a year, the WWTC had begun expanding southward 14
miles through the apple and cherry orchards along the Walla Walla River
toward the twin Oregon towns of Freewater and
 Milton. Grading on the
extension to Oregon began on March 20, 1906. The first rails were laid on
September 6 the same year, and within five days, limited operations began.
Regular operations to Milton began in April, 1907. The yellow cars made
the 45-minute run hourly between 6 a.m. and midnight, meeting at a
spring-switch equipped siding just south of the Walla Walla River.
In 1909, the railroad was sold
to Pacific Power & Light, the utility that generated the railroad’s power
at its Gothic-inspired substation on 6th Street in Walla Walla.
With the sale came a name change, to Walla Walla Valley Railway. By then,
the railroad rostered eight electric passenger coaches, a freight motor,
two passenger cars, and six freight cars. Freight operations would figure
more prominently in the railroad’s future, especially after 1921, when
Northern Pacific, through its Northwestern Improvement Company subsidiary,
bought the WWV from PP&L. The WWV, Northern Pacific had discovered, held
great potential as a “back door” entry to Milton,
 where Union Pacific had
a near-monopoly on lucrative apple, prune and cherry traffic originating
in the south end of the Walla Walla Valley. A spur to a local packing shed
near College Place was extended to reach the 600-acre Baker-Langdon
orchard, creating the 4.4 mile Yellowhawk branch. And in 1924, a branchline was constructed jointly with Union Pacific from Milton west to Umapine, a franchise ill-fated when planned fruit traffic never
materialized. Hay and grain did provide some traffic, and the railroad
purchased land at Wallula with an eye toward extending the line still
further west, but by the Second World War the branch was abandoned.
Following purchase by NP,
electric passenger traffic on the WWV became increasingly hampered by
freight operations. While able to handle a few interurban cars lightly
s kipping along the 60-lb. rail, the power supply system was ill equipped
to keep up with the heavier freight trains which now traveled the line.
Old-timers recall instances where passenger traffic was suspended for
several hours at a time to allow a single freight train full use of the 6th
Street substation’s output, crawling up grade from the Walla Walla River
bridge with a half-dozen refrigerator cars at barely a walking pace.
Freight interference with the
passenger traffic became a moot issue in 1931, when on September 2,
motorman John Wilken, who’d brought the first train into Milton, departed
town with the last interurban passenger train. Streetcar operations in
Walla Walla had ended on the last day of 1926.
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