Our first stop:

WWV in Walla Walla

The work day for WWV crews began in Walla Walla, so that's where we'll start the tour, specifically in the town's far northwest corner, a stone's throw from “Concrete Mama,” the Washington State Penitentiary. 

The prison predates the WWV by a couple of decades, constructed in 1887. Lawmakers budgeted $96,000 for land and construction of the prison, and made plans for a new state university. The prison was awarded to Walla Walla, the legend goes, in a coin toss. The rival farming community of Pullman, 80 miles to northeast, was awarded the new college, Washington State University. Walla Walla had won the toss.

WWV's north end was just a block south of the prison entrance. Here was WWV's interchange with Northern Pacific, its primary connection to the outside world. Originally, WWV interchanged with NP just  east of the intersection of North 13^th  and May Streets,  using a single track on the south side of the NP mainline near the Northern Pacific ice house.  A second parallel interchange track was constructed in 1923 after WWV voiced concern about switching delays due to lack of interchange space with the NP. These two curved interchange tracks formed the east leg of a wye, the west leg of which later accessed a new interchange yard with the NP, called the “Valley Tracks.”  Constructed west of N 13^th St. along the south side of the NP mainline, new the two-track interchange bisected farmland used by penitentiary trustees to grow crops. Following its construction, WWV did most of its interchange with the NP on the Valley Tracks, though refrigerator cars continued to be iced at the icehouse east of N 13^th Street.

Along the east leg of the wye was located Walla Walla Grange Supply, just north of West Rees Avenue. The property now contains stored farm equipment, underground fuel tanks, propane tanks, and a fueling dock. Presumably cars for the Grange were once spotted here. South one block, just north of W Moore Street, is a Conoco oil jobber, still in business today with its corrugated metal warehouse building  and bank of vertical oil tanks.

From the Wye and its connection with the Northern Pacific, the WWV pointed due south along the eastern shoulder of N 13^th St., which it would parallel until reaching the car barn at Cherry Street, six blocks.

The old Consolidated Freight LCL warehouse and dock stands on the west side of N 13^th St. between Rees and Moore. The warehouse was constructed in 1950 to handle carload shipments of merchandise bound for distribution in the region by CF trucks; waybills from the  late 1960s show shipments of Oleo (in PFE reefers off the Union Pacific), for instance, inbound to the warehouse. In later years, a succession of  produce shippers used this building, and rail service lasted beyond the end of the WWV itself when BN continued to serve the building into the early-1990s. Rail remained in place until removed in 2000. Today it is a produce and onion distributor.

Three of WWV’s largest Walla Walla shippers are clustered west of N. 13^th Street, all developed  in the early 1940s/Post WW2 era of explosive growth in canning and frozen food production and warehousing. Prior to construction of these industries, very little traffic originated in Walla Walla on the WWV. Northwestern Ice and Cold Storage, Birds Eye/Snyder, and Continental Can were all served by WWV and Union Pacific, using joint trackage constructed to Union Pacific engineering standards. UP was reimbursed for its share by WWV parent Northern Pacific, but often, construction details and track arrangements were argued to the minutest points by NP and UP officials, neither side willing to concede much in a hotly-contested traffic market. Union Pacific had the easiest go of reaching these shippers, their leads coming right off the west side of its Walla Walla yard a couple of blocks away. But reflecting its interurban heritage, WWV squealed around curves exceeding 35 degrees to access these spurs, which crossed its main track (and N 13^th St.) at right angles.

Continental Can Company, today operated as Crown Cork and Seal, was served by four spur tracks. The Continental Can lead off the backside of UP's yard served as the UP-WWV interchange track, though it was limited to eight cars. The can plant, built in 1940,  kept WWV crews busy throughout the year, switching inbound loads of tin and metal sheet stock and pallets and shipping cans and can ends to canneries throughout the Pacific Northwestern. Canneries in Seattle, Tacoma, Dayton, Waitsburg, Milton-Freewater, Pendleton, and Red Lodge, Montana, were particularly good customers. Canneries would often receive several car loads of cans a day for several days in a row, several times a year, to build up their inventory. Clean, high-graded 40’ boxcars were ideal for this service. Outbound gondolas of scrap tin would also be shipped. An interesting short-haul occurred when Walla Walla Milling Company, located only a few miles east of Walla Walla at Walair on the NP Dayton branch, would ship a carload of pallets to Continental Can. The tariff rate on the load in 1968 was $.975 per ton; WWV and NP would divide revenues on a shipment that cost less than $40 to move across town. The can factory was expanded several times, and operations continue today, at a far reduced level of intensity. Crown Cork is served by Blue Mountain & Palouse Railroad.

Birdseye/Snyder Division of General Foods constructed its Walla Walla facility in the late 1940s as the parallel development of reliable freezing techniques for fresh fruits and vegetables and mechanical refrigeration resulted in a post-World War II boom in the frozen food industry. Located just west of Continental Can Co., Birdseye’s success in processing, freezing, and shipping peas, asparagus, and other locally-grown vegetables provided an idea location for  Northwestern Ice and Cold Storage to build a large cold storage warehouse in 1960. The concrete warehouse consisted of three rooms, each 120’ wide by 200’ long, with the classic arched warehouse roof common of cold storage buildings.  Birdseye was an early and large customer of Northwestern, moving considerable amounts of its product between the two facilities for storage. This maneuver was complicated by a pair of railroad tracks between the two buildings, which required “jeeps” (forklifts) on each dock as well as at track level to shuttle inventory between the two docks. Construction of a large mechanical “drawbridge” between the two docks which could be lowered to allow jeeps to drive between the two docks soon solved this problem. Continued growth in frozen foods allowed Northwestern to expand its warehouse operation with a second building in 1962, constructed north of the original building, served by a  single spur jointly owned by WWV and UP. Initially, Northern Pacific lobbied heavily for the right to serve this building exclusively, to Union Pacific’s objection. After Northern Pacific bean-counters discovered that not only would Walla Walla Valley provide better service than the NP, but cheaper service as well (WWV used a  four-man switch crew, NP five men),  it was agreed to give the business to WWV. UP was allowed joint access to the new building. 

Considerable amounts of perishables from outside the Walla Walla valley were routed through Northwestern, under a provision in the freight tariffs which allowed carloads to be unloaded and warehoused temporarily, then reloaded to continue their journey under a single waybill and tariff rate. Traffic originating, for example, in the Yakima Valley was moved to Northwestern for temporary storage—ranging from a week or less to several months—before being reloaded in mechanical refrigerator cars to complete their journey. Among the traffic was carloads of frozen peas from Birdseye in Waitsburg, Washington, bound for Watsonville, California; and frozen french fried potatoes from Prosser, Washington, bound for Belvidere, Illinois. Union Pacific did this as well, often storing cheese from the Caldwell, Idaho area.

 Until 1927, WWV’s passenger trains from Milton-Freewater ended their run at the Valley’s downtown passenger depot, at N 6^th Street and Main. For the last few years of interurban operation, WWV trains ended their run at the railway’s car barn at N 13^th and Cherry street. Both former depots survive today.

 Uptown, at “Milepost 0.0” on the railroad,  WWV’s downtown depot is now Snyder-Crecelius, a wholesale paper distributor. Amazingly, Snyder-Crecelius has occupied the old depot since WWV moved out, and the company has become an Walla Walla institution in its own right, the former depot now redolent in varnished wood desks and counters where a computer terminal seems out of place. . . the very essence of an “old-line” downtown business where you expect the clerks to all be nearing retirement age, wearing white button-down shirts and cuff protectors, and  writing your transaction in a ledger book with a fountain pen. Until the end of rail service, WWV rolled occasional 40' cars of paper right up inside the building to Snyder Crecelius’ 36’ long dock. The move to switch the paper distributor must’ve been a popular one with the crews, for three-quarter mile spur from the car barn had no place to run-around the car being delivered, thus, the trip would find the crew shoving the carload of paper ahead of the locomotive down two city streets, across the Union Pacific mainline, and through several busy intersections. The very sharp curve at the corner of Cherry and N 6^th St was the least of their concerns! A block to the north of Snyder- Crecelius, a spur once dropped down to Pacific Power and Light’s generating plant on the south side of Mill Creek to deliver carloads of coke.

The other WWV depot, its original car barn, at the corner of N 13^th St and Cherry (MP .69), survives today as part of thriving Canoe Crest winery. Wineries have blossomed throughout the Valley in recent years, and, along with  Wal-Marts and housing subdivisions, seem to be at the top of many resident’s enemies list when seeking to assign blame for the loss of Walla Walla's small town charm. But you've got to give them credit for basing their operation in a classic building! The 151’4” by  61’ 8” car barn was originally three stalls in the days of electric motors, sharing space with an office, stationery room, parts room, armature room and shop, but dieselization in 1949-50 found WWV remodeling the structure with a single stall for its pair of diesels, closing off much of the rest of the building to conserve heating costs during the winter.  One of the tightest curves on the railroad passed right outside the car barn's front door, causing concern when longer cushion underframe freight cars began serving the line in the 1960s, clearing the corner of the building by mere inches.

On the south east side of Cherry Street, tracks bound for Snyder-Crecelius served  Jones-Scott Redi-Mix, a coal, asphalt, and concrete supplier. Several dozen carloads of gravel moved yearly to Jones-Scott’s aggregate yard, located between 13th and 11th streets. South of Cherry street was a short passing track and location of WWV's Maintenance of Way storage yard.

Across Cherry Street, the WWV crossed Mill Creek on  a four-pier trestle approximately 90 feet in length, constructed in the 1930s when the creek was corralled in a concrete channel within Walla Walla city limits.

 South of the creek, a spur looped back south to connect with Union Pacific trackage near UP's Rose Street wye. I'm unclear as to what activity took place on this connection.

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Storefront view of Snyder-Crecelius Paper, former WWV passenger depot until 1927. Snyder has occupied this location ever since. WWV tracks entered building from the back. 2002

Backside view of Snyder-Crecelius, Rose and N 6th Sts. A 36-foot loading dock was inside the building, served occasionally with 40 foot boxcars requiring coupler extensions to reach inside the building. 2002.

Click on the map above to view full-sized image, or use "right click"/"Open Link in New Window" to view.

WWV770 comes off the east leg of the Valley wye, past Walla Walla Grange Supply. In the background is a Standard Oil bulk dealer, served by Northern Pacific. On the far right are oil tanks at the Shell dealer, also served by NP.  March 24, 1967, John Henderson photo.

We're looking north up N13th St. The Conoco dealer is on the right, the yellowish building across the street is Pacific Produce, formerly Consolidated Freightways. The switch leading back behind us is the lead to Northwestern Ice and Birds Eye. Marc Entze photo, 2000.

Bitchin' Camaro! Here's the Pacific Produce building, formerly CF. Tracks still in place in the gravel. 2002.

A 2002 view westward on the lead to Northwestern Ice and Birds Eye, looking west on N 12th St. Lots of junkyards in this area. Tracks are still in place and used by Blue Mountain & Palouse.

WWV 770 switches Continental Can on March 25, 1967. The building looks quite different than it does today. John Henderson photo.

Looking west-northwest as the 770 rolls south with train past the lead to Continental Can. Sharply-curved track to right is the WWV's switchback access to Continental Can, also used as access to the UP interchange track. Foreground tracks are the four jointly-owned UP/WWV spurs into the factory. John Henderson photo, April 25, 1967.

Nearly the same view from 2001 by Marc Entze looking toward Crown Cork, formerly Continental Can. This track arrangement resulted in THREE diamonds over the WWV on 13th St.!

Looking SE towards the north side of Continental Can, the lead to NW Ice/Birds Eye in foreground. Marc Entze photo.

Rainy day view 2002 on the dock at Birds Eye. Track closest to the building was UP only; other tracks joint WWV/UP. NW Ice on far left.

View on NW Ice dock looking east toward Birds Eye. Mechanical drawbridge for forklifts is on the right.

Marc Entze view of the two Northwestern Ice and Cold Storage buildings built in 1960, left, and 1962. North building served by a single track.

Closer view of the 1960 NW Ice warehouse by Marc Entze.

Closeup of the mechanical drawbridge between NW Ice and Birds Eye warehouses.

Here's a vintage view shortly after NW Ice opened for business of a forklift working at moving frozen vegetables from Birdseye to waiting NP mechanical reefer on the NW Ice side. NW Ice collection.

Workers and supervisors load packages of frozen vegetables onto one on of the Northern Pacific's early 40-foot mechanical cars, shortly after Northwestern Ice & Cold Storage opened in 1960. NW Ice collection.

Looking NW at Canoe Crest's winery building, the former WWV car barn, at Cherry and N 13th Street. Mainline once curved off 13th to pass between power pole and the building. 2002.

South side view of WWV car barn. Big double wooden doors were installed when the railroad dieselized in 1950, creating one larger stall from three smaller ones. 2002.

Click on map to view larger image of Cherry St. spur.

We're looking west on Cherry St. where WWV's spur to downtown turns onto N 6th St. Trolley era clearances and curves survived to the end. 2002.

Camera is turned the other way as WWV tracks head down N 6th towards Pacific Power & Light and Snyder-Crecelius Paper. 2002. Snyder-Crecelius is visible in the background, the red brick building.

Looking like a great place to conduct experiments with Frankenstein, the old Pacific Power & Light sub station on N. 6th St. was once served by a WWV spur to a coal dock just to the left. 2002.