Railfan Spencer Jack Takes His Dad And Favorite Girlfriend To The Cascade Tunnel

In the picture, on the left, you are looking at my great nephew, Spencer Jack, sitting on his dad. On the right you are looking at the west terminus of the new Cascade Tunnel.

Cascade Tunnel tunnels through the Cascade Mountains near Stevens Pass, with the west end of the tunnel being about 65 miles east of Everett, Washington.

The Cascade Tunnel is 7.79 miles long, making it the longest railroad tunnel in the United States.

Construction of the new Cascade Tunnel began in December of 1925, completed in 1928, going into operation on January 12, 1929.

The new Cascade Tunnel replaced the original Cascade Tunnel, which began construction on August 20, 1897, operational on December 20, 1900. The original Cascade Tunnel was much higher, and shorter, at 2.63 miles, than the new Cascade Tunnel, as you can see via the diagram below.

The original Cascade Tunnel did not solve the problem with snow slides, due to the railway still being at a high elevation.

On March 1, 1910, an avalanche came crashing down at a place called Wellington. 96 people were killed in what became known as The Wellington Disaster, it being the deadliest avalanche in American history.

It was The Wellington Disaster which prompted the construction of the new Cascade Tunnel, and nearly a century later prompted renowned Skagit Valley author, Martin Burwash, to write the best selling historical novel about The Wellington Disaster, titled Vis Major.

Above that is Spencer Jack's favorite girl friend, Brittney, on top of the entry to the Cascade Tunnel.

I am a little surprised that it is so easy to get to, and above, the Cascade Tunnel entry, what with this age of overdone security we are currently plagued with.

Spencer Jack Sliding at Slidewaters Waterpark in Chelan Washington

I am not totally certain where my great nephew, Spencer Jack is doing some water sliding in the picture. I do know it is either in Leavenworth or at the Slidewaters Waterpark in Chelan, Washington.

I do know for certain the video below of Spencer Jack sliding down a water slide is at the Slidewaters Waterpark in Chelan.

Spencer Jack is currently taking his favorite girl friend, Brittney, and his dad on a road trip to various locations in Eastern Washington, or as those who live in Western Washington refer to it, East of the Mountains.

Looking at the Slidewaters Waterpark website it appears this waterpark has greatly grown since I was last in Chelan.

Slidewaters Waterpark now has a Lazy River. Lazy Rivers are just about my favorite thing in a waterpark, that along with a good tube ride. Slidewaters has what sounds like a fun tube ride called Thunder Rapids.

The Slidewaters Waterpark website describes Thunder Rapids thusly..."A tube slide classic, the river run is one of the most popular slides in the park because it provides a unique experience every time. Start on your tube with a group of up to four people and enjoy multiple chutes, slides and shallow pools as you work your way down over 100 feet of vertical drop before the final crash into the catch pool at the bottom."

You can go here and read descriptions of all the Slidewaters Waterpark's rides with names like Corkscrew, Blue Blaster, Run Amuck, Whitewater, Squirt Gun, Purple Haze, Tube Blaster, Downhill Racer, Aqua Zoo and Bonzai Pipeline.

There is also a giant Hot Tub heated to 100 degrees in which up to 60 people can get hot. A giant Hot Tub filled with 60 people does not sound too appealing to me.

Below is the aforementioned video of Spencer Jack sliding down a Slidewaters Waterpark waterslide....

Nephew Joey Bravely Crossing The Re-Opened I-5 Skagit River Bridge

My Nephew Joey crossing the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge for the first time in weeks, on Wednesday, June 19, the day the temporary fix had traffic flowing easier, north and south, in the Skagit Valley.

Finding Out When The I-5 Skagit River Bridge Was Actually Built Continues To Be A Mystery

In the picture above you are looking at an aerial view of Interstate 5, under construction, looking north, in the Skagit Valley of Washington. This picture of Interstate 5, under construction, is dated September 6, 1960. A  little less than 4 months before the first day of 1961.

Ever since the Interstate 5 bridge across the Skagit River collapsed, multiple sources, multiple times, have had that bridge built in either 1955 or 1956, which contradicts the living memory of many who lived in the Skagit Valley at the time Interstate 5 was constructed.

Below is an example, a blurb taking from an online article, the URL of which was sent by a Skagit Valley librarian, first the article's title, then the blurb...

Skagit River Bridge north of Mount Vernon (later redesignated I-5 Skagit River Bridge) is completed on August 26, 1956.

On August 26, 1956, construction of the Primary State Highway 1 Skagit River Bridge just north of Mount Vernon in Skagit County is completed. It is a steel-truss bridge in four sections that enables the opening of a "limited access highway," a road that will, according to the Department of Highways newsletter, "remove the last major bottleneck between Seattle and Bellingham, making travel to Canada a real joy" Later this bridge will become part of Interstate 5. 

This bridge which is alleged to have removed the last major bottleneck between Seattle and Bellingham was built in 1956?

Let us just leave that questionable date alone, for now.

When the I-5 Skagit River Bridge actually opened, in the 1960s, it did not make for a no bottleneck trek north to the Canadian border. The section of I-5, north of Burlington, over Bow Hill, to north Lake Samish, opened sometime in the later 1960s, with the portion from north Lake Samish, to Bellingham, finished even later in the 1960s.

You can clearly see, in the picture above, Interstate 5, at the road bed construction phase of the project, at the location of the I-5 Skagit River Bridge, with the photo documenting the fact that the construction ended, in September of 1960, at about the point where Chuckanut Drive and Highway 99 intersected, west of Burlington Hill.

Like I said, the claim that the I-5 Skagit River Bridge was built in 1955 or 1956 contradicts the living memory of many who lived in the Skagit Valley at that point in time. For example, the email message below...

I was born in Boise, Idaho on July 12, 1952. We moved to Mount Vernon, Washington in 1956. I was less than 4 years old. I don't remember making the move. I was too young to remember such a thing. But, I do remember watching the new bridge across the Skagit River get built. In the 1960s. Not 1955. I was not even living in Washington in 1955. How could I remember that bridge getting built if I was not living in Washington when it was built? I also remember when that section of the freeway opened and dad driving us across that new bridge for the first time. 

The Interstate Freeway System was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. What eventually became Interstate 5 started being constructed in Washington in the early 1960s.

But, the when was the I-5 Skagit River Bridge built confusion continues to be murky.

Below is a document acquired from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). This is a blueprint of the I-5 Skagit River Bridge. The information at the lower right corner of the document is surprising.

Looking at the lower right corner of the document one reads "APPROVED: July 29, 1954"....

The message from WSDOT said, in part....

The Skagit River Bridge on I-5 was built by Peter Kiewit Sons, under contract 4794, which was awarded in September of 1954. I have attached a pdf of the Layout sheet from that contract. At that time, the route was designated Primary State Highway No. 1.

Does no library in Skagit County have back issues of the local newspapers on file? Surely the Skagit Valley Herald, the Burlington Journal or the Skagit Argus had articles about the construction and completion of the I-5 Skagit River Bridge.

In ancient times one was able to go to a library and look up old newspapers via a thing called Microfiche. Is there no modern day equivalent of Microfiche?

My Nephews Jason & Joey Continue to Try to Find Out When the Collapsed I-5 Skagit River Bridge Was Actually Built

Above you are looking at a bird's eye view of the Skagit River I-5 Bridge soon after it opened for traffic in the mid 1960s.

Yesterday I blogged that the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory Database is erroneous regarding the date that the I-5 Skagit River Bridge was built, with that database saying the year was 1955, a year before the construction of the Interstate Freeway System was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Construction of Interstate 5 in Washington did not begin until the early 1960s.

Yesterday someone named Anonymous made a post comment regarding the erroneous date...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Collapsed I-5 Skagit River Bridge Was Built in the 1960s not 1955":

The huge flood of 1955 occurred on November 4th, absent a freeway bridge. Maybe it was constructed in December of 1955? Odd time of year to build a bridge, however the Skagit Herald is rarely wrong, nor is our nation's databases.

My nephews, Jason and Joey, have been seeking proof regarding as to when the Skagit River I-5 Bridge was actually built, ever since it collapsed into the river and news reports began erroneously reporting the bridge was born in 1955, a year after Jason and Joey's dad was born.

This morning, at 5am, Jason made his way to the south end of the collapsed bridge, determined to get a photo of the plaque attached to the bridge which lists its date of birth. Jason made it past the blocking barriers, but was thwarted by a pair of Washington State Patrolmen who would allow Jason to go no further.

Jason has enlisted the help of a law enforcement friend of his to try and get a picture.

This morning Jason told me that he has learned that it was the Highway 99 Skagit River Bridge which was built in 1955. You can see the Highway 99 Bridge in the photo above, in the background behind the I-5 Bridge. The Highway 99 Bridge, apparently built in 1955, was replaced in 2004.

Somehow, perhaps when transcribing print data to digital form, the date of the building of the Skagit River I-5 Bridge was entered as 1955.

Would not one think that this is fairly easy to verify as erroneous? As in Interstate 5 was not under construction in 1955, so how could an Interstate Bridge across the Skagit River be built in 1955?

This morning Jason emailed me the two photos you see above. In the first photo you can clearly see that the two bridges are in an area of farmland, for the most part. Does it really make any sense to anyone that the I-5 Bridge sat constructed in 1955, a Bridge to Nowhere, waiting a decade for a road to connect to it?

It is interesting to look at these photos and ponder the huge changes that came to the Skagit Valley after the arrival of Interstate 5.

In the second photo we are in Mount Vernon looking north. The College Way exchange is in the foreground. The now collapsed I-5 Skagit River Bridge is near the top of the picture.

I believe the above photos were likely taken in the mid 1960s. If you were to look at the same view as these photos today, in 2013, you would see a lot of buildings and a lot of asphalt.

On the left (west) side of the freeway in Mount Vernon you'd see a Walmart Supercenter along with a lot of other stores and restaurants. After I-5 opened,  by the 1970s, on the right (east) side of I-5, in Mount Vernon, you would find a mall on both sides of College Way, replacing what had been tulip and strawberry fields.

The Mount Vernon malls have been long gone, torn down and replaced by more stores, including what at one point in time was the biggest Safeway in the world. or west of the Mississippi or something.

The Burlington side of the river saw the most drastic changes after I-5 came to town.

In 2013, in the view in the second photo of the Burlington side of the Skagit River, you would see the Cascade Mall, a complex of auto dealers called I-5 Auto World, a Costco, a big outlet center, a Fred Meyer, Target (is K-Mart still open in Burlington?), Haggen, many of the usual chain restaurants and fast food joints and a Krispy Kreme, though the donut maker may be gone.

I think I heard Krispy Kreme did not go over well in the valley.

Jason told me this morning that a lot of the Skagit Valley locals he has asked about it are as perplexed as he regarding the erroneous birth date of the Skagit River I-5 Bridge in the National Bridge Inventory Database.

I suspect this error will be corrected. Someday. Maybe.

The Collapsed I-5 Skagit River Bridge Was Built in the 1960s not 1955

Friday morning, about 5 minutes after I learned of the collapse of the I-5 Bridge over the Skagit River in my old hometown zone of Mount Vernon and Burlington, I have been perplexed  by an erroneous bit of information that seems to be being universally accepted, that being that this bridge was built in 1955.

I have seen this error in the Skagit Valley Herald, KOMO News online, the Seattle P-I, MSNBC, CNN, FOX News (which one expects to be wrong) and virtually everywhere I've read anything about the bridge collapse.

Including Wikipedia. Within the last 24 hours Wikipedia has updated their Interstate 5 in Washington article with the bride collapse info.

Plus, Wikipedia has added an I-5 Skagit River Bridge Collapse article, which, as you can see via the screen cap on the left, also says the bridge opened in 1955.

My nephew Jason has contacted the Skagit Valley Herald pointing out that 1955 is not the correct date. Part of a reply that Jason received this morning from the Skagit Valley Herald...

The Federal Highway Administration and the National Bridge Inventory Database show the bridge having been built in 1955. I suppose that doesn’t mean it started being used then, and I’m told it was not part of the Interstate yet at that point; that part came later as the rest of I-5 was constructed.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower championed America building an Interstate System. The construction of the Interstate Freeway System was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

1956.

So, are we to believe that for some unfathomable reason a bridge to nowhere was built across the Skagit River in 1955, in anticipation of a new federal program being passed a year later, then awaiting the arrival of the Interstate Highway about a decade later?

I remember the I-5 Skagit River Bridge getting built. I was not old enough to remember anything getting built in 1955.

I remember the Ship Canal I-5 Bridge being built in Seattle, seeing the construction from the Aurora Bridge. This was a year or two after the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. And before the Interstate started being constructed in the Skagit Valley.

This repeating misinformation that the Skagit River I-5 Bridge was built in 1955 is as absurdly obviously wrong as if the Space Needle somehow came crashing down, with news articles saying it was built in 1951, when it was actually built in the early 60s, completed by the opening of the World's Fair.

I've talked to many people who remember this bridge getting built, and that construction taking place in the 1960s, not the 1950s, let alone a year before the federal act that brought about the Interstate System was passed into law.

Concrete Washington's War of the Worlds

This morning I was reading Wikipedia's The War of the World's article about Orson Welle's Mercury Theater October 30, 1938 (Halloween) production of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds.

Orson Welle's radio version of The War of the Worlds is infamous due to the fact that it caused listeners across America, to panic, who thought they were listening to real time news about a Martian invasion.

The following blurb, in the article's section titled "Public Reaction" surprised me, due to the reference to a town in the Skagit Valley named Concrete. Growing up in the Skagit Valley I do not remember ever hearing of this interesting tidbit of Concrete history...

In Concrete, Washington, phone lines and electricity went out due to a short-circuit at the Superior Portland Cement Company's substation. Residents were unable to call neighbors, family or friends to calm their fears. Reporters who heard of the coincidental blackout sent the story over the news-wire, and soon Concrete was known worldwide.

The Wikipedia Concrete, Washington article has way more detail about the War of the World's incident.....

Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast

On October 30, 1938, Seattle's CBS affiliate radio stations KIRO and KVI broadcast Orson Welles' now famous War of the Worlds radio drama. While this broadcast was heard around the country, some of the most terrified listeners were in Concrete.

At the point of the drama where the Martian invaders were invading towns and the countryside with flashes of light and poison gases, a power failure suddenly plunged almost the entire town of 1,000 into darkness. Some listeners fainted while others grabbed their families to head up into the mountains. Other more enterprising locals headed for the surrounding hills to guard their moonshine stills. One man was said to have jumped up out of his chair and, in bare feet, run the two miles (3 km) from his home to the center of town. Some of the men grabbed their guns, and one businessman – a devout Catholic – got his wife into the family car, drove to the nearest service station and demanded gasoline. Without paying the attendant, he rushed off to Bellingham (some forty-miles away) in order to see his priest for a last-minute absolution of sins. The distraught man reportedly told the gas-station attendant that paying for the gas "[wouldn't] make any difference, everyone is going to die!".

Because the phone lines (as well the electricity) were out, the town's residents were unable to call neighbors, family, or friends to verify that their fears were legitimate. Of course, the real story was not as fantastic as the fictional radio drama – all that had occurred was that the Superior Portland cement company's electrical sub-station suffered a short-circuit with a flash of brilliant light, and all the town's lights went dark. The more conservative radio-listeners in Concrete (who had been listening to Charlie McCarthy on another station), attempted to calm neighbors, reporting that they hadn't heard a thing about any "disaster". Reporters heard soon after of the coincidental blackout of Concrete, and sent the story out over the international newswire and soon the town of Concrete was known (if only for a moment) worldwide.

So, there you have it, The War of the Worlds in Concrete, Washington.