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Saturday, September 10, 2011

Ghosts of Wellington on the Iron Goat Trail - Skykomish, Washington

In the late 1890s The Great Northern Railway completed a rail line through the mountains of Washington State that cut through Steven's Pass deep in the Cascade Mountains, linking Seattle with the Mid-west.  Engines had to labor up the mountain pass through switchbacks, sharp curves, and steep grades with the assistance of helper engines as well.  A tunnel that emerged on the western side of the pass at Wellington eased the burden on the engines, however one thing that the railway had a hard time conquering was the winter. 
Tons of snow would hold up trains on their travels through the Stevens Pass as the passage would become over burdened with the accumulations coming off of the mountains.  It was in March of 1910 that the winter weather in the pass would show the Great Northern Railway exactly what it could be capable of.  


The construction of the Great Northern Railway through Stevens Pass in the late 1890s

The rail depot at Wellington, WA around 1900
After a savage storm that lasted 9 days and dropped at times a foot of snow an hour, a west bound passenger train had to hold up at the Wellington depot to wait for the snow to be cleared.  An eastbound mail train also had to sit out the storm along side of the passenger train.  Unfortunately for the occupants of the two trains, the snow had turned to rain making the snow very heavy and it is believed lightening struck near to top of Windy Mountain just above the town of Wellington.  This strike triggered the heavy snow to begin to slide down the mountain snapping of trees and moving huge boulders very quickly down the mountain side towards the sleeping passengers and train crews in a half mile long and quarter mile wide moving mass of destruction.


Stevens Pass at Wellington shortly after the avalanche of 1910

As the avalanche reached Wellington, it barely missed the town but struck the train depot as well as the two fully loaded trains as they sat waiting.  The cars were pushed off the tracks and swept down the mountain side, the combination of the heavy snow, snapped off trees and boulders crushing the cars and their occupants. The wreckage was strewn all over the mountain and into Tye Creek at the bottom. In all, 96 people lost their lives that night as only 26 survivors were pulled from the carnage.  The bodies had to be removed via sled.  It took twelve days to dig the snow away from the tracks.  Some bodies took over four months to recover.  It was the worst and to this date, the most devastating avalanche in the United States.
Two of the locomotives can be seen buried in the snow along with some of the other wreckage of the Wellington Depot after the avalanche of 1910
The destructive power of the Wellington avalanche can be seen in this photo taken shortly afterward.  Workers can be seen working through the mangled train cars, trees, and snow looking for survivors.
The Wellington avalanche victims had to be taken out by sled as it took 12 days to dig out the tracks

A short while after the disaster, the Great Northern Railroad began to build concrete and steel snow tunnels to protect the trains from the avalanches.  One three quarters of a mile long was constructed at the site of the Wellington avalanche. The town of Wellington did not want it's name to be associated with the disaster and changed it's name to Tye. Eventually, the new eight mile long Cascade tunnel was built so that trains could pass safely under Stevens Pass.  This spelled the end of Tye and all that remains today is the concrete snow bunker which now serves as a monument to the disaster of 1910.


All that remained after the town of Tye (formerly Wellington) closed were the rail depot building and the snow sheds in the background at the site of the avalanche of 1910.


Today Iron Goat Trail goes through the old snow sheds constructed to protect the railway tracks which no longer exist
The old rail tunnel along the Iron Goat Trail can be a creepy place to hike through given the torrid history of how they got there
The Iron Goat Trail can also be a very beautiful place to hike

The Wellington site can be accessed via the Iron Goat Trail which is named after the nickname of the Great Northern Railroad of which the trail was built on.  Some travelers along this trail claim that the victims of the Wellington avalanche are still there.  There have been reports of disembodied voices echoing through the avalanche tunnel when no one else is there or no one else accompanying them has spoken.  Strange feelings of hair raising on end and cold spots have been reported.  Many reports have centered around the bridge that stands near the site of the old railroad depot.  Some people have claimed to have actually heard the sounds of a phantom avalanche with the rumbling, trees snapping, and the sound of metal crushing. So take a hike on the Iron Goat Trail and see if you encounter the ghosts of Wellington.

 Cascade Mountains on Dwellable

9 comments:

  1. It is my understanding that none of the park rangers will go up to the parking lot at night. WILL NOT.

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  2. Jul 17 2017.I just hiked the iron goat trail. I had three gost cross the trail 30 feet in front of me.each time i got to the spot thinking they were real people there was nothing bhu a 150 foot drop.i know they did not jump.the place is haunted like crazy.and this was in the day time.

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  3. Jul 16 2017 i just hiked the iron goat trail. I had three gost cross the trail 30 feet in front of me with in 20 minutes. Each time i went to take a look thinking they were real people there was nothing but a 150 foot drop.i know they did not jump.the place is haunted like crazy.and that was the day time.no bull.

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  4. I can not stop telling the storys of my hike on the iron goat trail. Never been any were that scary in my life. There are people talking to you at every turn. But you can not see them.at the end of the shead stop and sit for a while. And when you hear that poor little girl crying an screaming dont panic like i did trying to find her.even though you will hear her crying vary load. Those crys are a hundred years old.so scary. So sad.it broke my heart.

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  5. I want to clear a few things up. Park rangers DO show up at night and are NOT afraid of "ghosts" of Wellington. Cold spots can be felt outside no matter where you are.I've investigated the history and ghosts ( NWPIA )in this area since 2004-current and without a doubt can say, Wellington has it's ghosts.You can see the research that we have done on youtube under nwpia or under Bert Coates.

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  6. Thanks bert.i follow you guys.i was alone up there won't do that agin.

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  7. Thanks agin bert.i came across some footage of you and your wife down in the valley. You guys heard something larg coming threw the woods.and hurred back up on the trail.i got scared all over agin.my haert was racing watching you.guys.glad you are ok.lol

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  8. Bert coast said .it has its ghost. That is a under statement. I would like to meat these guys some time in the future. And i hope they have figured out that those black shadows are pure evil. One name for them are shadow people. They are not ghosts because they never lived.and if they latch on to you.well lest say you will not be your self.

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  9. It has been a year and i am still haunted from my hike on that trail. I have got to get back up there soon and face the spirits.but not alone this time.no one should ever go there alone what a night mare. I was never afraid of goast. But that place takes hauntings to a hole nother Leavell.

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