Re: UP in Tacoma (1979-1980) -- Fife Yard
Author: George Andrews
Date: 06-06-2019 - 17:13
From my Milwaukee Road files, I recall that they started filling in the Puyallup River wetlands in Fife, without securing the needed permits. After their departure from Lines West in 1980, U.P. inherited the project and its' issues. The combination of an aging drawbridge & sharp curve ( and that nasty diamond too ), and the upcoming Interstate 705 project, forced them to pay for Milwaukee's carelessness, with a new yard on the old joint MILW / U.P. mainline in Fife the result. Nowadays trains enter / exit BNSF trackage at Reservation Jct. ( under Interstate 5 ), instead of U.P. Jct. The old U.P. yard in Tacoma Tideflats still exists as a stub - ended facility, as does the former U.P. freighthouse on Portland Ave. at Lincoln Ave.