100 years ago near Snoqualmie Pass: Milwaukee Road train trapped in tunnel by ‘violent’ snow storm

Passengers on a Milwaukee Road train spent a cold and frightening two days trapped in a tunnel at Snoqualmie Pass.

“We were fortunate to get into the tunnel before the storm, which was one of the most violent in my memory,” said passenger R.M. Webster, a Spokane superior court judge. “Had it remained outside, the train would have been covered by drifting snow and possibly slides.”

A snow slide, just west of the tunnel, was the reason that the train was trapped so long in the tunnel. It brought down “huge boulders, which mashed the railroad tracks.”

The Milwaukee brought in its massive rotary snow plow to clear the tracks, but the boulders complicated the problem.

“The plow went off the track and hours were consumed in getting it back,” said Webster.

The train cars lost their heating capacity during the first night in the tunnel.

“The observation car was an ice house, but a passenger had a phonograph and the others sat around in coats and wraps listening to the music,” Webster said.

Some passengers tried to keep warm by “keeping in action, difficult in the limited quarters.” Others stayed in bed with as many covers as possible.

Among the passengers was Peggy Hopkins Joyce, a stage and movie actress. She was a household name in 1923 for her risqué reputation and her penchant for marrying millionaires.

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