Milwaukee photos, walk on bridge set Saturday

A steam engine powers an eastbound Milwaukee Road freight train across Pine Creek and over the highway and two other railroads. Photo courtesy of the private collection of William Tensfeld and Whitman County Library Rural Heritage.

The route of the Milwaukee Railroad across Whitman County will be featured in an historic photographic presentation Saturday, Oct. 14, starting at 1 p.m. in the Rosalia branch of Whitman County Library.

After the photo presentation, railroad historian Mark Borleske of Edmonds will lead a walking tour of the Milwaukee concrete arch bridges south of Rosalia. The bridges were constructed in 1915 to replace wooden trestles built in 1907. They are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The walking tour will begin at 2:15 p.m. from the intersection of Malden Road and the John Wayne Trail which crosses the bridges.

Sturdy walking shoes and sturdy wheels for children’s strollers are recommended.

Borleske, a Union Pacific retiree, has done extensive research on the trail and accompanied the John Wayne Wagon Drivers and Riders on their cross-state travels. He has ridden a mountain bike on some of the tours and also has ridden on one of the wagons.

The presentation at the library will be a power point presentation of historic photos. Most will be from the library’s Rural Heritage Collection.

Borleske also plans to bring along before and after pictures to show during the walk across the John Wayne Bridge.

Construction of the Milwaukee Road across Washington State began in 1906 and was completed in 1909. It was the last of the transcontinental route to reach the Pacific Northwest, and its main line extended across the Dakotas, Montana and Idaho and crossed the width of Whitman County through Tekoa, Rosalia, Malden, Pine City, Rock Lake, Ewan and Revere.

The Milwaukee crossed the Columbia River at Beverly and continued west through Kittitas, Ellensburg and through the Snoqualmie tunnel to the coast.

The Milwaukee for decades, had a crew change point, roundhouse and servicing center at Malden.

In addition to crossing Pine Creek, the arch bridge at Rosalia at one time crossed two other railroads, the Northern Pacific and the Inland Electric Line. The Inland, which later became the Great Northern, went under the Milwaukee in a special squared off section at the west end of the arches.

The Washington & Idaho Railroad now operates on the former Northern Pacific tracks.

Another unique part of the Milwaukee’s history is the deep cut past the east end of the trestle which is spanned by the Highway 195 bridge. The cut was once the site of a Milwaukee tunnel which collapsed.

The Milwaukee filed its third and final bankruptcy in 1977. The route was abandoned in 1980, and the rails were pulled.

The right-of-way was purchased by the State and converted into the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.