The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1913-02-14
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
IMPRESSIONS GAINED FROM A
VIEW OF FLOURISHING PASCO
AND DESERTED CLIFFS
GL|MPSES FROM A CAR WINDOW
Story Of a Trip Across the State From
Notes Gathered En- Route by
Editor +. M. Dallam

Whenever the trip across the state
Is made by a resident of the Okanogan,
from necessity or instigated by de-
sire for pleasure, it Is usual to follow
the Great Northern route. This choice
is probobly made becaue continuous
route is thus provided, and one es-
capes the annoyance of rechecking
baggage, or chasing around Spokane
from one depot to another to make
connections with other lines. During
the past month, however, the elements
have provided an excuse for breaking
old habits, and in making the trip from
the east to the west side the traveller
has been Influenced by desire to pro-
long life, or at least escape an I'M
Cascades, and, hearing grewsome
stories of snowslides blockades and
divers mishaps tending to throw a
doubt of speedily reaching west side
points, your correspondent elected to
take the Spokane, Portland G. Seattle
line, generally known as the North
Bank" On account of being further
around and more expensive the road
does not appeal to the traveller headed
for Seattle, but not having visited
Portland since the winter of 1SS4-5,
chances through or over the Cascades,
we decided to be extravagant, espe
cially as time is no object to one out
to absorb rest, and selected the North
Bank. And when you have occasion to
make the trip to the coast, and are
neither cramped for time nor means,
a ride over the North Bank will be
found a pleasant and luxurious i'm
provement over some of the transqor-
tation lines more generally patronized.
Splendid Railroad
This road was constructed regard
less Of expense, and certainly meets
T. scans of that stickler over light
Jeems Hill. Of Great Northern
cefss hty. Usually roads are con-
1ructed along lines OF least resis-
tence, for instance the Spokane Falls
& Northern, the starting end Of the
line reaching Oroville, which must
have been laid out by an engineer with
the delirium tremens, as it Is so
crooked that in many places a passen-
ger can stand on the platform of the
rear coach and carry on conversa-
ton with the engineer. Then in the
matter Of grades the train is given an
undulating motion from sliding up and
down hill. 1t is different in the case
Of the North Bank. The road is con-
structed on water grade and many,
many miles of it is as straight as a
plumb line. There are curves, but
they are on majestic lines,a a train
swings away from the straight line
so gradually that one does not notice
the change There was no lodging
physical impediments in the building.
There is much Of the fire-hardened
basaltic formation littering the
country the road traverses, but this
obdurate stone is gouged out by open
cut or short tunenls. 1t presented
obstacle to road building. Then there
are numerous coulees that gridiron
this the land that are crossed by
bridges, trestles, and fills. No OBJ
stacle prevented a straightaway track
when 1t was possible to follow an air
line, and hence the North Bank Is to-
day one of the best built railroads in
the west. The design of the road I'M
doubleday was for freight traffic es-
pecially, as friction resistance is so
slight that single locomotive will
pull long trains over the line. Many
lnterminable,. side tracked freight
trains were passed. Out of curiosity
we counted the cars in one of these
trains, which was not of exceptional
length, and there were IS loaded cars
exclusive of engine and tender Pas
senger traffic seems to be light, for
we shared chair car with one other
passenger from Spokane to Portland
A Cherries Waste
There was certainly nothing in the
general appearance of the country,
or the presence of towns of any size
that invited the construction of such
line as the S. P. & S. railroad 1t
cuts through the most uninteresting
and unproductive portion of eastern
Washington, and the contribution of
local business hardly pays for axle
greese. From the car window the
land, or basaltic surface, presents no
attractions whatsoever. 1t is one
dull, monotonous. unbroken stretch
Of bad lands, with once-in-a-while
desolate looking farm house dottig
the landscape 1t is a treeless water