Great Northern Railway: Mansfield Branch (1909-1985)

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Constructed by the Great Northern Railway (United States) in 1909, the Mansfield Branch Line was completed in just 9 months. Starting from the Columbia River and ending in Mansfield, WA, the 60.62 miles (97.56 km) of track cut through the south portion of the Moses Coulee, snaked up Douglas Creek and made its way across the vast wheat fields of the Waterville, WA Plateau. The train made scheduled stops at Palisades, Alstown, Douglas, Supplee, Withrow, Touhey and Mansfield to drop off/pick up loaded 40’ boxcars of grain from The Waterville Union Grain Co., now Central Washington Grain Growers, Inc.(CWGG).

From the beginning until about the late 1940s, both freight and passenger service both shared the rail, but because of declining sales the passenger train was eventually removed. The Granger unit train still continued to play a major role, but on a lesser scale. The train went from 5 day a week service to down to 2 to 3 days a week service, and eventually to Sunday only in the 70’s and 80’s.

The branch line was rebuilt after the floods of 1938 and 1948. In 1948, the estimated cost of repairs exceeded $1,000,000.00. Several wooden bridge trestles and track had to be repaired in order to keep the train operational. Great Northern Railway’s records show that 49 wooden trestles were built along this stretch the track, the most of any branch line in the United States. Also, one wooden tunnel was constructed near the falls at Douglas Creek, and in 2000 the tunnel collapsed from years of neglect. Today, both ends are closed up with thousands of yards of soil.

The Mansfield branch was one of the last branch lines in the country to still use boxcars to move wheat. This method, by the early 80’s was considered obsolete. New covered hoppers by this time were doing all of the grain hauling and the Mansfield Branch Line was too light to carry these cars. This was due to the fact that the 68 pound rail could not handle the larger hoppers that Burlington Northern had in its inventory. This and the increase of truck transportation led to the demise of the line.

The Great Northern Railway built and maintained ownership of the line from 1909 until 1970. At that time the newly formed Burlington Northern Railway Co. took over the line until 1985. On March 2, 1985, the last train made its run closing 76 years of granger railroading history in Douglas County. The last train consisted of two BN EMD GP39-2 locomotives #2730 & #2738, 40 boxcars and one caboose.

Today, the old abandoned railroad bed makes a great hiking trail with many things to see. As you walk between the massive basalt canyon walls, you can almost picture the sights and sounds of the old Mansfield Branch Train hauling grain off the Waterville Plateau.

1 Maps and Pictures
2 Small towns and stations along the tracks
3 Geography
4 See also

[edit] Maps and Pictures

Old railroad bed in the heart of Douglas Creek. 2006 photo	Old railroad bed and large rock cut where the train used to travel. 2006 photo	Location of bridge #24 along the Mansfield Branch. Only a retaining wall remains today. 2006 photo	Large rock cut the Great Northern Railway crews had to make in 1909. 2007 photo
Waiting train at Alstown, Wa. 1983 photo