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THE EMPIRE BUILDER

F o r e w o r d

Nearly two generations ago the giant of western railroading--JamesJ. Hill--began his march across the forbidding northern wilderness thenseparating the railhead at Havre, Montana, and the frontier fur tradingpost which had become Spokane.

Although Hill's sights were set for Puget Sound, the building of theGreat Northern Railway was to shape the destiny of an empire. As therails advanced westward, towns were spawned almost overnight. Somewithered as the construction forces moved on; most prospered as the empireprospered, became centers of agriculture, of lumbering, of mining andother endeavor which rail transportation made possible.

In many instances the railroad itself continued to be the principalsustenance of a community which traced its genesis to the constructionperiod. This was singularly true of HiIlyard, Washington . . .

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The herculean task of breaching the backbone of the continent with blasting powder, pickaxeand mule team was begun in 1890. I n one amazing year--1892--the ra i l s were thrust 225 miles intoSpokane f rom the east and another 244 miles westward to the crest of the Cascades.

A focal point of this eruptive act iv i ty was the Spokane Mater ia l Yard, a supply center actuallylocated about five mi les east of the l i t t le town by Spokane Fal ls . Known colloquial ly as "Wi ld HorsePra i r ie , " the spot had been re fer red to as ear ly as 1825 as 'Horse Plains" by John Work of the Hud-son's Bay Company.

Here, on October 25, 1892, Leland D. and Kate C. Westfal l platted the independent town ofHi l lyard, honoring the man whose fabulous ra i l road, bui l t without land grant or government aid,would l ink St. Paul and Seattle less than three months la ter.

With the completion of J im H i l l ' s transcontinental l ine on January 6, 1893, came word thatHi l l yard had been selected as the site of terminal faci l i t ies. T h u s the die was cast fo r the embryocommunity at the junction of Great Northern's Spokane and Kal ispel l divisions. Construct ion thatyear included a 20-stal l b r ick engine house with 60-foot turntable, a 10-pocket coal chute, a150x160-foot br ick machine shop, a 40x100-foot br ick storehouse, a 90x300-foot br ick car repai rshop, a 55x152-foot br ick paint shop, a 16x30-foot frame depot and other smal l f rame buildings.

From this modest beginning grew the largest ra i l road shops west of St. Paul. A n d f rom i t ,too, grew Hi l lyard. A s ear ly as 1900 the Reverend Jonathan Edwards, in his authoritative "His toryof Spokane County," observed:

"As an evidence of the sanguine expectations when the town was platted out, we f ind that asufficient number of lots were surveyed for a population of at least 5,000. Though such expecta-tions have not yet been realized, nevertheless i t has already assumed important proportions,especially f rom the industr ia l standpoint. T h e Great Northern Railroad's machine shops arelocated here. T h e y are the most important and completely equipped shops between St. Paul and thecoast and capable of turning out f i rs t -c lass work . T h e r e is every reason to believe that the plantw i l l be extended, which is a guarantee of the future development and prosperi ty of the town."

Apparently growth also brought respectabil i ty to Hi l lyard, fo r the Reverend Mr. Edwardsnoted that " there was a t ime when i t had the reputation of being rather lawless, having as many assix unlicensed saloons."

Shop and roundhouse forces in 1900 numbered nearly 230. Ano the r 110 enginemen andtrainmen, plus an undetermined number of t rack laborers, raised Hi l lyard 's ra i l road population towell over 300.

The year 1907 brought incorporation to Hi I lyard, although the yard and shops remained out-side the corporate l im i ts , as they do now, in Mead township. O f far greater consequence, however,was the opening in 1912 of Great Northern's massive new overhaul and maintenance shop for loco-motives. B u i l t at an estimated cost of three-quarters of a mi l l ion dol lars, the new shop was fu l lyequipped for the repa i r and rebuilding of 200 locomotives a year. O t h e r faci l i t ies at HiI lyard pro-vided s im i la r service annually for 30,000 freight cars, 400 coaches and 500 cabooses. T h e autho-rized working force in the shops rose to 642 men.

Completion of the new locomotive shop not only fu l f i l led the Reverend Mr. Edwards' p ro -phesy, but paved the way, some 15 years la ter, f o r what was probably the most spectacular phaseof the Hi l l yard saga. Meanwhi le , on September 24, 1924, the independent town of Hi I lyard becamea part of Spokane, the annexation giving Spokane s l ight ly under one square mi le of new te r r i to ryand 4,500 new ci t izens--vindicat ing the "sanguine expectations" of Leland and Kate Westfall.

The "golden era" of the Hi I lyard steam locomotive shop was precipitated quite unexpectedlyin 1927, when Ralph Budd, then president of the Great Northern, announced plans to acquire a fleetof f re ight locomotives powerful enough to haul 5,000 tons over the Rockies. T h i s called for a loco-motive bigger than any yet bui l t , and i t was generally assumed that the order would go to one of thetwo ma jo r locomotive works on the East coast.

However, they had a different idea out at Hi I lyard, where Alex Colvi l le, a self-taught Scotchimmigrant boy, was now general foreman, with J. M. Hurley as his shop superintendent. WhenPresident Budd came to Spokane a short t ime la ter, Colv i l le and Hurley convinced him that HiI lyardnot only could build the new locomotives but that they could save the ra i l road $100,000 in the p r o -cess. T h e y won the order- -and in so doing diverted a sizable payrol l f rom the eastern manufact-ing centers to Spokane.

Colvi l le, who re t i red less than a year ago as general superintendent of motive power, a f ter55 years of rai l roading, recal ls with a chuckle the audacity of the H i l lyard crew. " A t the t ime," hesays, "no locomotive had ever been bui l t west of the Mississippi. A s a matter of fact, no enginehad yet been bui l t completely new in any American ra i l road shop. A n d to te l l the truth, none of usat H i I lyard had even been inside a locomotive works."

However, the prospect of constructing the largest locomotive in the world at Halyard wasn'tas preposterous as i t perhaps seemed. A highly-ski l led work force already was performing most ofthe essential functions of building in thei r routine overhaul act iv i ty. T h i s was expressed withtongue-only-sl ightly-in-cheek by a Spokesman-Review reporter when he wrote:

"The locomotive came in to be rebui l t , so they rebui l t i t . A l l they had to do was to l i f t offthe boi ler, give i t new crown sheets, side sheets, f lues, smokebox, steam dome, a i r pump, feedpipes, in jectors, throt t le, sand dome, bel l , waterglass, steam gage, jacket, whist le, f i rebox, ash-dump, coal shovel, smokestack, headlight, number plate, dr inking cup, cab, cobpipe, furnace andother appu r tenances . "

The f i r s t o f the new steam giants, No. 2034, was begun on October 4, 1927. I t s boi ler wasfabricated in Seattle and patented parts were shipped in f rom other points, but assembly was doneentirely at Hi I lyard. A month and a half la ter, on November 21--a proud day in Hi l lyard-- the g l i s -tening behemeth was ro l led out of the shop for i ts test run.

Designated a Class R-1 engine by the Great Northern, No. 2034 was better known as aMallet, an art iculated type (two engines under one boi ler) locomotive whose massive prof i le andthundering power make i t one of the th r i l l ing classics of the steam age.

With i ts tender, the 2034 had an over -a l l length of 108 feet, 9 3 / 4 inches. Whee l arrange-ment was 2-8-8-2 (an engine t ruck, 16 dr ivers and a t ra i le r ) . We igh t on dr ivers was 555,000pounds. To t a l weight of engine and tender was 945,720 pounds.

In 1927-28, 10 of the Class R-1 Mal lets ro l led majestical ly out of the Hi I lyard locomotiveshop--one every 30 days at the peak of production. T h e work force was increased to nearly 800,and sp i r i t in the shops and in the community was at high pitch.

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The fol lowing year an even larger and more powerful Mallet, the Class R-2, went into pro-duction at Hi l lyard. O v e r - a l l length was increased to 119 feet, 11 1 / 4 inches; weight on dr iverswas 592,000 pounds; total weight of the engine and tender went up to 1,059,220 pounds; and tract iveeffort was increased proportionately. Sixteen of these giants, Nos. 2044 through 2059, were con-structed in 1929-30.

Although the construction period ended with the R-2, the Hi l lyard shops continued to hum asa major overhaul and rebuilding faci l i ty r ight through World War II , when the performance of thesteam locomotive was a decisive factor in the tremendous record of service achieved by Americanrailroads.

However, wi th the advent of the diesel "revolut ion" in the mid-40's i t looked as i f Hi l lyard 'slong period of usefulness as a ranking locomotive center might be drawing to a close. A l l steampower repairs for locomotives west of Minot, N.D. to Bieber, Cal i fornia were concentrated there,but activity in this f ie ld dwindled as more and more diesel-electr ics were added to Great Northern'smotive power fleet. F i n a l l y, in December, 1953, the last of the steamers in storage at Hi l lyardwere sent east to other divisions. I t was the end of an era.

True, an increasing amount of diesel repair work was being handled at Hi l lyard, but the oldsteam faci l i t ies were inadequate for a large scale operation. M o s t of the heavy diesel maintenancewas going to Great Northern's new shops at Havre during the transit ion f rom steam.

However, as dieselization of the ra i lway progressed i t became apparent that additional fac i -l i t ies fo r heavy overhaul would be required at a more westerly point. Then , in ear ly 1954, came anannouncement f rom another Budd, this t ime John M., now president of the Great Northern and one-time trainmaster at Spokane: Cont rac ts had been let, said M r. Budd, fo r a $675,000 modernizationprogram at the Hi l lyard shops. W o r k was to proceed immediately and when completed would giveSpokane the ra i lway's largest and most complete diesel locomotive repai r and overhaul faci l i t ieswest of the Rockies.

I t is par t icu lar ly appropriate that the opening of the new diesel shop this week should be anoccasion for community celebration, as H i l l yard and the Great Northern Railway commemorate 62years of working and l iv ing together in close harmony. T h e businessmen's luncheon and formaldedication on November 19, and the "open house" on November 20, are planned and conducted underthe auspices of the Hi l l yard Commercial Club.

Guests these two days w i l l see a glistening, modern locomotive shop which almost l i te ra l lyrose f rom the dust of the steam shop of 1912. I n a start l ing ut i l izat ion of an old building, every-thing is new with the exception of the shell .

Replacing the old steam locomotive pits are four depressed tracks of 155-pound ra i l ,carr ied above f loor level on pedestals and served by raised platforms, faci l i tat ing work at twolevels. Ano the r three tracks serve a 16-foot pi t where a 100-ton drop table permits the replace-ment of diesel locomotive trucks in a matter of two hours o r less.

Also included in the completely renovated 40,000-square-foot area are lunch room, lockerroom, shower and toi let faci l i t ies fo r shop men and an office f o r the assistant shop superintendent.

Venti lat ing ducts under the platforms assure a constant supply of fresh a i r, wi th flourescent i l l u m i -nation also contributing to more pleasant working conditions.

The locomotive shop has played so color fu l a role in the history of Hi I lyard that other opera-tions in the sprawling plant often are overlooked. V i s i t o r s at the dedication and open house w i l l seetwo other important areas, the machine shop, at the east end of the locomotive shop, and the woodmi l l , where f re ight cars are rebui l t and repaired. A c t u a l l y, however, there are 20 separate bu i l -dings, embracing a multitude of act ivi t ies, in the shop area east of Great Northern's main l ine.The big HiI lyard storehouse alone houses a $2,000,000 inventory. H e r e also is the ra i lway's powerplant, where i t generates i ts own e lect r ic i ty, and a 220-foot wel l which supplies a l l of i ts waterneeds.

West of the main l ine is the ra i lway's new $75,000 yard office, nerve center of the vastradio-control led Hi I lyard switchyard, where an average of 2,400 freight cars are handled every 24hours. Ad jacen t to the imposing concrete yard off ice, wi th i ts lofty glassed-in control tower, i sthe Hi I lyard depot and agent's off ice.

A l l told, working in and out of Hi I lyard today-- in the shops and storehouse, in the offices, i nthe yard and in t ra in and engine serv ice- -are 1,313 Great Northern employes. T h e annual wage b i l lat Hi I lyard is $6,314,984--st i l l one of booming Spokane's most important industr ia l payrol ls.

Of the 26 aging Mallets " that made Hi I lyard famous," most are on standby, ready for assign-ment. O n l y one, the 2045, has been scrapped. I t is unl ikely, however, that any w i l l ever seeregular service again.

HiI lyard, understandably, w i l l look back on the steam age with nostalgia so long as the menwho bui l t the wor ld 's largest locomotives are there to boast about i t . B u t this week the ra i l roadand the community are rea l ly celebrating the future. A n d no crysta l bal l is needed to see in i t . . .the d iesel-e lectr ic locomotive.

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EAST B O U N D M A N I F E S T F R E I G H T T R A I N C R O S S I N G S P O K A N E R I V E R