[Sidenote: Engineering details of the new route.]
The proposed line will leave the West Coast Branch at a point six miles
south of Snohomish City, running east, crossing the Snohomish River on
drawbridge at the junction of the Snoqualmie and Skykomish rivers:
thence up the right bank of Skykomish on a 1 per cent. (52.8 feet per
mile) grade, a distance of forty miles from point of beginning.
Thirty-five miles of 2 per cent. (105.6 feet per mile) grade carries the
line to Cady's Pass and mouth of tunnel. The tunnel will be 3,500 feet
long, in granite rock; probably little or no lining will be necessary.
Descending to the east by a 2 per cent. grade, following the Wenatchie
River, a distance of twenty miles. Descending and level grades alternate
for the next twenty-five miles, where 1,000 feet of tunneling will be
required in the divide between the Wenatchie and Chumstick rivers. This
tunnel saves eight miles of distance in the following eighteen miles,
and avoids entering the box cañon of the Wenatchie, a difficult and
expensive piece of work.
The development in the Chumstick valley is especially easy. Thence into
the Wenatchie valley again, on a 1 per cent. grade, a distance of
twenty-seven miles, to the mouth of the Wenatchie River.
A summary of the distances and grades shows a very prettily balanced
scheme for operating cheaply and effectively.