The general offices of the Puget Sound Electric Railway, operating
fifty-three miles of standard gauge electric railway, are at TACOMA.
The main line extends from TACOMA to Seattle, with a branch to Renton,
twelve miles from Seattle, and an extensive logging road from Edgewood,
near TACOMA, through the timber country towards Brown’s Point. This
is pronounced to be one of the finest equipped, best constructed and
operated electric railways in the country. Thirty-four trains arrive
or leave TACOMA daily between six o’clock A. M. and midnight. The road
has been in operation about two years and is aiding materially in the
settlement and development of the rich Puyallup and White River Valleys
between TACOMA and Seattle.
The Tacoma Railway & Power Company operates 85¼ miles of city and
suburban electric and cable railways at TACOMA. Lines are operated
to Puyallup, 16 miles; to Spanaway, 14 miles, and Steilacoom, 13
miles distant, bringing these towns into close touch with TACOMA,
and facilitating the growth of the city’s suburbs. About 400 men are
regularly employed as trainmen, trackmen, in the shops and general
offices. The increase in the number of passengers carried during the past
year is not less than 5,000 per day.