Didrik Voss' "Everett & Monte Cristo Railway"

All photographs by Keith Thompson

The first mining claims in and around Monte Cristo were struck during the summer of 1889.  All the signs were present for what the early prospectors thought were untold riches in gold and silver.  The initial assays were promising and the area soon attracted major investors from "The East".

In order to transport ore, from the mines around Monte Cristo to the proposed smelter in Everett, a railroad needed to be built.  Against the recommendations of  their own engineers, the syndicate controlling the mining district insisted that the railroad be built through the Stillaguamish Canyon in order to save money and have a more direct route between the mining district a the Everett smelter.  This decision ultimately cost the builders many times their original investment as the river repeatedly washed out the railroad for extended periods of time.

 On September 6, 1893 the first scheduled passenger train arrived in Monte Cristo.  After five years of development, the first carload of ore left the concentration plant at Monte Cristo bound for Everett on August 26, 1894.

After a brief period of prosperity, disaster struck the railroad and the mining district when the flood of 1897 wiped out 5 miles of track, destroyed bridges and blocked tunnels.  Trains did not return to Monte Cristo until the summer of 1900.

By 1904 hard times returned to the mining district and by 1908 only two scheduled trains a month made it into Monte Cristo.  Their was no rail service to Monte Cristo in 1909 and regular service did not return until 1913 when the Northern Pacific turned the line over to local lumber interests who renamed the railroad the Hartford & Eastern.  The Northern Pacific had purchased the Everett & Monte Cristo in 1902.

During the summer of 1914 activity again increased in the mining district and the first scheduled passenger train in over six years arrived in Monte Cristo.  This activity was short lived and by the end of the year all regular train service to Monte Cristo came to an end.

There was some limited activity in the mining district up through the summer of 1920 but a snow slide that winter bought an end to the last attempt at productive mining in and around Monte Cristo.

After 1920 the area around Monte Cristo developed into an alpine resort.  Motor car service lasted until 1933.

Didrik Voss' version of this fascinating railroad occupies the better part of his basement.  Lucky for us, he models the railroad during one of those brief periods of prosperity, around the turn of the century, when times were good and traffic was heavy.

 Scenery along the Stillaguamish River is spectacular.  When the railroad was built, the potential for flooding was underestimated and the railroad suffered extensive damage when high water raged through the canyons.   Passengers    aboard the daily train to Monte Cristo are scheduled to arrive    at 1:00 p.m.