The H & H Railroad, also known as Hall & Hall, Stanwood Street Railway or colloquially Dinky, was a short street railway in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It ran over a 1 mile (1.6 km) long track from East Stanwood to Stanwood in the early 20th century.[2] It was proclaimed "the shortest railroad in the world".[3]
| H & H Railroad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Stanwood Street Railway – Livery in Connection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | October 25, 1904[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 1 mi (1.6 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Route edit
The short, one-mile-long (1.6 km) rail line connected the newly built Stanwood depot on the Great Northern Railway with downtown Stanwood.[4] The railroad tracks ran along 271st Street from 102nd Avenue to the depot in East Stanwood on the south side of the street, roughly where the sidewalks are today.[5] It was nicknamed "Dinky" for its small size.[6]
History edit
Stanwood was settled in the 1870s and in 1891 received its first station on the Seattle and Montana Railroad, which later merged into the Great Northern Railway.[7][8] The station was located in the less flood-prone area one mile (1.6 km) east of the town, which was on the bank of the Stillaguamish River. A new railway was constructed between the depot and Stanwood in 1904 by local businessman John W. Hall.[1][9]
The railway was operated by John W. Hall (1870–1931), his wife Alice and later their son Jesse.[2] He ordered a crew to demolish one corner of his stable on Market Street and Saratoga Street to lay the tracks of the H & H Railroad to East Stanwood. From 1904, the "Dinky" transported passengers and cargo between the town and depot.[5]
HC Anderson (1865–1914) was the main investor and the Stanwood Lumber Company initially the main client of the railway. Occasionally, it was used by children on the way to and from school. By the 1920s, passenger service was eliminated due to competition from automobiles. The railroad ceased operations in 1938 because of the low traffic and the completion of new highways between the two towns.[9][10][11]
The H & H was famous for being "the shortest railroad in the world".[12] In 1932 this fact was featured in the syndicated cartoon Strange as It Seems.[13]
References edit
- ^ a b Whitfield, William, ed. (1926). History of Snohomish County. Vol. I. Seattle: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company. pp. 505, 509.
- ^ a b Prasse, Karen (April 5, 2008). "Stanwood — Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ Essex, Alice (1971). The Stanwood Story, Volume I. Stanwood Camano News. pp. 25–26, 62, 92–93. OCLC 36113496.
- ^ "Stanwood News". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. December 12, 1905. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- ^ a b Schmidt, Carol (July 4, 2017). "News Files: Shortest steam train ran a mile in 1907". Stanwood Camano News. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ Welch, Doug (January 3, 1938). "Huff and a Puff! That's About All — Engine Heading for Last Roundup". Seattle Post–Intelligencer. p. 9.
- ^ Prasse, Karen (September 13, 2008). "Railroad between Seattle and British Columbia is completed near Stanwood on October 12, 1891". HistoryLink. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Rocks For Roadbed". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. October 15, 1891. p. 5. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Stanwood Station Project" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. May 2006. p. 1–1. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Twin Cities: Stanwood and East Stanwood". Rotogravure Section. The Seattle Times. October 30, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). The WPA Guide to Washington: The Evergreen State. American Guide Series. Works Progress Administration. pp. 476–477. ISBN 9781595342454. OCLC 881468746. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Shortest Railroad Is Used to Melt Ice". The Bellingham Herald. February 23, 1932. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Hix, John (February 7, 1932). "Strange As It Seems". The Birmingham News–Age Herald. Retrieved April 17, 2023.