Iron Goat Trail: Martin Creek

Collapsed snowshed ruins near Martin Creek in 2000.

There is another trailhead at Martin Creek at milepost 1717.43. This was the first trailhead for the trail when it was dedicated and opened on October 2, 1993. The dedication plaques for the Iron Goat Trail are located here. The official trail plaque reads as follows:

IRON GOAT TRAIL NO 1074
OCTOBER 2, 1993

DEDICATED TO:
THOSE WHO TOILED 100 YEARS APART BUILDING A TRANSPORTATION
ROUTE THROUGH THIS PORTION OF THE MIGHTY CASCADE MOUNTAIN RANGE

IRON GOAT TRAIL PLANNED,
CONSTRUCTED & MAINTAINED
IN PARTNERSHIP
MT. BAKER-SNOQUALAMIE NATIONAL FOREST (USFS)
VOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR WASHINGTON (VOW)
SUPPORTERS
HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS WORKING THOUSANDS
OF HOURS MULTITUDES OF OTHER
INDIVIDUALS & ORGANIZATIONS

Iron Goat Trail dedication plaque in 1998.

Also at the Martin Creek Trailhead is a plaque from the American Society of Civil Engineers, dedicating the area a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It reads:

NATIONAL HISTORIC
CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK

AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF
CIVIL
ENGINEERS
FOUNDED
1852

STEVENS PASS
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY
RAILROAD AND SWITCHBACKS 1893
TUNNELS 1900 AND 1929
DEDICATED 1993

Stevens Pass Landmark Plaque in 1998.

Just past this trailhead, the railroad started onto a 768-foot trestle (Bridge #401) 157 feet over Martin Creek and then entered the 1,600-foot horseshoe-shaped Martin Creek Tunnel (Tunnel #15), which made a 170-degree turn. Milepost 1717 is inside the tunnel. Emerging from the tunnel, the train would be traveling in the opposite direction (by the compass) and on another 318-foot trestle (Bridge #400) nearly parallel to the first and only 65 feet above the creek, but at an elevation about one hundred feet higher than the previous trestle. At this point, an engineer could look down at the other trestle and see the rear end of his own train entering the other end of the tunnel. After this line was abandoned in 1929, the trestles were dismantled to salvage the steel from them. The tunnel is rumored to have been used for explosive testing by the U.S. Government, and is at any rate largely collapsed today.

Historical Photos:
Train on Lower Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1895 (WSHS)Trestle at west portal, Martin Creek tunnel, c.1908 (WSHS)
Freight Train on the Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1928 (UW)
Freight Train on the Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1928 (UW)
Passenger Train on Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1928 (UW)
Electrics on the Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1928 (UW)
Electrics on the Martin Creek Trestle, circa 1928 (UW)

Collapsed snowshed ruins near Martin Creek in 1998.

A .11-mile crossover trail at Martin Creek connects the lower grade at milepost 1717.58 and the upper grade at milepost 1716.40. This crossover trail was used by railroad workers during the railroad's construction to haul materials to the upper grade, and then again during the salvage operations of 1929 to haul materials back down. Following this crossover leads you to the upper grade near where the other trestle once ended, and the upper grade can be followed east from here.

Collapsed snowshed ruins near Martin Creek in 1998.

When the rail line was abandoned in 1929, the wooden snowsheds abandoned in place. The remains of these collapsed snowsheds can still be seen.

View toward Martin Creek from the upper grade in 1998.

This view from the end of the upper grade at Martin Creek shows where the Martin Creek trestles would have been. The horseshoe tunnel would be inside the mountainside across the valley, but is completely hidden in the trees.

Continue to Tunnel #14…