The
Milwaukee prided itself on being "America's Resourceful Railroad.
When it constructed its "transcontinental line (one of the last such rail
connections in America), the operating costs through the mountains were simply
too high for a "newcomer." To lower costs, management decided to
implement a new electric system -- the first large-scale application of
electrification on the "high-irons" of a US railroad.
The Rocky Mountain Division was electrified first, between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho, across the Bitterroot Mountains (1917). Electrification of the Coast Division mainline between Tacoma and Othello was completed in 1919. After the transcontinental line was built, the Milwaukee Road was always on the brink of greatness and the edge of financial collapse -- there was no money to electrify "The Gap" between Othello and Avery. This increased operating costs and, with dieselization, diminished the use of electric locomotives on the rest of the Coast Division. Here we see a SD9 leading "hot" freight 263 through the gap. In all likelihood, it will continue to the coast without the use of election traction.
