Library jewels contender #2: Stampede Pass railroad map
(Maps courtesy of Washington State Library) Before automobiles and highways came along, trains were the predominant mode of long-distance travel in Washington and beyond. But the rugged Cascades were a barrier preventing a direct rail route connecting Puget Sound to the rest of the U.S. That changed with one of the most arduous construction projects ever completed in Washington – the building of the Northern Pacific’s route through Stampede Pass, the first of three rail crossings over the mountain range…