To Tacoma by Trolley - The Puget Sound Electric Railway

Published by Pacific Fast Mail - Copyright 1995

ISBN: 0-915713-29-2

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To Tacoma by Trolley, The Puget Sound Electric Railway is Warren Wings delightful follow-up to his first book on Northwest traction, To Seattle by Trolley.

Through144 pages, over 200 photos, plus maps Mr. Wing tells the fascinating story of this unique interurban line. Originally called the Seattle-Tacoma Interurban in1902 (the name was changed to The Puget Sound Electric soon after) it was such an engineering marvel and so well built that it was featured in several street railway trade journals. While most interurban railways used overhead wire for transmission, PSE used outside third rail in the country, switching to overhead in the cities. The railroad also featured a modern semaphore signaling system installed by General Railway Signal Company in 1914.

In conjunction with the Everett line and the Bellingham section, PSE was to be part of Stone & Websters scheme for an "interurban empire"stretching from the Canadian border to Portland, Oregon. World War 1 and competition from autos put a stop to this ambitious plan. By the 1930's PSE was just a memory.