Railroad History

In 1907, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee) Company was granted right of way through the Cedar River Watershed. Many railroad workers lived at the town of Moncton on Rainy Season Lake, but the nearby community of Railroad Camp sprang up as the Milwaukee Road was being laid. Moncton was flooded by the creation of Masonry Dam in 1915, which caused the level of Rainy Season Lake to rise, forming today’s Rattlesnake Lake.

The Moncton railroad depot was renamed "Cedar Falls" in 1912. From the 1910’s to 1940’s, the Cedar Falls Depot supported up to 4 passenger and 8 freight trains a day. In addition to the main line connecting Seattle-Tacoma with Chicago and points east, there was also a branch line through Cedar Falls from Everett to Enumclaw.

The Milwaukee Railroad Company agreed to several restrictions in order to gain access to the watershed. Many train passengers remember that the restrooms were locked during the portion of the trip that went through the watershed, in order to avoid contamination of the water supply via the normal practice of discharging waste directly on the ties and track.

The Milwaukee line discontinued passenger train service through Cedar Falls in 1962. AMTRAK ran passenger trains on the Milwaukee right of way until 1977.