By George Chambers
Now with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land back open after being closed for Covid-19, I got in a hike to the February 23, 1925 log train wreck site on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah. When the over loaded train ran out of air for its brakes and jumped the tracks near Holder Creek, the 3-truck Climax locomotive, flat cars carrying rail, a passenger car and the Clyde track laying machine went off the rails. Some car parts, wheels and the Clyde track laying machine are still there after 95 years.
I began my hike to the wreck site from the DNR Tiger Summit Trailhead parking lot off Highway 18. The first part of the hike is on the Iverson Railroad Trail which goes 1.5 miles to meet the DNR West Side Road. About half of this trail is on an old logging railroad grade. Any bridges at creek crossings are long gone. I then hiked west on the DNR West Side Road for 0.3 miles to the junction with the Tiger Mountain Trail. I turned right and headed north on the TMT to Zeig’s Zag. This is at a switchback on the old W&I logging railroad grade. I continued north a short distance on the Artifacts Trail to the train wreck site. You can see some wheels, car parts and the remains of the Clyde track laying machine. It is a six mile round trip hike to the wreck site to see the artifacts.
Wheels at the log train wreck site 
Wheels and car parts 
Remains of the Clyde track laying machine 
Another view of the Clyde track laying machine
I have been to the site several times. There are many other old logging railroad grades to hike on in the Tiger Mountain State Forest. DNR uses some of them for trails. I have hiked them all. Note: you need a Discover Pass for your car to park at the trailhead.
A good book to read and has photos of the log train wreck is, “Wood & Iverson: Loggers of Tiger Mountain”, by the late Ken Schmelzer.
George
George,
Thanks for sharing this. I have hiked on Tiger Mountain a few times, but I never knew this site existed. Now I have a new place to check out when I am on the mountain again.
Hi, George, fortunately, for these old legs, we were on horseback the first time we visited this site. Got a ride up and a ride back down. Sometimes it’s a good thing to have a spouse with her own hobby (trail riding)! Actually Mary Sabol had a really great nose for sniffing out old grades. She found trestle remains on the old Monte Cristo line no one else could find. Didn’t know any of this when l proposed 49 years ago, but it didn’t hurt. Jim here.
Hmmm, I would have thought that the driveline gearing mechanism of the Climax would have acted to slow down the train. Must have been a sharp curve, steep grade, or a combination.