The 1910 Great Northern Railway Disaster
In the late winter of 1910, a relentless blizzard trapped two Great Northern Railway trains, bound from Spokane to Seattle, in the rugged Cascade Mountains. Six days of frantic efforts to reach the passengers and crews failed. Early in the morning on March first, an avalanche one-half mile wide and fifteen feet deep crashed down from the mountainside during a thunderstorm. It swept the trains off the tracks, killing 96 people. This documentary recounts America’s worst avalanche disaster.
As part of our fundraising campaign, a collector’s edition movie poster has been created by railroad & landscape artist, J. Craig Thorpe. A limited run of 100 signed and numbered prints are now available. High-quality lithograph unsigned prints are also available now.
The documentary script is being written by Malcolm Keithley with the assistance of Deborah Cuyle and Kevin Weiderstrom. It is based on Gary Krist’s The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche. Additional research by Deborah Cuyle’s The 1910 Wellington Disaster, and other historians and writers.
Our script is based on the books by authors Martin Burwash and Gary Krist
The Abraham Lincoln Executive Pullman - America's Oldest Operating Car
In 1910, following the Wellington Disaster, Todd Lincoln ordered the huge plants in the City of Pullman, Illinois, to cease production of wooden cars and within months switched from there small wood trussed cars to 90 tons of riveted steel approaching 80 feet in length. To carry the excessive weight safely, the perilous wood and and iron trucks were replaced with massive cast steel six wheel trucks.
We estimate the cost of the production will be typical of the industry standard for this type of documentary. The single most variable element is animation. Accounting is being provided by Bob Alkire, Treasurer of the Great Northern & Cascade Railway Association in Skykomish, Wa.
We will submit the documentary to National Geographic and Discovery Channel, the History Channel and other broadcasters. We expect to distribute with House of Film to domestic and foreign markets. Mackin Educational Resources will distribute to schools domestically. We will also produce an interactive eBook that will be distributed by Mackin Educational Resources.