Puget Sound Shore Railroad Puget Sound Shore Railroad The Puget Sound Shore Railroad and successor Northern Pacific and Puget Sound Shore Railroad built a branch line of the Northern Pacific Railroad between Puyallup and Seattle, Washington, U.S., and partially constructed a line around the east side of Lake Washington to Woodinville. After Congress chartered the Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) in 1864, the communities along Puget Sound competed to be its Pacific terminus. Tacoma, about south of Seattle, became the winner in July 1873, when the NP, then building north from Portland, selected it. Seattle businessmen immediately incorporated the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad and
Puget Sound sea urchins, and sand dollars. Dungeness crabs ("Metacarcinus magister") occur throughout Washington waters, including Puget Sound. Many bivalves occur in Puget Sound, such as Pacific oysters ("Crassostrea gigas") and geoduck clams ("Panopea generosa"). The Olympia oyster ("Ostreola conchaphila"), once common in Puget Sound, was depleted by human activities during the 20th century. There are ongoing efforts to restore Olympia oysters in Puget Sound. There are many seabird species of Puget Sound. Among these are grebes such as the western grebe ("Aechmophorus occidentalis"); loons such as the common loon ("Gavia immer"); auks such as the pigeon guillemot ("Cepphus columba"), rhinoceros auklet