"According to legend, a trapdoor somewhere under the carpet drops to train tracks below." Yeah, right. The Great Northern tunnel is well to the west of here, and it is extremely unlikely that it opens to any buildings above; it would be structurally unsound, and we know the tunnel has no ventilation anywhere along the route.
I'm guessing this legend was borrowed wholesale from another city which has legends about trap doors in bars, like Portland (where they supposedly dropped you into a basement from where you were press-ganged you into service on ships) or New York (where Bowery bars supposedly robbed you in those basements). I think the latter might be true, but despite every Portlandian believing the former to be true I've never seen any real proof. Seattle? Train tracks? Nuh-uh.
I read in some Seattle history book that in the gold rush days the prostitutes used to work out of little houses over the tide flats that had trap doors in them that the girls would use to dispose of guys. They also used to drop flower pots on their heads as they walked down the street.
Thankfully, Lou Graham came along and got everything straightened out.
I'm guessing this legend was borrowed wholesale from another city which has legends about trap doors in bars, like Portland (where they supposedly dropped you into a basement from where you were press-ganged you into service on ships) or New York (where Bowery bars supposedly robbed you in those basements). I think the latter might be true, but despite every Portlandian believing the former to be true I've never seen any real proof. Seattle? Train tracks? Nuh-uh.
Thankfully, Lou Graham came along and got everything straightened out.