The Northern Pacific Railway, Main Street of the Northwest

The Northern Pacific Railway was the first of the three major Northwestern railroads to begin construction. Unlike many other railroads the Northern Pacific did not change names numerous times throughout its existence and would likewise never acquire numerous other smaller roads to form its system. Perhaps what the railroad is best remembered for is its Ying Yang herald and its distinguished flagship passenger train, the North Coast Limited, which used a beautiful two-tone green livery.

Not only were crews building through some of the roughest terrain in the country but also a region that was literally still frontier lands (the future states of Montana and Washington, for example, were still territories when the railroad was being built) and settlements were few and far between. Supplies usually had to be shipped in from hundreds of miles away and the weather could often be down right brutal. Through it all, however, crews prevailed and by the early 1880s had made tremendous strides.

The project began on July 1, 1884 with the hardest project being the completion of the tunnel under Stampede Pass. Until the tunnel was completed, in its place stood switchbacks to scale mountain summits with torturous grades of occasionally over 5%! The tunnel project began in January of 1886 and took over two years to complete, opening in the late spring of 1888. It took over 300 men to complete the tunnel whose bore was 9,850 long, 22-feet high, and 16-feet wide.

After the Northern Pacific had completed its main lines across the northwest it worked to build numerous branch lines and while overall it remained essentially a direct route between the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest it did stretch out across Minnesota, Washington and other Northwestern states to some extent.

Of course, not surprisingly, the huge costs involved in building such a massive railroad in extremely rugged topography wore heavily on the railroad and it would fall into receivership in 1893 reemerging as the Northern Pacific Railway. It was at this time that the legendary tycoon James J. Hill purchased a controlling interested in the NP along with his other line the Great Northern. He would later gain control of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in the early 20th century after winning a battle for the railroad with Union Pacific.

Being that Hill held such an influence over the three railroads, including the jointly owned Seattle, Portland & Spokane, the Northern Pacific likely was destined to be merged with the other two roads at some point. The railroads tried for decades to merge but were blocked numerous times by the ICC, mostly citing monopoly issues as the reason. It took until 1970 when the ICC finally granted permission to do so (partly because the Milwaukee Road consented after years of trying to block the merger) forming the then Burlington Northern.

The BN itself would last only 25 years before merging with the Santa Fe to become the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (a few years ago the railroad changed its name to simply the BNSF Railway).

Indeed, the Northern Pacific Railway is best remembered for its Ying Yang herald and the North Coast Limited but most importantly it helped to fuel the growth of the western states it served when few communities were settled in that region of the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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For an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the Northern Pacific Railway please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved NP diesel locomotives.

The American Locomotive Company

The Baldwin Locomotive Works

Electro-Motive Corporation/Electro-Motive Division

General Electric

For a more information regarding Northern Pacific Railway steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving NP steam locomotives please click here.

Notable Northern Pacific Railway Passenger Trains

Mainstreeter

North Coast Limited

Alaskan: (Twin Cities - Portland)

(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Northern Pacific in the west to be featured here.)

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