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.

The Northern Pacific has its roots dating to the summer of 1864 when President Lincoln signed the railroad’s creation by an Act of Congress and the Northern Pacific Railroad Company was born. Construction on the new company began seven years later in 1870 and would roughly follow the expedition of Lewis and Clark who originally chartered the western territory in the early 19th century.

While crews began building from opposite directions at Lake Superior in the east and Puget Sound in the west it would become some of the toughest railroad to ever construct. 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.

By the late summer of 1883 the main line from Minnesota to Puget Sound, nearly 2,000 miles in length, had been completed and a lavish ceremony marked the occasion. While completed, the line did have future gaps to close in the way of many tunnels that had been put off as the railroad was on a schedule to be finished by no later than 1883. Until the tunnels were completed, in their place stood switchbacks to scale mountain summits with torturous grades of occasionally over 5%!

After the Northern Pacific had completed its main line 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.

Much like the Burlington would do the Northern Pacific looked to improve operations and efficiencies when possible. In the 1920s it began signaling its entire main line and was one of the first Class Is to embrace radio technology to improve communications. Surprisingly, though, the railroad would not fully dieselize its locomotive fleet until nearly 1960 although like most railroads it began to make the switch soon after the diesel’s superior performance was proven.

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.

Notable Northern Pacific Railway Passenger Trains

North Coast Limited

Alaskan: (Twin Cities - Portland)

Mainstreeter: Connected Chicago and Seattle/Portland via ally Chicago Burlington & Quincy.

For more on the NP you might want to consider the book Northern Pacific Railway Photo Archive by John Kelly. The author gives a superb pictorial history of the railroad from the 1930s through the 1960s and features both freight and passenger operations If you have any kind of an interest in the Northern Pacific you are sure to enjoy Sullivan's book.

Also, consider the book The Vista-Dome North Coast Limited: The Story of the Northern Pacific Railway's Famous Domeliner by author William Kuebler, Jr. The book is over 300 pages and highlights the Northern Pacific's passenger operations, particularly its famous North Coast Limited flagship train.