Updated November 17, 2024
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Union Pacific publicity photo at
Celilo Falls, Ore. April, 1940. A Native American, Jimmy
George, is handing a salmon to the engineer Tom Rumgay (window removed
and stick inside salmon to enhance the photo)
On the left in front of the "City of Portland" M10002 "Tin
Worm" Streamliner is Wyam Chief Tommy
Thompson (Celilo Village), his son Henry Thompson, daughter Ida Thompson
and wife Flora Thompson. Photo from the Confluence Project. Photo
courtesy of Vintage Roadside and Historicphotoarchive.Net. Special
thanks to Jeff Kunkle. This
articulated streamliner introduced in 1935 and replaced in 1939 by a
train streamliner operating between Chicago and the west coast. It was
built by the Winton Division of General Motors Corp. It was brought out
of retirement for this photo and later operated as a nine-passenger car
set between Portland and Seattle in 1942. Taken out of service and used
for testing a coal-fired gas turbine engine until scrapped in 1947. Photo by Everett Olmstead,
first published in the Oregon Journal, May 12, 1940. |
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Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Olympian Passenger train with
Mount Rainier, 1947. Each unit is a 2,000-horse Fairbanks Morse streamlined diesel locomotive built
by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania. This is part of the
"Pacific" reference to the Chicago,
Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific Railroad name. The lead locomotive is one of 14 "A" units
produced for Milwaukee Road but discontinued a couple years later
because of high production and maintenance costs. This train ran between
Minneapolis-St Paul, and across the country to Seattle and Tacoma. It
never was a profitable passenger train and was discontinued in 1961. (By permission of
Milwaukee Public Library.) |
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SP&S Challenger 910 Z-8 Alco 4-6-6-4 at
Wishram. This locomotive burned oil unlike similar Northern Pacific
Challengers. This photo was in my Dad's office for
many years and he may be pictured. This locomotive was built in 1944.
All SP&S Challengers were scrapped in 1960. (From the Stanton Ganders
Estate.) An MTH model of this locomotive is in Larry's model train
collection. |
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Love this 1926 Asahel Curtis photo of Yankee Legend Babe Ruth posing in Tacoma, WA with one of just five Milwaukee Road Bipolar Electric locomotives like my model train. The locomotive type was built by Alco and General Electric and used mostly in the Pacific Northwest. In 1926, Ruth batted .372 with 47 home runs.
Ruth remembered his childhood in an orphanage. He was sent to an
orphanage at age 7. In December 1926, Ruth visited a Tacoma
orphanage and reform school; St. Ann's Home. The engineer pictured is Leo Boyer. (Washington State Historical Society 1943.42.50575. The Society holds 60,000 Curtis images.) |
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| The Milwaukee Road once switched out its
westbound diesel locomotives in Othello, Washington, for bipolar electrics bound for Seattle and
Tacoma. Photo courtesy of The Old Hotel Art Gallery, a volunteer-run
facility. Original General Electric E5 (Number E-39) boxcab electric
locomotive photo by the late Wade Stevenson of Othello. Thanks to Jenn
Stevenson for her assistance. The hotel was one of four hotels built to
accommodate train workers in Othello more than 111 years ago. (Photo
circa 1950s) |
This is the single locomotive that pulled "The Olympian" and other passenger trains between Othello and Tacoma from 1919 to 1957: the Milwaukee Road EP2 "Bipolar" Electric Engine
(Numbered E-2). It is the only surviving locomotive of its kind, on
display at St. Louis' National Museum of Transportation.
Snowy photo by the late Wade Stevenson of Othello is courtesy of the Old Hotel Art Gallery, Othello, WA.
Rated for 70 mph, the General Electric locomotive was designed to pull a passenger train from Othello to Tacoma with 3,180 continuous horsepower |
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Engine #10254
(Later renumbered E-5). Shown on an official test and publicity trip in March of 1920,
it was rebuilt in Tacoma Shops in the 1950s as a prototype for four
other bipolars to be rebuilt in Milwaukee.
The class EP2
Bipolar engine was manufactured by Alco-GE.
The electric locomotives were also unique in appearance, riding low on 44" drivers, and in sound, their trademark a distinctive high pitched shrill from their air whistles.
These single engines often replaced double-headed steam locomotives on
these trains.
Photo from the Northwest Room at
the Tacoma Public Library, Marvin D. Boland Collection BOLAND-B2759 |
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| One of two routes run by this locomotive was 207 miles in Washington State across the Saddle and Cascade Mountains from Othello to Tacoma. Taken May 31, 1949. Milwaukee Road Bipolar Locomotive Number E-3. Photo from the Northwest Room at
the Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio Collection, A42788-6. |
Tideflats Station, Tacoma, Wash.
Circa 1954. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul & Pacific Railroad Co., commonly called The Milwaukee Road, opened a new passenger depot at East 11th and Milwaukee Way, on the tideflats, in April of 1954.
All its land and buildings on the tideflats were purchased by Sea-Land in the early 1980s.
Note the bipolar parked on the left. Photo from the Northwest Room at
the Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio Collection, D83487-47. |
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| Olympian Hiawatha "Skytop" Lounge Car. Courtesy of the Old Hotel Art Gallery, Othello, Washington. This was likely a combination rear observation and sleeping car operating between Chicago and Tacoma. (Wade Stevenson Photo) |
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| Northern Pacific steam
engine stops at Pullman, WA Depot., Circa 1922-24. Photo by Myron Samuel
Huckle. Used by permission of Washington State University Libraries
Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections. (PC0021B09f29NB0). |
The State College of Washington
Pullman-Seattle Special in the 1920s. Used by permission of Washington
State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives and Special
Collections. (PC0024B1617FTST_2) Special thanks to Mark O'English.. |
Olympia Beer refrigerator car shown circa 1906-1910.
Railcar at old Olympia brewery. Northern Pacific car is emblazoned with
Olympia beer logo and name. Track is siding of Port Townsend Southern
Railroad that served the brewery. Restoration of photo courtesy of the
Olympia Tumwater Foundation. The engine may be a C-11 Baldwin 4-4-0 #858
built 1879-1883.
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Olympia Brewery Railway Station - 1909
Photo by Joe
Jeffers taken in 1909 on the Olympia Brewing Company's Short Line in front of
the Old Brewery and along the waterfront. Note the "trolley pole" to the
right of the picture. This facility may have been known as the Olympia
Brewing "Cold Storage and Bottling Facility" where beer kegs on flatbed
cars were towed by an electric trolley from the old brewery to here. Photo provided under licensing
by Susan Parish, Olympia. Licensing does not allow for web posting
without watermark. Licensed photo on display at Olympia-Lacey Centennial
Station. Special thanks to Jim Hannum of Olympia for detailed
identification.
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Northern Pacific Mabton, Circa 1910
George A. Fenner was telegrapher for the
Northern Pacific, Mabton. Also pictured is Waneita Fenner, his wife, and
Hazen Parker.
Water stop tower in the background. From the
Edward Nolan Collection, Washington State Historical Society (Catalog:
2019.2.34)
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Northern Pacific Valuation Map, 1921
Special Thanks to Dr. Jim Hannum, Olympia
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Northern Pacific 408 at Tacoma
Union Station in 1968 . The Seattle-to-Portland pool train. Photo by
Jim Fredrickson. Courtesy of Washington State University Press. Published
in "Railscapes: A Northern Pacific Brasspounder’s Album" |
Seattle to Hoquiam train at Olympia
Northern Pacific station Feb. 14, 1956. Photo by Jim Fredrickson.
Courtesy Washington State University Press. Published in "Railscapes: A
Northern Pacific Brasspounder’s Album" |
1901 Port Townsend Southern depot just north of the current 4th Avenue Bridge, Olympia. Conductor Morrow is pictured on the ground standing next to a Porter engine (built in 1897) and engineer. Engine 6 became part of Northern Pacific livery in 1902. Photo courtesy of Peter Replinger and Jim Hannum. |
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Chambers Prairie Union Pacific Depot,
May 22, 1928, jointly used by passenger and freight trains on the
Prairie Line between Tenino and Tacoma. Later renamed East Olympia,
predecessor of Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station. Photo by James Fisher.
Courtesy Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association. Ainsworth
Collection. (WWANL-T03-096) Edited. |
The original Tenino Station, circa 1877,
four or five years after the Northern Pacific Railroad arrived to what
is now the town of Tenino. This started passenger rail service for South
Puget Sound. You could board the NP in St. Paul, Minn. that year and
Tenino Station would be your last stop after a train ferry ride on the
"Tacoma" across the Columbia River near Kalama. NP spent some time
deciding whether to proceed from Tenino to Olympia, Tacoma, or Seattle.
It eventually chose Tacoma. I appreciate the assistance of Tenino
Historian Rich Edwards for locating and identifying this photo believed
to be taken by Hiram Hoyt, Seattle, between 1876-1878. Station
named after the Oregon Navigation Co. Columbia River Sternwheeler "Tenino"
(1860) or later "New Tenino" from Celilo to Wallula. |
Oregon Washington Railway and Navigation
Company Office in downtown Olympia on Fourth Ave. Company owned by Union
Pacific. Part of the building still stands today. Photo by Marvin
Boland. Circa 1920s. Courtesy 2009.34.57, Washington State Historical
Society, Tacoma (Wash.) |
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul (Milwaukee
Road) in South Sound
1916 Map Courtesy Washington State
University Libraries
"UP" references Union Pacific's subsidiary,
Oregon Washington Railroad and Navigation Co.
"GN" is Great Northern
"NP" is Northern Pacific Railway
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Puget Sound and Willapa
Harbor Depot in Chehalis between 1913 and 1915. Puget Sound & Willapa
Harbor was among companies owned by The Milwaukee Road, which later
renamed both the depot and locomotive. Photo courtesy of the Lewis
County Museum and Director Jason
Mattson. (P14556) |
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Chambers Prairie Station,
Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Co. Pictured at right
is Roy Robey, holding a union sign. Circa 1925 for the Order of Railroad
Telegraphers, which had more than 70,000 members in that year.
(Photo courtesy of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association,
Photo by Jim Fredrickson.) |
Chambers Prairie Union Pacific Station
located off Rich Road south of Olympia. This station was the forerunner
of Centennial Station off the main line at Yelm Highway. (Courtesy Jim
Hannum, Olympia. Lacey Historical Museum) |
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Sheldon Station on the Olympia-Tenino
Railroad. Address is about 9600 Highway 99, Tumwater. With NPs decision
to build track to Tacoma from Tenino, Olympia interests built this track
(initially narrow gage) from Tenino to what is now Capitol Lake in 1877.
Also known as the Olympia and Chehalis Valley Railroad before acquired
by Northern Pacific. Some of those pictured are believed to be members
of the Sheldon Family including children Lena, May and Earl. Thanks to
Ron Nelson and Dr. Jim Hannum their assistance. The track is running to
the north toward Tumwater and Olympia. |
Passenger train Tacoma-bound from Lacey
Northern Pacific Station in 1912. Photo from the Harold Meir Collection,
Courtesy St. Martin's University Abbey. Special thanks to Father Peter
Tynan, University Chaplain and Abbey Monk. Locomotive is a Baldwin 4-6-0
built about 1890. Located on Pacific Avenue near the original 1891 site, a modern replica of the Lacey, WA Northern Pacific Depot was recently built by the city.
The historic prototype station served Lacey, St. Martin's College and Woodland Park horse racetrack.
Connections from Lacey were to Tacoma and west to Aberdeen-Hoquiam and Moclips beach resorts of the day on the “Grays Harbor Line.” |
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Yelm Northern Pacific station. Photo by
Virg Holloway (Courtesy Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association,
Fredrickson Collection JMF04-02998.0) |
Tumwater Station. Streetcar station was
operated by the Olympia Power and Light Co. (later acquired by Puget
Sound Power and Light in 1924.) This station and adjacent tracks may
have been used in about 1902 to haul passengers as well as beer (on flat
cars) from the original Olympia Brewery to a bottling facility near the
Northern Pacific Depot (Capitol Lake). The photo of the boarded station
was taken about 1916 on the Custer Street bridge. Courtesy of Washington
State Historical Society (C2019.0.144) and Jim Hannum, Olympia, author
of "Gone But Not Forgotten." All Olympia-area streetcar services were
terminated on Dec. 1, 1933. The first attempt at streetcar service began
in 1890 with Olympia, Tumwater, and Brighton Park Motor Railway Corp.
proposed to originate in the vicinity of what is now the Olympia
Airport. |
Rainier, Wa., Station. Edited version.
Northern Pacific Historical Association (JMF04-03000.0) January 1975.
Photo by Fisher. |
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Northern Pacific Olympia Depot, 1914.
Courtesy 2010.149.5.2, Washington State Historical Asssociation, Tacoma
(Wash.) Depot was from about 1891 until torn down for replacement in
1966, about 75 years. |
Nisqually Northern Pacific Station.
1941-44 Photo by Jim Fredrickson. Northern Pacific Railway Historical
Association, JMF04-03053.0 |
Saint Clair Northern Pacific Depot,
1927. From the Jim Fredrickson Collection, Northern Pacific Historical
Association (JMF04-03055.0) Thanks to Jim Hannum, Olympia. |
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Centralia Northern Pacific station once
handled 44 passenger trains per day. Built in 1912, it serves eight
trains today. (Larry Ganders) |
Waiting for President William Howard
Taft at Lacey Northern Pacific Station in 1909. (Courtesy Washington
State Historical Society - C1968.52.1) The city recently built a replica
of the building at the same location off Pacific Avenue. |
Port Townsend Southern Station at
Tenino in 1885. (Courtesy Jim Hannum, Olympia; University of Washington
archives) |
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Grays Harbor passenger train at Northern
Pacific Station near downtown Olympia, WA on Feb. 13, 1956. Address is
721 Columbia St. SW. Courtesy of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical
Association. Photo by John T. Labbe. |
Gas-Electric Northern Pacific single-vehicle
"Doodlebug" (Train 502) waits for a connecting Tacoma-Hoquiam
train pulled by a 4-6-2 NP locomotive at Gate City Station in 1941.
The doodlebug continued to Centralia. Doodlebugs were used in various
Northwest locations including Seattle, Hoquiam, Spokane, Coulee City,
and the Palouse. The Electro-Motive B-8 pictured has a
brightly painted front of white stripes on red ahead of the traditional
Northern Pacific green. Gate or Gate City was
located at rail crossings near Rochester in Thurston County.Photo by
James Turner. Courtesy Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association
and Gary Tarbox.
(WWANL-T16-030) |
This is the second Northern Pacific Olympia depot built in
1968. (On the original NP Capitol Lake site, 721 SW Columbia St.) It
served as a combined freight-passenger depot for NP until 1989 when it
was transferred to Burlington Northern (Glacier Properties) It was
purchased by the state of Washington in 1991, which still owns it today.
(Photo by Larry Ganders, 2021)
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"AmShack," the only Olympia Station Stop for Amtrak for many
years. This photo was taken in 1980 by Walt Vitous. The three-sided
station, eventually painted yellow, was located on Rich Road in East
Olympia. It was the immediate forerunner of Olympia-Lacey Centennial
Station which opened in 1993. Photo courtesy Paul Vitous, Olympia. Train
is the Coast Starlight led by an EMD SDP40F locomotive, which did not stop that year.
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The Northern Pacific station at Chehalis, WA was built in
1912. Picture is from a post card, Circa 1913, by Pacific Photo Co. of
Salem, Ore. This photo is courtesy of the Lewis County Historical
Museum. Special thanks to Jason Mattson, Director. This was the site of
a displayed 360-year-old Douglas Fir stump cut near Pe Ell in 1901. It
was eight feet wide at the top and 12 feet at the base. The stump in Chehalis was where politicians like William Howard Taft,
Eugene Debs, and Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered local "stump
speeches." Even prior to 1912, this area was a flag station stop for the
Northern Pacific dating back to when it was called "Saundersville" in
1874.. The area was often flooded and referred to as "Saunders Bottom,"
an apparent play on "Soggy Bottom."
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This photo in 1926 is of Plumb Railroad Station, (aka "Plum") at a
settlement named after Elihu B. Plumb. It was located east of Highway 99
near Waldrick Road south of Tumwater on the former Port Townsend
Southern main line. The settlement also had a U.S. Post Office that
operated from 1879-1885. The station building was removed by 1927.
Photo by James Fisher courtesy of the Northern Pacific Railway
Historical Association. (WWANL T03-103)
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Great Northern diesel at Chehalis Depot, 1950.
Photo courtesy of the the Lewis County Historical Museum. Special thanks
to Jason Mattson, Director. |
Union
Pacific train station and yards south of Rochester at "Independence" that served both the Union
Pacific and Milwaukee Road. Courtesy of the Washington State
Capitol Museum and special thanks to Dr. James Hannum, author of "Gone
But Not Forgotten." Established about 1910 but no longer in existance.
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Roy,
Washington, Depot,
circa 1910-1915. Photo by Alma Floberg from the Jim Fredrickson
collection of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association. In
the background is the 47,000-gallon Roy Railroad water tank.
(JMF04-02985.0) This depot on the "Prairie Line" between Yelm and Tacoma
reportedly served 22 passenger trains daily including the Northern
Pacific, Great Northern, and the Union Pacific's Oregon Washington
Railroad and Navigation (OWRN) Company. Eighteen freight trains used the
track daily. Pictured are telegraph operators from three shifts. Alma
Floberg, was a longtime NP station agent that worked in King County
towns like Ravensdale, Kanasket, and Redmond. She was a rare woman
working in a man's profession for 58 years until her retirement. |
Roy Water Tank, 17,000
gallons
April, 1968. Photo by Jim Fredrickson. NPRHA (JMF04-02989.0) Tracks that
still run below the tower are manufactured by "Illinois Steel", so they
likely date back between 1889 and 1898.NP extended trackage rights on
the Prairie Line in 1910 to Great Northern and Union Pacific (OWRN) |
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| Alma Floberg at Weston, WA, Entrance to
Stampede Pass |
Wenatchee Apple Promotion with
Great Northern Railway.
Oct. 18, 1947
Wenatchee,
Washington
From the
archives of the Wenatchee World (Also Railway Age, Vol. 123, No. 18)
This
promotion features1946 Apple Blossom Princess, the late Lois Elaine
Banghart (1928-2021); Later Lois Elaine Beall. She became an orchardist
in the Chelan area. It marked 10,000 Great Northern trainloads of apples
shipped from Wenatchee to Minneapolis from 1901-1947. The engine is an
Electro-Motive Diesel Corporation diesel-electric FTA, probably produced
around 1944. In service until 1951. Photo is also available through the
Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.
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| The 149-year-old Prairie Line from Tenino
to
Tacoma featured the addition of this steel bridge in 1904 that still
stands today near Yelm and is proposed as a new pedestrian trail. Photo
taken in 1929 by James Fisher (edited.) Courtesy Northern Pacific
Railway Historical Association (WWANL T04-064) |
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| Historic photo of
Kyro Station near Marvin Road in Lacey, WA. Volunteers at
Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station receive important axel count alerts
from Mile Post 30 that notify us of southbound trains approaching in
just a couple minutes. Back from 1915-1927, that was the site of the
closest station to what is now Centennial. At the intersection of Marvin
Road and what is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe main line was the
Northern Pacific's "Kyro Station" (far left building) which served both
passenger trains and freight in today's Lacey area at least 107-plus
years ago. The station with its 100,000-gallon water tower also marked
the turnout for Union Lumber Company and the area known as "Union
Mills." Special thanks to Gary Tarbox, Dr. Jim Hannum, and the Northern
Pacific Railway Historical Association for their assistance. The
original photo by James Fisher (JMF04-03059) from 1927 was heavily
damaged and has been edited. |
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| Steilacoom Northern Pacific Depot (Built 1914 on NP’s Point Defiance line) near the ferry docks.
This photo was taken about 1956. The 108-year-old building needs relocation 80 feet southeast and repair. Served passengers 1914-1971 of Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Burlington Northern.
The photo shows a Great Northern train. Amtrak passenger service on this line re-routed away from the water in late 2021 (to Tacoma Rail “Lakewood Sub” along Interstate 5.)
It is still a busy freight BNSF route. Photo is courtesy of the
Steilacoom Historical Museum Association. Special thanks to Marianne
Bull and French Wetmore. |
Hood River, Oregon.
A stereocard of
the Hood River Depot by Frank Patterson. From the archives of
the Museum of Hood River County Historical Association. Circa 1911.
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| The far Pacific reach of the Northern Pacific
and Milwaukee Road was in the Raymond/South Bend Washington state
cities. Here is a historic photo of the Raymond Station of Northern
Pacific, Tacoma division, with a departing passenger and freight train. Courtesy of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical
Association. (WWANL-T03-195) NP 1682 mixed passenger and freight train
bound for Centralia shown about 1953. Final mixed train run was 1954.
Photo by William Bassler in the Warren W. Wing Collection. |
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| The Union Pacific M10000 in Portland, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Vintage Roadside and Historicphotoarchive.Net. Special thanks to Jeff Kunkle. |
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| In 1861, The Oregon Steam Navigation Company
built this steamship, the Tenino, probably named after the Native
American tribe that fished near Celilo Falls. There was an early
seasonal settlement one mile west of Celilo Falls called "Tenino." In
1872, the Northern Pacific Railroad "Pacific Coast Committee" and NP
President George Cass, ploted a route of rail and steamboats from
Wallula up the Columbia Gorge to Kalama and north 65 more miles.
They began referring to the terminus south of Olympia as "Tenino." It
was from this Tenino that the Northern Pacific rejected Olympia and
Seattle destinations in favor of Tacoma. History compiled by Tenino
Historian Richard A. Edwards, 2019. Photo provided by the Oregon
Historical Society. |
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| M-76 1909 McKeen Motor Car "Doodlebug"
Could this be the train known as the "Palouse Goose?" in Eastern
Washington? Handled 36 passengers, baggage and mail. 200
horsepower motor mounted to the front two wheels only. Built at Train #
1 (and later engine 600) for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. in
November, 1909. In 1942, it was retired from the Oregon-Washington
Railway and Navigation Co. (A subsidiary of the Union Pacific after
1910) 33 tons, 55-feet, two inches long. Motor stopped to reverse..
Used by permission of Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts,
Archives and Special Collections. (PC149n90-191) From the Joseph Broyles
Collection, Special thanks to Mark O'English. |
Or this
"Doodlebug?" Northern Pacific near Palouse.
Circa 1955. Robert West Collection. Whitman County Heritage-Roy Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum (WCLPA096)
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M-98 1928 Electro-Motive Corporation
"Doodlebug". 275 horsepower, 36
passengers. Could tow an additional passenger car. Used by permission of
Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives and Special
Collections. (PC047f4p16n2) From the Joseph Broyles Collection, Special
thanks to Mark O'English.
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The original "Bug"converted from a Studebaker.
Circa 1935. It operated from 1930 to 1938. Washington, Idaho, and Montana
Rail Company.Whitman County Heritage-Roy Chatters Newspaper and Printing
Museum. Robert West Collection. Special thanks to Kathy Buchholtz,
Whitman County Historical Society, Colfax.
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Or this
"Bug?" aka "The Potlatcher".
Washington, Idaho, and Montana Rail Company acquired this Fairmont
Railcar Motors unit (built in Fairmont, Minnesota) about 1938. Photo is
pre-1948. . After 17 years of service, #11 was retired in 1955 and used as a concession stand at the Potlatch ballfield.
Whitman County Heritage-Roy Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum.
Robert West Collection. Special thanks to Kathy Buchholtz, Whitman
County Historical Society, Colfax.
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The "Roy Water Stop."
The preservation of the Northern Pacific water tank in Roy, WA is
progressing well with the completion of painting. Volunteers intend to
add signage and a locomotive spout (spigot arm) to the project. Right of
my photo taken in September is the same 17,000-gallon tank photographed
in April, 1968 by renowned NP author Jim Fredrickson. It was a Pierce
County "water stop" on the "Prairie Line" between Tenino and Tacoma with
remaining abandoned tracks dating back to the 19th Century.. Several
hundred yards south of here is the Milwaukee Road track from Tacoma to
Chehalis, Maytown, and Pacific Coast locations like Raymond. The
Milwaukee track in Roy is still used by Rainier Rail. More at
https://ganderstrains.com/Historic.html. Photo from the Northern Pacific
Railway Historical Assn. (JMF04-02989.0.)
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The "Jitney."
Used by Mount Hood Railway Company. This "Galloping Goose" operated
between Parkdale, Ore. and Hood River, Ore. Photo courtesy of the History Museum
of Hood River County. Background appears masked, perhaps by the Jitney
dealer or manufacturer.
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| Before Hanford was delivering nuclear power, here's the substation midway between Grand Coulee Dam and Bonneville that delivered electricity for Hanford construction and defense production in 1942. Photo was taken May 21, 1942. The steam engine is on or near the former track of the Milwaukee Road, a spur from Beverly, near what is now the Vernita Bridge. The building is an "untanking station" where trains brought 20,000-pound transformers to service inside the building. Photo of "Midway Substation" near "Riverland Rail Yard" uncovered by Jim Talcott of Richland. Photographer unknown. The building and substation still exists today. This photo courtesy of the Bonneville Power Administration archives in Portland, Ore. (E8636).
Photo near the Riverland rail yard in 1942.
Steam engine pictured is No. 851 perhaps a 2-8-0 owned by the Army
Transportation Corps. This substation was automated in the 1980s.
Special thanks to Rodney Aho and Jim Talbott, of Richland, a former
Hanford Employee. |
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| Built in April 1941, this is a "65-ton" General Electric center cab diesel electric switch engine (65-00606) formerly owned by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and currently operated on excursion runs out of Chehalis. Photo taken
Feb. 9, 2024 |
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| This 1941 photograph of
two Santa Fe locomotives is now on display at Centennial Station. The photo is a
gift of Kimberly Williams. Her grandfather was Murray Lawson, retired in
1966 as
an engineer on the Super Chief. The photo won an award by the San
Bernadino Sun newspaper. |
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| A photo of Northern Pacific engineer Frank Cavanaugh of Auburn, WA in the cab of a massive 2-8-8-2 (two sets of eight drive wheels) steam locomotive, probably
circa 1935-45. Engine 4011 was built in 1913 by Alco in Schenectady, New York. These "articulated" engines handled steep grades such as Stampede Pass from Lester, WA (near Enumclaw) east or the "Prairie Line" route between Tacoma, WA and Tenino, WA. The photo may have suffered some damage over the years but was generously provided by
his granddaughter, Janie Calkins Rumberger of Spokane, WA. None of these NP locomotives survive today. |
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| March 25, 1935 photo of NP 4011 in Tacoma. Photo by Herman Hunter (Northern
Pacific Railroad Historical Association Archives, James Fredrickson Collection.
JMF00-016222.0) Shows similar cab markings to Frank Cavanaugh photo
above. Those exact markings did not appear to exist in 1946 photo of the
same locomotive. |
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Amtrak Cascades Talgo Train #753
at Centennial Station, April
9, 1995. |
Amtrak Engine 243 led Train 753.
Photos Courtesy of Audrey Skaugseth. |
For Larry's Pics of Prototype Trains,
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