As a small kid, 5 or so, with my older brother, in 1950 we rode the NP from Spokane to Billings. It might have been a "name train", possibly the Mainstreeter, but definitely not the North Coast Limited, because the consist was mostly heavyweight Pullmans. Climbing the Montana Rocky mountains the next morning, my brother walked me back to the rear of the observation car, and to my astonishment and delight as a budding train buff, right outside, behind the observation platform, a monstrous steam locomotive just a few feet away was pushing us up the grade! I wanted to go outside on the platform to better hear the locomotive, but someone, probably the conductor or a brakeman, had locked the door for our safety. We watched for a long time. The impression never left me of all that mechanical motive power, with flashing drive rods and valve gear, smoothly pushing so much weight up that scenic grade while growling modern diesels pulled on the head end. Later, as an O scale model railroader, that experience 73 years ago has made me a devotee of the steam-to-diesel transition era. At my age in 1950, i had no idea what an historic moment I was living through when the internal combustion engine and the electrical transmission of motive power was so quickly supplanting a hundred and fifty years of steam locomotion technology.

Great color scheme, HO model's allway's a favorite in the EMD as delivered paint, love it. Thanks for the info. sbelmont

That was fantastic. Very interesting and enjoyable.

Very, very, well done. The guy with the historical background of the NP really made this show interesting. Thank you.

*Thanks for this great video. I learned a lot from this* . 👍👍👍I can't keep up with my first video. 🤠😎

Thank you! Totally enjoyed watching the video!

The images and stories are historic gold. What I wouldn't give to go back in time and live in the time and place of some of these photos.

Loved this video very much. Some of my family history involved the NP. At 32.51 minutes you will see a picture of my maternal grandfather looking out of the cab window at the Spike ceremony. He operated one of the four trains that met for that ceremony. He was later assigned to operate a passenger train between Livingston and Billings Montana. He started work as a switch engine operator in St. Paul for the Great Northern then joined the NP in 1883 a few months before the completion of the line and retired in 1926 after 43 years with a monthly pension of $85.00. My paternal grandfather and father worked on the NP railroad as well. That grandfather was an immigrant from Austria and my dad was his first born son. They worked at the maintenance facilities in Mandan, ND where I was born. I have a photo of all the guys who worked at the facility in the roundhouse in front of one of the dual driver locomotives. That photo is at 1 hour 22 minutes. I don't know which it was. My dad was laid off in 1956, after 38 years, because the line had been fulled dieseled and the facilities were being closed since they weren't large enough to accommodate the taller standing diesels. We traveled the train many times for vacations and I have loved trains ever since. Great way to travel.

Very well done documentary! Informative and interesting

Excellent piece of work. Thank you all.

My late father was on Bridge and Building crew for the NP in western Washington from about 1947 until the merger that formed the Burlington Northern. I found an NP decal online and put it on my hardhat in his honor. I am retired now but I still have the hard hat in my shop.

Many of my great great grandparents immigrated on the NP to western ND. They homesteaded on land that was sold by the NP. Much of the land my grandparents bought has been passed down through generations.

I love this story! Great Northern Pacific stuff!

Very interesting. Thank you very much!

THANK YOU FOR SHARE THIS VIDEO AS GREAT DETAILED WATCH AND JOYMENT TO UNDERSTAND RAILROAD BUILD OVER USA . FROM AUSTRALIA

What a wonderful program, thoroughly enjoyed the old photos, that blue Mustang Fastback at the St Regis depot was priceless… Years ago when I was into model trains I had a black/gold diesel locomotive, looks much better in glossy paint… The information about steam locomotive design was fascinating, I never knew any of this… More research on the rail lines of this area will be forthcoming… Thank you for producing and sharing.

Excellent informative documentary. We had a great rail system in New Zealand, built our own steam locos, but sadly mostly taken over by trucks these days, and old lines to towns round the country ripped up. I still remember travelling on steam trains as a child, rail cars and diesels later, but passenger trains and railcars which used to go to most cities no longer exist, just short running electric commuters, and a few freight trains. My friends' father was a steam loco engineer, and he had many interesting and funny stories to tell about his job. A lot of our lines are electrified in part, but there is nothing really interesting about a Tesla on rails,- no character any more.

What a great documentary... Complete with Beautiful authentic photos and explanations by people who KNOW that time.... The expansion of the United States was (and still is) heavily dependant on the railroads...

Great work, small note. At 1:02 the pass you showed was Snoqualmie, not Stampede. Closest NP got up that pass was acquiring the Seattle Lakeshore & Eastern after stalled construction. Fun fact the CMSP&P did use that pass as did Interstate 90.

I meet a BNSF engineer that does glendive to Mandan and he said it's hills the whole way

Thank you for this - very interesting. Wish there were equivalents for the other railroads

Some time in the sixties there was a 33 rpm record put out that told the story of the Northern Pacific. I still sing many of the songs to myself, bringing back memories. One song went something like, "Shake hands with the easter side in a friendly kind of way, for the east is east and the west is west and the twain has met today". Later I got involved with the Minnesota Transportation Museum and was delighted to get to try my hand at firing one of the steam locomotives, the 328 out of Dresser WI.

Scholarly and thorough presentation of a pioneer rail line that fought the elements over a tremendous distance. Great historical perspective by narrators whose passion for their subject comes through to the viewer. I appreciated the efforts they took to define railroad terms with which the general public might not be familiar. One thing that might have been interesting is how in modern times the company promoted itself, such as slogans and oversized artwork on its rolling stock. Also, it’s role in the annual shipment of livestock, of which the N.P. was noted. Regardless, nice job, Minn. PBS!

I remember the tearable accident of 1962 I lived about 25 miles west of there a long highway 95 seemed like hundred emergency vehicles headed east . 8-8-2023

I enjoyed this very much but using two LLs in “Travellers Rest” is NOT a misspelling .. that’s the original British way of spelling this word used all around the world except in the United States .. perhaps during the days of Lewis and Clark the American language was much closer to it’s origins .. LOVE those Streamliners

Great video I loved it. My Dad was a Brakeman/Conductor for the NP he started in the Tacoma division in 1942. His first job as a conductor was on a helper engine out of Lester WA. They used a steam engine for the helper even though the main train was diesel. The boiler was fired up when the helper was at the siding, my dad and I would run it up and down the siding by ourselves. Fun times in Lester.

Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent photography pictures/maps. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing. Special thanks to historian guest speakers. Making this presentation more authentic & possible-!!!. Wishing viewers/R.R. employees a safe/healthy/prosperous ( 2024 )🌈🎉😉.

Seeing that the Northern Pacific pioneered both the Northern type (4-8-4) and Yellowstone type (2-8-8-4) steam locomotives it's too bad not one NP example of either steam engine has been preserved. Wonderful story on the history of the Northern Pacific and thanks for sharing!

My grandmother took me on sleeper with vista car trips on both Great Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern long distance round trips from Chicago to Seattle. Also, the Super Chief. I still remember these journeys to this day.

Nice job.

This is a great history lessons

Interesting history. Lots of challenges and opportunities that changed the landscape of the west forever. Similar in several aspects to the building of the Trans Canada Railway. There were also challenges with geography, weather, financial, and political. Fortunes were won and lost, new communities established, and western economy established, and our country could never have been united and populated from coast to coast without the railway.

@ 1.13 you were talking about towns I live in a little RR town called Mabton Wa. It is named after one of the officials daughter.

Even though I model the Central of Georgia in HO gauge, I found a great deal on some A.C. Gilbert coaches (4) in the Northern Pacific livery. I also have a NP F-3 engine to pull the consist. Enjoyed the history of the NP railroad. Cheers from eastern TN

thanks alot

Hermoso ferrocarril

Interesting history.

hello from Kansas🇺🇸

How many other railroad lines were being built in Minnesota? The line from White Bear Lake to Stillwater started in August 1870

Saludos

Needs more illustrative maps.

Thank you to the taxpayers of the State of Minnesota for funding an incredable story.

Beginning of each section you miss the first few words. Usually the name of a person.

All people could see then was money and more money. From land, from materials, from natural resources and so on. They figured it didn't matter what it took, eventually it would pay off. This railroad was probably the best engineered of all American roads but even with that it failed eventually. Maybe someday the road will be brought back to life.

Different time. Up standing humans. Quality employees

Vision and ethics - both attributes are sorely lacking today. 2023/08/10. Ontario, Canada.

This history was lost to Darrius Gaskins former CEO of the Burlington Northern who saw no value in the line and leased a section from Sand Pointe to Billings. It proved to be a huge mistake. It was rectified by Ms Katie Farmer who ended the lease and has brought the line back to life by reopening Stampede Pas with concrete ties and welded rail from Tacoma to Sand Point. A second bridge over lake Pend Orellie. The plans are to double track the line. She get it.

Henry Villard .

Norfolk Southern could learn a thing or two from Northern Pacific.

Did not the NP have a potato shaped menu for th diners?

Terrrific video. I used to watch the westbound North Coast Limited pass through LaGrange, Illinois. It was a beautful train of two-tone green livery; very impressve then and sadly missed now.

Hi wassup

Must be rebuilt exactly as it was, if only to teach a lesson to idiot developers.

Whoever wrote the potato song apparently didn't know of its "roots."

THey've never honored treaties, hence "Indian-givers."

Lol

Did I hear that correctly? Did you just say racism Has to do with the history of the Northern Pacific?

Ya lost me with greed, racism, blah blah blah .......... 👎 ......you want to do a story about a railroad fine, just leave out your communist politics and tell the story

43:00-46:30.....I wonder if the NP was also responsible for the original Mr. Potato Head toy of the 1952-1960''s?