Then and Now: Northern Pacific Railroad

Spokane once bragged of four transcontinental rail lines went through Spokane. But Northern Pacific was the first, connecting in 1883 in Gold Creek, Montana with a spike driven by President Ulysses S. Grant. And even after all the mergers and realignments which happened as railroads downsized, nearly all trains through Spokane travel on the roadbed through town created by the NP.

Section:Gallery

Mon., July 30, 2018

Early 1960s - In this aerial photo looking west over downtown Spokane, Washington, the Northern Pacific tracks winds from lower right, past the NP depot at 1st Ave. and Bernard St., and west down Railroad Ave. The NP line, connected in 1883, was the first transcontinental railroad through Spokane. As Interstate 90 was finished and Expo 74 construction was underway, the railroad companies agreed to put all rail traffic on the original NP corridor.

Spokesman-Review Photo Archive Sr
Looking west above downtown Spokane, the railroad tracks of the BNSF railroad can be seen angling from the lower right, past the old Northern Pacific Depot and continuing west toward Seattle. At far left, Interstate 90, completed in the late 1960s, represents Americans move away from rail travel. Around 1970, the NP merged with Great Northern and other lines to become Burlington Northern, which is now BNSF. Photo is from June 4, 2018.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo