Main Street of the Northwest “Story of the Northern Pacific" | Lakeland PBS Full Documentary

The Northern Pacific Railway, one of the great US transcontinental railroads, was once headquartered in Brainerd, Minnesota. The NP ran from Ashland, Wisconsin, to Seattle, Washington, and St. Paul to Winnipeg, Manitoba. In many ways, the story of the Northern Pacific Railway is the story of America’s transformation into the modern era.
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[@markkover8040]

My father was a forester for the Northern Pacific and later the Burlington Northern Railroads. We lived in Washington state and North Idaho. We traveled from Spokane to Chicago and back in 1968 visiting his relatives in Ohio. West to East we traveled on the North Coast Limited and East to West on the Mainstreeter. I still remember that trip.

[@fascination.sound.and.groove]

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

[@bearowen5480]

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.

[@TheMeemsie1]

You said that you rode the "Mainstreeter" but you said that it had an observation car. The Mainstreeters never had observation cars. You also said that you rode it in 1950, I presume right on the nose. N.P. was still kinda in the transition from Pullman heavyweights at about that time. In the late 40's early 50's, the N.C.L. was not an attractive train because of the Pullman heavyweights-streamlined cars that they were trying to upgrade to.

[@bearowen5480]

@@TheMeemsie1 Would any NP mainline heavyweight passenger train in the early '50s from Spokane to Billings have had a platform observation car other than the NCL?

[@matthewgaines10]

Interesting history.

[@consanna]

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.

[@malcolmmartin576]

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

[@hughwolfe1176]

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.

[@cobraspottedwolf8791]

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

[@thomasfx3190]

My ancestor and his older brother (20 & 22 yrs) rode a train from Ann Harbor to Duluth and in 1900 both jumped on a Northern Pacific train headed to it's terminus in the fairly new city of Tacoma on Puget Sound. That was 124 years ago and 5 generations of my family.

[@scottb8175]

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.

[@dongrainer6405]

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.

[@SignalLightProductions]

Very well done documentary! Informative and interesting

[@frankmoreau8847]

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.

[@StevenBelmont-je6yc]

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

[@marcsisk2454]

Very interesting. Thank you very much!

[@aaronlefor4553]

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.

[@andershove9080]

My thanks goes out, in particular, to Bill Kuebler for his work on this video and the passion he has devoted to NP history for many decades. He was good friends with my late father, ex-engineer and roadforeman on the NP and BN.

[@danielboone3770]

I love this story! Great Northern Pacific stuff!

[@RB.1595]

That was fantastic. Very interesting and enjoyable.

[@gleanerk]

Thank you! Totally enjoyed watching the video!

[@patrickwines9551]

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.

[@BillBowen-d4d]

@ 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.

[@pegg38]

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

[@TheMeemsie1]

That "guy with the historical background" is Mr. Kuebler. He spent is entire childhood in the N.P. railyards. I believe he never worked for the N.P., but he did get to know some people like Fredrickson, McGee, Nixon, and such. If anyone's going to know about the N.P., It's him.

[@paul-andrelarose3389]

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

[@durandjohnson1321]

I remember the Northern Pacific Jingle that was played on the radio back in the sixties!

[@jrbaeronz9840]

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.

[@prismchng]

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

[@billcasso5428]

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.

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

Nice job.

[@johnross6314]

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.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

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!

[@ThomasEide3318]

SP&S 700 is a NP Northern class as it was tacked onto an NP order. A3 class engine!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@ThomasEide3318 Yes, I agree that is the one exception.

[@morg52]

Isn't there a Yellowstone at the Duluth depot museum?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@morg52 Yes, a Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway Yellowstone.

[@jimmclaughlin8195]

@@ThomasEide3318 Is that SP&S 700 the one at the museum in Portland, OR?

[@garymaclean6903]

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.

[@robertlewis7237]

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

[@donnawoodford4127]

My great uncle was a hostler in Spokane for the NP. I didn't know him very well, unfortunately, but I am sure he was full of stories. Just never got to hear them.

[@michaelmartinez1345]

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...

[@amadigidigaula771]

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

[@asullivan4047]

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 )🌈🎉😉.

[@paulquinn8263]

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!

[@geordieceltic2]

Excellent piece of work. Thank you all.

[@w.rustylane5650]

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

[@morg52]

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.

[@TheMeemsie1]

Ah, yes "Shake hands with the eastern crowd" a very familiar tune. In July of 1964 N.P. celebrated their 100th anniversary of being a railroad. They "contracted" out to Raymond Massey to create the album "1000 miles of mountains" and this program would be that 33 rpm record you were talking about. You can find the whole program on youtube if you want to, it's still out there!

[@josephreed5155]

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

[@fastsetinthewest]

Taxpayers... Hahaha 😅

[@ethanmarkowitz3075]

This is a great history lessons

[@arielfilmsinc1926]

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

[@andyevans2336]

It was potato oriented, yes

[@JuanSilveti]

Hermoso ferrocarril

[@johndonlon1611]

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.

[@dannmarceau]

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

[@jeremyperala839]

Is this a you "tuber" pun?

[@phonnivanhinseesoulard1209]

thanks alot

[@sardu55]

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.

[@edmcnamara8747]

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

[@JuanSilveti]

Saludos

[@westernwashingtonhistory1889]

Ka-La-Ma. Good info otherwise

[@LearnwithJanice]

hello from Kansas🇺🇸

[@kevinhoward9593]

i have a NP Drumhead i got in Seattle.

[@dannmarceau]

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

[@utubewatcher806]

Needs more illustrative maps.

[@patricknoveski6409]

Different time. Up standing humans. Quality employees

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

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

[@rodsmith3911]

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

[@phonnivanhinseesoulard1209]

Lol

[@dannmarceau]

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

[@billbright1755]

Henry Villard .

[@Guokas0422]

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

[@jeremyperala839]

They have to hit certain key words in order to get funding from PBS and Minnesota tax payers. I recently watched a PBS show about flour milling in the twin cities and they made it seem like it was akin to whipping Sambo in the cotton fields down south.

[@Guokas0422]

@jeremyperala839 thanks for responding. I get it I just found it odd, disturbing, and unfortunately not surprising to hear the word racism used in a video produced by a Railfan. Everything is racist now. For the most part Railfan content providers avoid politics and "wokeness", and I do too... because I have self-control... when I see short Intermodal trains, manifest Trains being combined, an actions such as UP laying off 1,350 maintenance workers can't help but think about how politics is destroying everything.

[@Guokas0422]

@jeremyperala839 oh and by the way I just watched the movie Syriana first time... and apparently it's racist to mention how Middle Eastern families are family-oriented while a family resort. 🤡🌏

[@andyevans2336]

It happened, just because you do not want to acknowledge the fact makes it no less relevant, or true. Sorry that you feel this way.

[@Guokas0422]

​​@@andyevans2336I'm sixty five and lived near boston and near jacksonville for all of those sixty five years, people don't go around worrying about what color people's skin is. Racism is a made up word to divide us. And you Fall for it like you probably voted for the Braindead man Sleeping in the White House now. Who said he didn't want his kids growing up in a racial jungle.

[@uranusimploding9830]

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

[@jermainec2462]

It's history of this railroad ... Sounds like you've been lost all your life because all you want to hear is what YOU want to hear... And then got the audacity to write a comment about it...

[@whereisthedollar]

@@jermainec2462 He's most likely a Fox (Fake) News viewer. Only a certain type of History they want to hear about.

[@timothymccoy1569]

Agreed!!

[@paulzeigler7616]

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