GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY--Historical Video---part 2 of 4

The last memories of the Great Northern Railway. My dad and I took 8mm Kodachrome movies from 1957 to 1971. Includes authentic RR communications from that era.

[@robertmoir5695]

I think it s nice to have videos of a great Railroad long extinct I will always remember the Great Northern mountain goat

[@kendallscottxo]

Hey, Kevin here. I grew up with the GN then BN in the 1960's, 70's in Vancouver B.C. Canada. As a kid i loved watching the GN road freight's come in and then check out the switching. I loved the older High Nose GP9's and SW1200. Thanks for this great video! Seeing the Loco's take's me back. Kev.

[@philipwegman972]

Beautiful music. Takes me back to my days a a lad in the Seattle area. Lots of GN goats, MILW, NP, and UP. Nothing like the Cascade mountains -and trains. Thank you!

[@ScenicDepot]

I still love it up there, and go camping at Scenic every August.

[@ScenicDepot]

Yes, Amtrak uses this route today. From 1971 to 1981, route was changed to former Northern Pacific line (part of BN). In 1996, original door was destroyed by failure to open completely. New horizontal door was built; vertical door remains as backup. This is BNSF primary east/west route. All stack trains to or from Seattle must go here. Tunnel on Stampede Pass has insufficient clearance.

[@luigirules1000]

it's a bad day when i'm the only railfan at school. i'm 13, and i railfan as much as possible, i wrote my report on the old line at wellington for my project last year. Great video thanks

[@rogerbergeron8898]

luigirules1000 '

[@alcopower5710]

hope you still love trains

[@ScenicDepot]

The video was made for GN fans, so I didn't spend time explaining where places are. Scenic is at the west portal of the famous 7.79 mile Cascade Tunnel. Merritt is a few miles east of the tunnel, at the end of the 2.2% downgrade on the east side. Skykomish is 13 miles west of Scenic by rail, and was the "home base" and fueling station for the helper engines. Usually helpers were added at Cashmere on the east side, but often were put in or taken out at Merritt when traffic was heavy.

[@ScenicDepot]

Never got to work for the RR. Tried to get on with them in 1980, but unfortunately my timing was really bad--it was right after the Milwaukee had gone bankrupt, and those folks were all trying to get work with the BN. I've ridden the train through there numerous times starting in 1965. Got to go on a track car with employees numerous times back in 1960's, either with the fire patrol or else through the tunnel, once with radioman and once with signal maintainer. Some kids get all the fun.

[@North_Cascade_Railfan]

Wow! Just wow! So happy to see this, history!

[@smwokie60]

MarkO there just is'nt to much to say after that, except somtimes I hate change. Thanks again for bringing back some old memories for me. Talk to you again some time Tom.

[@ScenicDepot]

Yes, the depot and buildings nearby were torn down in 1973, and the three houses below were demolished in 1980. I still go there every year in August to camp. Nearly all of the old timers from that era are gone now.

[@ScenicDepot]

Mark: You flatter me greatly. I live an hour north of Spokane. Guess you aren't familiar with territory on west coast, but Spokane is 300 miles east of Seattle, and the westbound EB arrives here at 1:40am and departs at 2:15am. I am open to dropping by the depot then if you want to pop out and say hi. Also, EB splits in half at Spokane. One part goes to Seattle; other part goes to Portland. You would be taking an extra trip if you went to Seattle first unless you want to do that anyway.

[@smwokie60]

Thanks for the info about scenic &merrit.

[@smwokie60]

I got a friend that was a signal maintainer for the Wabash, then for N&W after the Wabash fell. I went with him Quit A few times on a motor car, that was great. That was in the 80's. Back in the 50's the NYC guys let me ride in one of the E units once, that was fantastic. I've been on the EB a few times to Mn/STP. & the zeypher a couple. But the best part was the E units& the motor car. So yes we do have fun somtimes. Oh I have a Fairmont motor car, just don't get much of a chance to run it.

[@ScenicDepot]

"Mike" seems to ring a bell, but not positive. I have about five hours worth of Dispatcher Phone recordings from 1969 and 1970, and far more voices than what are on the video. My dad was a friend of Sid. He let me ride his caboose once from Cashmere to Skykomish when I was 17. No big deal for a RR employee, but for me I had the time of my life.

[@MrTrainman73]

Great video and the thought of even taking the movie. many Thanks for posting.

[@TheStrodude]

It was cool to see the auto carriers full of cars. I think I saw some Mustangs and Cougars in there... Great stuff!

[@sagecoach]

NPRY myself 1961 Are you still with us?

[@ScenicDepot]

@Jmsimer I can't answer for other railroads. In the case of the GN, the helpers were in continual use, the exhaust particulates tended to build up rapidly within the confines of the Cascade Tunnel, plus in a wet climate things tend to look grimier. The trip on the Empire Builder was shot on a mostly cloudy and sprinkly day, and the episode with the derailed helper was also overcast, so contrast was lower. The GN was always in the black so it would not have been a cash flow problem.

[@ScenicDepot]

Also, you can see Sid at about the 6:50 point on part 2 here, where all the guys are standing behind the caboose. Sid is the guy just to the right of center, wearing a gray hat and gray rain gear. That was his caboose. He ran the work train there and was in the vicinity, so the responsibility fell to him on this occasion.

[@smwokie60]

Thanks again I hope to get a chance to see it one day.

[@smwokie60]

Does Amtrak uses this line today ? I wasn't born & raised a GN person but I hung around the New york Central depot when I was a few years older than Tom G. I also hung around in the tower where the Wabash & the New York Central lines crossed each other. This is why I can relate to these videos. I don't have any videos of my roads through my town. So to me from the mid 40's to the mid 60's is what I consider some of the best years of railroading in this country. Thanks Scenic Depot.

[@smwokie60]

Thanks Tom, that was good I got a chuckle out of that. I notice in the new videos of scenic that tey tore down your training ground & the house back down the way from the depot. Bet there are a few people that miss that.

[@CPMorant]

Wonderful editing - great content / good music - really enjoyed parts 1 & 2 - will certainly look at parts 3 and 4!

[@johnbergstrom1494]

Awesome films

[@bradleyhannah8713]

I went through that tunnel many tines I was a Brakeman !

[@htc6600]

Great video. I love the Big Sky Blue scheme and it's great to see it on film.

[@Jmsimer]

Oh, and great video, by the way. One of the best I've seen.

[@smwokie60]

I would like to know where scenic &merrit are located? My atlas does'nt show them. I loved the videos very much,I would like to ride the Empire Builder to Seattle & Portland one time. I wish that our railroads were still like that, even though it was hard times it was good times I live in atown that had two roads, the Wabash & the New York Central. I wish I would have taken more pictures of those lines also. I sure do miss those days, as I am sure some of you people miss the Great Northern RR.

[@ScenicDepot]

@luigirules1000 I was your age when I shot the film of the helper derailment incident. It's tough for you not being able to drive!

[@ScenicDepot]

For a look at current operations at the east portal, type BNSF Cascade Tunnel. There are several videos available.

[@smwokie60]

Just thought I would let you know I'm 62. I am working on saving the money for my wife & I to take the Empire Builder out to Seattle. My wife has a nephew in a cematary somewhere in Portland. She is not sure exactly where,but we thought we would come out & look. I thought if at all possible I would get the chance to meet you & shake your hand. It has been a fantastic little trip down memory lane with you.

[@smwokie60]

Hey Tom This Mark O. I just wanted to say I hope You & your family had a good Christmas. Also Ihope you & yours hav e a very good new year.

[@katecushen4753]

Hello! My father in law is a Great Northern Railway lover for many many years, and my mother in law passed last year and was in love with the music from these videos- I told him I would do all I could to find out where the music came from. If you could let me know who it is or how to find this music the whole family would be incredibly grateful!

[@ScenicDepot]

Hello Kate, I just saw this request. The music is from an old choir instrumental background tape from the 1970s written by a well known blind musician named Ken Medema which went with an album of his back then called "Listen." I was in a youth choir then and had the tape and kept it all these decades. You can get a copy of the matching LP on eBay. It won't be just the instrumentals but the choral version.

[@smwokie60]

One question I just have to ask Tom. Do you or have you worked for the railroad since? Have you ever had the chance to ride the train through the area you & your Dad worked on?

[@smwokie60]

Hello one more time. I am curious to know how old Tom Garret is today? Watching the videos I'm thinking around 50 something. I also want to let you know how much these videos bring back a lot of memmories for me. This is why I keep bugging you guys. Thank you all. Mark O.

[@EdMarkle]

Great to see your reply. I was probably 19 or 20. Jimmie George from Merrit was section foreman at Sky then.

[@ScenicDepot]

My dad was an operator at Merritt in the 1950s, and he recalled a teenage Jim George hanging around the depot sometimes. He lived in a house near there. You may have also known signal maintainer Don Walters, and Henry Cox who was section foreman in the Scenic district. They both lived at Scenic. The houses were torn down over forty years ago (needlessly).

[@EdMarkle]

@@ScenicDepot I remember Henry Cox. I worked summers at the GNRY from 1963 to 1968 while I was in college. Was a Fire and Slide Patrolman the last year following the trains up and down the hill in the dark on a speeder getting track time at the CTC shacks.

[@EdMarkle]

Also entered the Pioneer tunnel after hours with Kenny Denny’s son from Index. Hiked in about a quarter mile and dropped into the main tunnel through a metal door then ran like hell because a westbound was behind us. Just kids being stupid

[@ScenicDepot]

@@EdMarkle In the summer of 1965 I took a ride one evening with a young blond guy fire patrol from Scenic to E Sky and back, whose name I do not recall. It would be funny if that was you, but the year is wrong.

[@EdMarkle]

@@ScenicDepot I don’t know about the year, but I had reddish brown hair. All gray now!

[@edmarkle6772]

I was a gandydancer working on the Skykomish section in 1965 and remember working the Derailment

[@ScenicDepot]

I probably saw you there then. I was 8 at the time. They put in a shoofly as you will recall, there was enough space on the side to do it. The location was Tonga, which used to have extra tracks many decades earlier.

[@smwokie60]

I forgot I worked for the Wabash railroad when I was a lot younger & I had to work a wreck one year, it was pretty d---- cold.

[@ScenicDepot]

That I do not know. Sid's son just retired from the BNSF and he lives in Skykomish. He would not be hard to contact if you wanted to.

[@downallyourstreets]

what was with gn back in the 50's and derailments, in jim fredricksons photo books of railroading in washington nearly all the derailments were gn caused, a popular method was rear ending the other train

[@Jmsimer]

Got a question maybe somebody can answer. In a lot of films from this era particularly, the locomotives tend to look very dirty - lots of dark grime. Is this mostly because the exhaust was much dirtier in that era, was it because the railroads were strapped for cash and didn't clean or repaint their locomotives often, or was it a bit of both?

[@terryharrison9391]

Engines used out in the west, especially mountain area, didn't see regular service areas where wash racks were. PLUS, they were running thru tunnels and all that soot fell on units far easier then in the open. BNSD456400

[@robertmoir5695]

I find it a coincidence I remember seeing Great Northern Railway cars on a railroad spur in 1970 and did n t know The Great Northern Railroad was brought to extinction in 1970 I never will forget The Great Northern mountain goat ( Rocky )

[@Jesus_paid_it_all]

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. John 3:18 “He that believeth in Him is not condemned; but He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

[@dommopa4464]

I saw my 1968 cougar on an autorack

[@downallyourstreets]

big sky "blues"

[@MilwaukeeSDman]

you guys had it all! I hate you!(not really) You got to ride in the SDs & Fs! Im on LI I only got to ride in a DE30AC ONCE!

[@bradhardy2629]

Gee according to you old B.N. Guy's your rails were made of gold. Milwaukee Road was a better railroad . Too bad they had ex N.p. management running it into the ground on purpose.