X-Nico

11 unusual facts about Northern Pacific Railway


Centennial Station

It was used by the pool trains that ran between Seattle and Portland by all three railroads that used the line, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Union Pacific.

Georg von Siemens

One of his top priorities was the financing of international railway projects, including the Northern Pacific, and the Baghdad Railway.

Harriet G. Walker

Later in life, Walker's husband would go to Minneapolis-Saint Paul to sell grindstones and meet James J. Hill when he was a young clerk who later was involved with the Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Horn Rapids Dam

When the company went under in 1896, the dam was bought by the Northwestern Pacific Company (a subsidiary of Northern Pacific).

Linton, North Dakota

As a result of losing its position as the county seat, and because the Northern Pacific Railway preferred the Linton location when they built a branch to the area in about 1897, Willliamsport ceased to exist as a community by the early years of the 20th century.

Medora, North Dakota

Medora was founded in 1883 along the transcontinental rail line of the Northern Pacific Railway by French nobleman Marquis de Mores, who named the city after his wife Medora von Hoffman.

Nagrom, Washington

Circa 1967, the city purchased the entire townsite of Lester, Washington, from the Northern Pacific Railway.

Nehemiah G. Ordway

On June 2, 1883, Ordway successfully moved the capital of Dakota Territory from Yankton to Bismarck with the assistance of Alexander McKenzie, an agent for the Northern Pacific Railway.

Samuel Morse Felton, Sr.

While at Pennsylvania Steel, Felton also served as a director of several railroads, including the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, the Northern Pacific Railway, and the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad.

Sentinel Butte, North Dakota

Sentinel Butte was founded in 1902 along the transcontinental rail line of the Northern Pacific Railway.

Taylor, North Dakota

Taylor was founded in 1882 along the transcontinental rail line of the Northern Pacific Railway.


2-8-8-4

The type was generally named the Yellowstone, a name given it by the first owner, the Northern Pacific Railway, whose lines run near Yellowstone National Park.

Cle Elum River

A Northern Pacific Railway station at the future site of the city of Cle Elum was named Clealum after the Kittitas name Tie-el-Lum, meaning "swift water", referring to the Cle Elum River.

David D. Bogart

He was born in Dawn Mills, Ontario, Canada and moved west with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway until it reached Missoula in 1883.

Dorothy, Minnesota

Dorothy initially was established as a railroad station in 1916-17 after the Northern Pacific Railway extended its line from Tilden Junction to Winnipeg and built a spur through Red Lake Falls.

Eastern Oregon

Shortly thereafter Henry Villard, who then controlled OR&N, moved aggressively to block entry of the then under construction Northern Pacific Railway into the Columbia Gorge.

Edwin Winter

Edwin Winter (born November 18, 1845) was president of Northern Pacific Railway in 1896 then president of Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, Brooklyn Heights Railroad and allied companies.

Francis Lynde Stetson

He became general counsel of the International Mercantile Marine Company, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Southern Railway, and the United States Rubber Company; also director in several railway companies and other corporations.

George Washington Cass

Cass joined the future Northern Pacific Railway as a director in 1867, four years before the company laid its first rail near Carlton, Minnesota.

Homestake Pass

The pass was discovered by Edwin Harrison McHenry, a civil engineer working for the Northern Pacific Railway, who was tasked with locating a route for the NP from the main line near Logan, Montana through to Butte.

Hugo, Minnesota

Originally settled by French Canadians, Hugo early on established itself as a refueling station for the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad (later the Northern Pacific Railway).

Nibbe, Montana

Once a station on the Northern Pacific Railway one mile west of the geological formation Pompeys Pillar, Nibbe was established as a town in 1920 along the Yellowstone River.

Northern Securities Company

The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and other associated lines.

Olympian Hiawatha

While the Milwaukee Road promoted the Olympian Hiawatha and its scenic route through Idaho and Montana's Bitterroot Mountains and the Cascade range in Washington, the railroad competed with the Great Northern Railway's Empire Builder, the Northern Pacific Railway's North Coast Limited and the growing airlines.

Pacific Northwest Corridor

The possibility of rail development along portions of the corridor route in Washington gained prominence when Abraham Lincoln signed the Northern Pacific Charter in 1864 establishing the Northern Pacific Railway with the charge of constructing a rail connection between the Great Lakes and Puget Sound.

Pickwick Restaurant and Pub, Duluth, Minnesota

John Fery also worked on the paintings and later became the artist for the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway.

Zillah, Washington

The town was named for Miss Zillah Oakes, daughter of Thomas Fletcher Oakes, who as president of the Northern Pacific Railway had backed the building of the canal.