Precourser to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

The locomotive on the front of this post card is pulling freight near Minneapolis, Minnesota on the Great Northern Railway. The Great Northern Railway was built from several other railroads and has morphed

over the years by being combined with several other railroads. That is why the title of this post says what it says. The information about the Great Northern Railway is taken from this website: https://www.gnrhs.org/gn_history.php The Great Northern Railway was created in September 1889 from several predecessor railroads in Minnesota and eventually stretched from Lake Superior at Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul west through North Dakota, Montana and Northern Idaho to Washington State at Everett and Seattle. Headquarters for the line were located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The line was the culmination of one man's dream, James Jerome Hill, the "Empire Builder" so-called because of his ability to create prosperous business where none previously existed. On March 23rd of this year, I wrote about Mr. Hill’s corporate battle with E. H. Harriman and his control over the Oregon territory through the Union and Southern Pacific Railroads. In 1951 the railway’s system was 8,316 miles in length, its trains carry freight, passengers, mail and express in the area between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. The railway operates in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California, and in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia. The following four railroads merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on March 2, 1970: • Great Northern Railway • Northern Pacific Railway • Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad • Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway In 1996 the Burlington Northern Railroad merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

The picture of the train was taken by Bob Fremming out of Dallas, Wisconsin. In the blog post of August 20, 2020 I mention another Fremming that also likes post cards and trains. And, before that, in the November 16, 2011 post I gave reasons why I think these two people are related. This the back of the post card. Bob Fremming's name and location are what form the line between the address and the correspondence. There is a "5-56" At the top-center of the post card's back. I wonder if that means that this was published in May of 1956???

Retired to New Mexico

I thought that I had marked in the binders all of the post cards about which I have blogged in the past. I found this one that did not have a "posted" sign on it. So I did a bit of research to see what I could find about the engine of the front. It turns out that this is a "Northern" type of locomotive in the 4-8-4 Whyte Locomotive Classification chart. I delved into its history: It was built for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company in the mid 1940s. It is almost 37 meters (over 120 feet) long. It was built so big so that it could have a larger firebox to build up more power to get it through the mountains. It is called a "Northern" type of locomotive because it was first ordered by the Northern Pacific Railway (from 1864 to 1970, when it and others became the Burlington Northern Railway). This particular locomotive saw its last days of service out of its home base of Belen, New Mexico. It helped scheduled trains to get through the mountain passes, particularly Abo Pass. Albo Pass is 1,759 meters (5,770 feet) above sea level in the Manzano Mountains. This locomotive was reassigned, with a few of its "sisters", to Belen. It was retired from service on July 4, 1957, the first of the group to be retired.

This is the back of the post card. It almost looks amateurish. The stamp that says, "PHOTO POST CARD" is crooked; the printing of the publisher's name is too small and too close to the line and that line is also at an angle; the "ADDRESS" stamp is not very dark. I did look into the publisher. L. Fremming and his brother, Bob, are from Wisconsin. There is history of them working together in Chetek. I found a post card on line published by the Fremming Brothers. I even have almost 20 post cards published only by Bob Fremming. I only have two from L. Fremming. I must admit that in my research I found out that I had posted about L. Fremming's post cards before. On November 16, 2011 I had asked if two post cards were relatives. It turns out that they were. This is the other post card:

It is a Southern Pacific locomotive. It seems that L. Fremming must have left Wisconsin to move to Washington state and try his hand at what he knew best: publishing post cards. I think he succeeded. I wish I had more of his.
If you would like to see a Northern type of locomotive up close, there is one on static display in Coronado Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico.