Life after Retirement

The locomotive on the front of this post card belonged to the Northern Pacific Railway. It is seen here at Spokane, Washington waiting to have some maintenance done. It is a 4-4-0 ("American type”) locomotive.

Washington railroads date back to 1851 when the Cascade Portage Railway opened six miles of railroad between Hamilton Island and Stevenson, Washington (the railroad operated until 1907). By 1883 the first of the “Hill” lines reached the Puget Sound with the Northern Pacific Railway opening its main line between Minneapolis and Seattle that year. By: Adam Burns from the website www.american-rails.com The Northern Pacific Railway (NP) is often overshadowed by the Transcontinental Railroad. The latter was completed by the Union Pacific (UP) and Central Pacific (CP) in 1869, running the 42nd parallel between Omaha, Nebraska Territory and Sacramento, California. It offered the West its first efficient means of transportation for greater economic opportunities. For all the Transcontinental Railroad's accolades, the NP carried its own great story. It undertook a similar endeavor to reach the Pacific Northwest but did so without the aid of federal loans. At first, it appeared the railroad would be built without difficulty as noted banker Jay Cooke secured several million dollars in financing. However, fortunes soon turned and the NP slipped into bankruptcy. As Northern Pacific languished it seemed unlikely the project would ever be finished. In time, several individuals stepped forward and oversaw its completion, thus establishing the first through route to the Puget Sound. After 1900, fabled tycoon James J. Hill gained control and the NP joined his so-called "Hill Lines" which included the Great Northern; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; and subsidiary Spokane, Portland & Seattle. After numerous attempts the four became one in 1970 when Burlington Northern, Inc. (BNI) was formed.

The post card was published by Railcards.com. I know nothing about the publisher.

Alco-GE Electric Locomotive in the Cascades

Last week, I posted what looked like an "olde tyme" effort at photoshopping a picture of an electric locomotive onto a railroad. The post card this week shows that same type of locomotive, but in a much more believable setting.

This looks like a real picture of a real train on an electrified railroad right of way!! Just like last week's picture, the locomotive has a rounded front and toward the back of the locomotive, the pantograph is very obvious. The headlight is in the same location on the locomotive, too. So this must be the real thing. When I turned the post card over I saw that the publisher was the manufacturer of the locomotive - General Electric!!

This train belongs to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; probably just like last week's. This one is traveling through the Cascade Range of mountains in Washington state. Operating conditions in the mountain regions of the Pacific Extension proved difficult. Winter temperatures of −40° made it challenging for steam locomotives to generate sufficient steam. Electrification provided an answer, especially with abundant hydroelectric power in the mountains. Between 1914 and 1916, the Milwaukee implemented a 3,000 volt direct current (DC) overhead system between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho, a distance of 705 km. Pleased with the result, the Milwaukee electrified its route in Washington between Othello and Tacoma, a further 333 km, between 1917 and 1920. This section traversed the Cascades through the 3.6 km Snoqualmie Tunnel, just south of Snoqualmie Pass. This last bit of information was taken from Wikipedia. This is what the entire back of the post card looks like:

The upper right-hand corner reminds me of a previous post titled: "Don't Do That!". Someone ripped the stamp off the post card, this ruining the value of the card to all but the die-hard collectors.

To Take Your Breath Away

There are two meanings to the title of this post. One is that the scenery must have been so beautiful as to take your breath away. The second one, which is the subject of this post, is that the tunnel in the Cascade Range of Washington state was so long that the railroad had a difficult time cleaning the air after a steam locomotive traveled through it. As a result of this challenge, they electrified the line as it entered and left the Cascade Tunnel.

Given one quick look at this locomotive a person might think that it is a very strange looking steamer. Upon closer examination, however, one can see that the locomotive is electrified. There are overhead wires and one can see the pantograph that brings the electricity to the motors. As I researched this picture to see what railroad was operating it, I discovered nothing about the engine. I think that it might be made by Alco-GE. The website http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGNElectricRosters.htm shows us that there were four 1,000 horsepower units delivered to the Great Northern Railroad. It goes on to say, "Great Northern's electric locomotives were confined to the Cascades, purchased to relieve asphyxiation problems in the Cascade tunnel caused by exhaust of steam locomotives. The initial class of four locomotives were confined to the Old Cascade Tunnel only, while the later models were used on the entire line-segment from Wenatchee, through the New Cascade Tunnel, to Skykomish. The Great Northern Railway rostered a total of 24 electric locomotives. The first four used a 6,000 Volt three phase electric system using two overhead wires and the rail as conductors. Power was taken from the overhead wires by means of trolley poles. With the opening of the New Cascade Tunnel and the enlargement of the electrified district a switch was made to a single phase 11,000 Volt system. Power was now taken from a single overhead wire by using pantographs, making for a less troublesome layout of the catenary system. Great Northern used 2 different paint schemes for its electric locomotives. All electrics were delivered in a Pullman Green livery except for the two W-1 class locomotives which arrived new in the Empire Builder scheme of orange and green separated by imitation gold stripes. All electrics, except the original 3-phase and Z-1 classes, were eventually repainted in Empire Builder colors. Electric operations started in 1909 with the opening of the first Cascade tunnel and ended on July 31, 1956 when the decision was made to force-ventilate the Cascade tunnel and run all trains through using diesel power, instead of upgrading the entire electrical operation, which was coming due. This method of force-ventilation is still being used today by BNSF."

The caption in the upper left-hand part of the picture on the front does confirm that this train is, indeed, in the Cascade Range in Washington state. It is hard to believe that this is a real locomotive. When researching the types of engines that ran through the Cascade Tunnel, I could not find one that had a round front like this one. Knowing that some publishers did their own style of photoshopping even back in the early 1900s, I suspected that this was the case here. But, next week's post will help to redeem this publisher and clarify where this picture might have been taken.

The publisher was the E. C. Kropp Company, a publisher and printer that began producing chromolithographic souvenir cards and private mailing cards in 1898 under the name Kropp. These cards were of much higher quality than those that would printed under the E.C. Kropp name. They became the E.C. Kropp Company in 1907 and produced large numbers of national view-cards and other subjects. Their latter linen cards had a noticeably fine grain. Sold to L.L. Cook in 1956 and they are now part of the GAF Corp. U.S.

A Trip to Washington State

This symbol is the logo from The Great Northern Railway; it was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th century railroad tycoon James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S. In 1881 Hill took over the 1856 charter of the Minneapolis & St. Cloud Railroad. He first used its franchises to build the Eastern Railway of Minnesota from Hinckley, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth. Its charter was liberal enough that he chose it as the vehicle for his line to the Pacific. He renamed the railroad the Great Northern Railway; the railway then leased the St. Paul Minnesota & Manitoba RR and assumed its operation. Hill decided to extend his railroad to Havre, Montana, west to the Pacific, specifically the Puget Sound at Seattle, Washington. He had briefly considered building to Portland, but it was already served by the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company and the Northern Pacific Railway. Hill's surveyors found an easy route through the Rockies over Marias Pass. The Great Northern was opened through to Seattle in 1893 using a temporary line over Stevens Pass. In 1900 the first Cascade Tunnel, 2.63 miles long, provided relief from the switchbacks and the 4 percent grades of the temporary line and lowered the summit of the line from 4,068 feet to 3,383

feet. As you can see in this image of a train going over a bridge over Deception Falls in Washington, today it is part of the BNSF Railroad:

The train in this post card belonged to the Great Northern Railway. It is going over the same bridge - maybe it has been upgraded - as the train in the picture above. They are both going over the bridge over Deception Falls, very close to where the golden spike of the most northern transcontinental railroad in the United States was driven. This is a description of Deception Falls I found on line:
"Lining the busy Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks, a block south of US-2, Skykomish is a quirky and engaging place that seems to belong somewhere else, some long time ago. Around eight miles east of Skykomish, a well-marked turnout along US-2 gives access to one of the region’s prettiest and most historically significant sites. On the north side of the highway, the parking area’s interpretive exhibits tell the story of the Great Northern Railroad, the transcontinental railroad which was completed on this spot in 1893. A plaque displays a photograph showing the driving of the traditional golden spike, while other exhibits discuss the construction and importance of the railroad in the growth of Puget Sound. If you’re not interested in railroad lore, head along the 100-yard-long paved trail that loops back under the highway to the powerful cascade of Deception Falls. Deception Creek crashes down a few steps, then glides over smooth rock under the highway and ends in a square, misty plunge before emptying into the Tye River. If you can stand the usually bone-chilling snowmelt, you’ll be pleased to find a number of deep and clean swimming holes in the area." The Falls are just over ½ mile long.

On the back of the post card it tells us that it was published by the Lowman & Hanford Company. The Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City refers to them as the Lowman & Hanford Stationery & Printing Co. They were a "publisher of books, greeting cards, and view-cards depicting scenes from Washington State and Alaska."

They were started in 1898 but we are not sure when they stopped business. They are out of Seattle, Washington, a perfect location for publishing this post card (being only 66 miles from the falls).

Of note to me is the red postage stamp in the image above of the back of the post card. It is a two cent stamp. The sender had to use it because he was sending this post card to Switzerland. I am fascinated by the fact that this post card went from Everett, Washington to Switzerland, came back to the United States and is now in a collection in Canada. Very international!!