The Railroad Collection

Written By Rebekah Davis

Our railroad collection consists of objects, archival documents and photographs relating to Bonner County although scattered here and there are items from railroads outside the area.

Railroad History in Bonner County

The Northern Pacific, building from Spokane east, reached Bonner County in 1881-2. The line crossed lake Pend d’Oreille on a long bridge, went up a sandy point, around the north end of the lake and then up the Clark’s Fork River and on to the east. The Great Northern built through Sandpoint from Bonners Ferry to Albeni Falls/Newport and then south to Spokane in 1892. The Spokane International built east from Spokane towards Coeur d’Alene and then north up the Hoodoo Valley and an easy crossing of the Pend Oreille River into Sandpoint in 1906. It continued on to Bonners Ferry and Canada. The Idaho & Washington Northern built south out of Coleman to Spirit Lake, Rathdrum and Grand Junction and north to Newport and then on up to Metaline Falls in 1907/08.

The Great Northern and Northern Pacific merged with the Burlington Railroad in 1970 to form Burlington Northern. The Great Northern line from Spokane to Newport was abandoned and the portion from Newport to Sandpoint was leased to the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad to serve the lumber mills along the river. The Northern Pacific from Spokane to Sandpoint remains in use as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (they merged in 1996) main and the Great Northern from Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe main to the east. The original Northern Pacific around the lake was leased to Montana Rail Link and is still in use to Laurel, Montana.

The Idaho & Washington Northern was absorbed by the Milwaukee Railroad in 1957 and later abandoned between Grand Junction and Newport. The Pend Oreille Valley Railroad operates the line to Metaline Falls.

For more information on the railroads in Bonner County see Take The Train To Town – The story of the railroads of Bonner County, Idaho by Paul Rechnitzer. It is for sale in the Museum store.

 

Railroad Collection

All lists are available to researchers on request in the original Microsoft Excel format for use as a sortable database. 

Objects

The object list is straightforward. Even where we do not know what railroad an item came from, they were given to the Museum by local citizens involved in the railroad industry.

  1. Object List
    Objects by Railroad (PDF)

Documents

The archival documents are divided into four separate lists.

  1. Spokane International (later Union Pacific)
    RR General SIUP (PDF)

  2. Northern Pacific (Later Burlington Northern)
    RR-General Index-NP (PDF)

  3. Great Northern (later Burlington Northern, although during that era, documents will mostly be found under Northern Pacific)
    RR General Index-GN (PDF)

  4. Other (Railroads not from the area and the Idaho & Washington Northern on the west side of the county)
    RR-General Index-Other (PDF)

Photographs

The photo list contains over 1000 items, Most photographs are available for purchase.

  1. Photograph List
    Railroad Photos Combined (PDF)​

 

Railroad & railroad services abbreviations used on the lists

​AAR – American Association of Railroads          
AMTK – Amtrak         
ACW – AC White Lumber
ALCO – American Locomotive Company    
BO – Baltimore & Ohio  
B – Burlington 
BN – Burlington Northern
CB&Q  – Chicago Burlington & Quincy  
BNSF – Burlington Northern Santa Fe  
​CP – Canadian Pacific
CNW – Chicago & Northwestern
​CEI – Chicago & Eastern Illinois
CR&N – Coeur d’Alene Railway & Navigation
CN – Canadian National
CO&G – Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad
CSS&SB – Chicago South Shore & South Bend
CP&I – Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Rail Road
​CEI – Chicago & Eastern Illinois
CStL&P – Chicago, St. Louis & Paducah
ER – Erie Railroad
EMD – Electro-Motive Diesel
GN – Great Northern
GRS – General Railroad Signal Company
GM – General Motors
Gray Line – Gray Line Bus
ICG – ​Illinois Central Gulf
Humbird – Humbird Lumber
ILR – ​Idaho Logging Railroad Company
IWN – ​Idaho & Washington Northern
​L&N – Louisville & Nashville​
MKT – Missouri, Kansas & Texas​
M&ST – Middlesex & Somerset Traction
MN&S – Minneapolis Northfield & Southern
MILW – ​Milwaukee Railroad
MRRT – ​Montana Rockies Rail Tour
MoPac – Missouri Pacific
MRL – ​Montana Rail Link
NKP – ​Nickel Plate
NH – ​New Haven
NP – ​Northern Pacific
NYC – ​New York Central
NY&P – ​New York & Philadelphia Traction
ORN – ​Oregon Railway & Navigation
PE – ​Panhandle Electric
​PNW – ​Pennsylvania  & Northwestern
POVR – ​Ponderay Valley Railroad
PRR – ​Pennsylvania Railroad
Pullman – ​Pullman
REAX – ​Railway Express Agency
RI – ​Rock Island
SF – ​Santa Fe
SI – ​Spokane International
SP&L – ​Sandpoint Pole & Lumber Company
SMRR – ​St. Maries Railroad
SPORT – ​Spokane Pend d’Oreille Rapid Transit
SP – ​Southern Pacific
SP&S – ​Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway
SR – ​Southern Railway
TPW – ​Toledo Peoria & Western
UP – ​Union Pacific
WAB – ​Wabash
​WU – ​Western Union

 

Newspaper abbreviations used on the lists

BCDB – ​Bonner County Daily Bee
CFT – ​Clark Fork Times
CDA – ​Coeur d’Alene Press
KCR – ​Kootenai County Republican
NWT – ​North-West Tribune
NIN – ​Northern Idaho News
PTJ – ​Passenger Train Journal
POR – ​Pend d’Oreille Review
SDB – ​Sandpoint Daily Bee
SNB – ​Sandpoint News Bulletin
SDC – ​Spokane Daily Chronicle
​S – ​Spokesman (Spokane)
SR – ​Spokesman Review (Spokane)

 

Curation made possible by a grant from the Union Pacific Foundation

Rebekah Davis