Rails of the Northwest Through Time

Rails of the Northwest Through Time is a tour of Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, and Washington.

One hundred eighty-four photographs demonstrate the landscape, the structures, and the iron road that signified the "opening" of the Northwest United States. Each pair of photos illustrate a dramatic contrast between past and present.

Railroads featured are the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Spokane Portland & Seattle, with glimpses of the Union Pacific, the Oregon Trunk, and the Camas Prairie. A century ago in the Northwest, the railroad depot was the focus of town life. Its size and design proclaimed the importance of the railroad to the community. The train itself with its powerful locomotive and long line of cars was the magic connection with far-off exotic places.

Through coach window, riders from New York or Ohio saw scenery of a kind they had never seen before. Out west today, most of the depots are gone. A few surviving locomotives are in museums or city parks. The modest towns of a hundred years ago have become metropolises.

But the dramatic Northwest topography still rivals the grandeur of the Alps or the Asian steppe.