Growing up around the
Northern Pacific Railroad in the
1950's and 60's
When I was eight years old, steam was finished on the NP. Still, I have a few memories of the engines, thanks to my father, F. B. Thompson, who took me to work with him many times, took hundreds of photos, and stopped to train watch on many Sunday drives. They weren't really Sunday drives, on the extra board, you went on drives when you could! Over the years, I rode with him as often as possible, and became a decent photographer myself, although most of my photos are in the NP to BN transition era.
Over the years, several other railroaders have left me their collections of negatives and prints, and so now I have a large collection I'd like to share, along with some memories.
Nearly all the thumbnails have links to larger photos, just click on the picture!
One of my early memories, it must have been in 1956, was seeing the Timken, NP class A-1, #2626 at the Tacoma Union Station. Dad usually had the rolleiflex with him, and after showing me the engine, got this shot. This is the mid day train from Portland to Seattle.
Here you can see the enormous firebox on NP A #2601. This shot was taken by T. C. Miller, an NP engineer, in the early 50's in Portland Oregon.