BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, 33,400 miles (53,800 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995.
The Green River is a 65-mile (105 km) long river in the state of Washington in the United States, arising on the western slopes of the Cascade Range south of Interstate 90.
The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly 40 million acres of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction.
The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River. The railroad later built or acquired other routes in Oregon. The SP&S was merged into the Burlington Northern in March, 1970. Remnants of the line are currently operated by BNSF Railway and the Portland and Western Railroad.
The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service, arrived at their destinations.
Montana Rail Link was a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operated on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF Railway. MRL was a unit of The Washington Companies and was headquartered in Missoula, Montana.
Palmer is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Green River next to the Kanaskat-Palmer State Park.
Lester is a ghost town near Stampede Pass, just south of Snoqualmie Pass in King County, founded in 1892 by the Northern Pacific Railway. Lester is located along what is currently National Forest Development Road 54, on land owned by Tacoma Water, a division of Tacoma Public Utilities.
Weston is a ghost town in Washington State founded circa 1900. Located at the foot of the western 2.2 percent grade of the Northern Pacific Railway's climb up Stampede Pass to Stampede Tunnel, the town served as the western helper station on the pass, counterpart to Easton, Washington. Facilities included an engine house, telegraph station, water tank, turntable and some ancillary residences and eating houses.
Stampede Pass is a mountain pass in the northwest United States, through the Cascade Range in Washington. Southeast of Seattle and east of Tacoma, its importance to transportation lies almost entirely with railroading, as no paved roads cross it. It is approximately twelve miles (20 km) south-southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, the gap for Interstate 90, and two miles (3 km) south of Keechelus Lake.
The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.
Keechelus Lake is a lake and reservoir in the northwest United States, near Hyak in Kittitas County, Washington. Approximately fifty miles (80 km) southeast of Seattle and a few miles southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, it is the source of the Yakima River.
Logan is an unincorporated community in Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Logan can be accessed via exit 283 on Interstate 90.
The Meeker Southern Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad owned by Ballard Terminal Railroad Company LLC that travels approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) between East Puyallup ("Meeker") and McMillin, Washington, United States.
Nagrom is a ghost town in King County, Washington, United States.
The Puget Sound Shore Railroad and successor Northern Pacific and Puget Sound Shore Railroad built a branch line of the Northern Pacific Railroad between Puyallup and Seattle, Washington, U.S., and partially constructed a line around the east side of Lake Washington to Woodinville.
Kanaskat, Washington is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington, United States.
The Oregon Slough Railroad Bridge, also known as the BNSF Railway Bridge 8.8, is a swing-span, through truss bridge in Portland, Oregon, United States. Currently owned and operated by BNSF Railway, it crosses an anabranch of the Columbia River known as North Portland Harbor and historically as the Oregon Slough. The bridge's northern end is on Hayden Island, which, along with Tomahawk Island, forms the north shore of the channel. Completed in 1908, the two-track bridge is one of only two swing bridges surviving in Portland, which once had several bridges of that type, both for road and rail traffic. The only other remaining swing bridge in the Portland area is another rail-only bridge on the same line, BNSF's nearby Bridge 9.6, spanning the Columbia River.
Martin is an extinct town in the northwest United States, in Kittitas County, Washington. Stampede Pass is near to the west.
