Feliks Banel: Railroad history conferences in Everett are a metaphorical ‘golden spike’
Sep 11, 2024, 10:45 AM
Cars being unloaded from train at King Street Station, Seattle, ca. 1915. (Courtesy MOHAI)
(Courtesy MOHAI)
As much as they had in common, they used to not talk to each other very much.
They were two different groups, each with a deep and abiding interest in the history of one of two 19th century railroads that made an impact from the Midwest to the Puget Sound. But those days are past, and the two groups are collaborating, and their 2024 conferences are actually overlapping and sharing programs this week for a few hundred attendees at a hotel in Everett.
It might only be slightly exaggerating to say that the collaborative spirit and shared programming of the two groups amounts to something of a metaphorical driving of a metaphorical golden spike.
If you know even just a teeny bit of railroad history, you might know that the Northern Pacific chose Tacoma as its terminus in 1873, and that the Great Northern made Seattle its terminus about 20 years later. You might also know that both those railroads – along with a few others – merged to become the Burlington Northern back in 1970, which is now BNSF.
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Devotion to one railroad or the other is not always easy to explain, though it can relate to family history (perhaps a father or grandfather who worked for the Northern Pacific), to a love of one railroad’s graphic identity (such as the Great Northern’s Rocky the mountain goat), or to having grown up near a particular depot or set of tracks.
Whatever the core reason, the volunteer members of two different not-for-profit historical societies have been devoted, respectively, to each of those early railroads for decades, and now the two groups are working together.
The Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association’s conference is underway and runs through this Saturday at the Delta Hotel in Everett. Saturday also happens to be the first day of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society’s conference in the same location. For the first time in their history, the groups are intentionally overlapping and offering a free public program this weekend.
KIRO Newsradio earlier this week spoke with Kent Sullivan from the Northern Pacific group (who lives in Kirkland, which is old NP territory) and Bob Kelly from the Great Northern group (who made a trip with a young son years ago to Stevens Pass, which is old GN territory).
Which railroad is better?
The first question to ask was obvious: Which railroad is better, Northern Pacific or Great Northern?
“We don’t go there,” joked Bob Kelly. But, he continued, “we know lots of people who will go there.”
Joking aside, each of these two railroad history groups are about 40 years old, and they have actually been pragmatically collaborating quite a bit in recent years – most notably in creation of the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive in Burien.
However, overlapping conferences is new this year, and many railroad history enthusiasts – sometimes called “foamers” – are pretty excited to have a single hotel hosting both events back to back.
The work of the two groups is not only about nostalgia; many members are academic historians or serious amateur historians. They tackle research projects with rigor and professionalism, and their work helps make sure that artifacts and stories are preserved and shared. Without these groups, one-of-a-kind objects and archival materials – and the history – otherwise might just disappear.
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And the history is important to more than just the foamers.
Bob Kelly – he’s “Team Great Northern,” of course – says you can’t really overstate the impact that the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific had on so many aspects of culture, economy, politics and transportation in this region.
“The railroads coming to the Northwest really made the Northwest,” Kelly said. “That’s how you got here. There were no roads, there were few trails, unless you walked or had a horse or came by boat.”
That began to change in the late 19th century, Kelly says.
“You could come from the south when the Northern Pacific came in through Tacoma and set their headquarters up,” Kelly said. “You could come across the northern tier of the United States, across Stevens Pass into Everett and into Seattle with the Great Northern. There were some local roads also, but those were the two intercontinental connections for the greater Puget Sound area.”
Stepping back a bit, Northern Pacific fan Kent Sullivan says it’s not really a surprise that each of these two history groups is only about 40 years old.
150 year old legacy
Railroads have been an industry around here for 150 years, but the notion of the study of their history as a serious pursuit is much newer – and the timing of the founding of groups focused on the Northern Pacific and Great Northern might have something to do with that merger in 1970.
“So 15 or 20 years after” the merger, Sullivan told KIRO Newsradio, ”you’ve got people who actually worked for those railroads now retiring from the Burlington Northern. And so I think people started to recognize, ‘Hey, we better do something here, or that history is going to be lost,’ because people will move on with their lives and the natural course of time.”
It’s clear from the programs they offer and from each group’s website that they are outwardly focused. This isn’t only a social club; these dedicated volunteers are in the business of serving anyone with an interest in learning more, and they’re not about presenting only some sanitized, happy version of the stories.
“We try to be the first best place for resources, and we try to help people narrow their searches and make good use of their time,” Sullivan said. “But we’re not in the business of directing what they do with the material.”
“There was some questionable conduct culturally over the years” by the railroads, Sullivan continued. “But it’s not a good idea to bury that. You need to bring it out and get it ‘disinfected,’ you know, so that people can learn for the future.”
“Our approach is ‘everybody sees everything,’” Bob Kelly added.
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For those who can’t make it to the conferences but still are interested in local railroad history, both Kent Sullivan and Bob Kelly have recommendations of local places that can be visited year-round, many of which are free of charge.
Obvious destinations, says Kent Sullivan, include the two historic depots in downtown Seattle: King Street Station and Union Station.
“And then, of course, the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie,” Sullivan added. “The depot there is an original Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern depot from about 1888, which was before the Northern Pacific got involved, so it’s unique architecture, and they have one of the few operating Northern Pacific steam locomotives.”
The Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern was a local railroad which was ultimately absorbed by the Northern Pacific; much of its former route became the Burke-Gilman Trail and other so-called “rails-to-trails” corridors.
“The next thing I’d say probably is the Issaquah Historical Society,” Sullivan continued. “The depot they have preserved in downtown Issaquah is another Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern unique structure.”
A love for Great Northern
Bob Kelly’s recommendation is influenced by his love of the Great Northern.
“One of my favorite places is Skykomish, Washington,” Kelly said. “It’s about 50 miles east of Everett. When you pull in there, the thing you see when you come into town is the 1898 depot. It’s been refurbished and you can visit and walk around in there.”
“The main street is Railroad Avenue,” Kelly continued. “It’s the same place it’s been since 1893 when the Great Northern came through there. And there are buildings there that are 1900s buildings (and) they have a small museum, and it’s very accessible.”
For those interested in taking part in this year’s conference, the public event on Saturday is a swap meet at the Delta Hotel in Everett from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be 100 tables of railroad history for sale, including books, photos, artifacts and model railroad items of all kinds.
Both Kelly and Sullivan say that this year’s overlapping conferences are a bit of a warm-up for an even larger gathering next year in St. Paul, Minnesota. The 2025 event will included the Northern Pacific and Great Northern groups, as well as groups devoted to the other railroads which ultimately became part of what’s now BNSF.
Even non foamers can appreciate the significance of an event like that.
You can hear Feliks Banel every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. Read more from Feliks here and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks. You can also follow Feliks on X.
