Photos & Videos Photos Great Passenger Trains Spokane Portland and Seattle passenger trains

Spokane Portland and Seattle passenger trains

By Angela Cotey | August 11, 2022

Images of passenger service on "The Northwest's Own Railroad"

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Spokane Portland and Seattle passenger trains: All through August 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway.

A steam engine and train on a tall wooden bridge
A black and white photo of a person walking by passenger cars
A passenger train on a narrow track surrounded by water
A passenger train in Portland, Oregon
A black and white photo of a passenger train on a gloomy day
A passenger train at a station
A black and white photo of a steam engine on a wooden bridge
a steam engine in front of a patch of woods
Two diesel locomotives in front of a train station
Chesapeake and Ohio
A black and white photo of the back of an observatino car
A yellow diesel locomotive pulling cars through a train yard
a black and white photo of two diesel locomotives back to back
A black and white photo of a passenger train rolling through a flatland area
a black and white photo of a train with a steam engine in front of a hill and trees
a steam engine in front of a patch of woods
Two diesel locomotives in front of a train station
Chesapeake and Ohio
A black and white photo of the back of an observatino car
A yellow diesel locomotive pulling cars through a train yard
a black and white photo of two diesel locomotives back to back
A black and white photo of a passenger train rolling through a flatland area
a black and white photo of a train with a steam engine in front of a hill and trees
A steam engine and train on a tall wooden bridge
A black and white photo of a person walking by passenger cars
A passenger train on a narrow track surrounded by water
A passenger train in Portland, Oregon
A black and white photo of a passenger train on a gloomy day
A passenger train at a station
A black and white photo of a steam engine on a wooden bridge
Farewell-to-steam special
4-8-4 No. 700 with farewell-to-steam excursion at North Bonneville, Wash., on return trip to Portland, May 20, 1956.
Joseph Sweeney

The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was the product of sparring during 1905-1909 between “Empire Builder” James J. Hill of the Great Northern and Edward H. Harriman of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, by which Hill’s GN, as well as Northern Pacific (which Hill controlled at the time), got much-improved access to Portland, while UP got access to Seattle. The fight continued after Harriman’s death in 1909, with Hill extending SP&S into Oregon to allow GN’s eventual access to California by connection to Western Pacific. GN and NP owned the SP&S 50-50 and in the 1920s considered running it as a joint facility with no separate identity, but decided not to because on-line people viewed it as a local enterprise, to be supported instead of “outsider” lines UP and SP — hence its slogan, “The Northwest’s Own Railway.” — Jerry A. Pinkepank

Please enjoy this photo gallery of Spokane Portland and Seattle passenger trains, originally published online in 2017.

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