ca. 1926. The Northern Pacific Railway yard at "D" St., Tacoma, circa 1926. Two men were posed in front of the roundhouse office locker room, left. The two boxes with stacks on opposite sides of the tracks were "blow-down boxes." The Hostlers or the Engineers would pull the steam locomotives up to the boxes, lining up the blow down pipe at the bottom of the boiler and would release a strong jet of steam to clean out any debris in the boiler. The boxes served to protect anyone nearby, the steam being directed into the box and up the chimney to vent where it could not scald anyone. The coaling tower is in the background. Photograph is labelled "NO. 2." (WSHS) (identifying information supplied by a former railroad employee) image NO. 1 scanned as A1867 image 1

Railroad tracks; Railroads--1920-1930; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad locomotives;

ca. 1926. Northern Pacific Railway Yard at "D" St., Tacoma, circa 1926. Photograph is labelled "NO. 3." A bridge and a factory can be seen in the distance. The roundhouse office locker room can be partially seen on the left. The boxes with stacks next to the tracks left are "blow-down boxes." The engineer would pull the locomotive up next to the boxes, so that the blow down pipe of the steam engine lined up with the box and release a strong jet of steam to clean out any debris in the boiler. The steam would be directed into the box and out the chimney, preventing anyone being scalded. (WSHS) (information provided by a former Northern Pacific employee) Image #1 scanned as A1867 image 1)

Railroad tracks; Railroads--1920-1930; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad locomotives;

Engine round house at Northern Pacific Railway, Elwin Barker. The Northern Pacific Railroad was created by Congress on July 2, 1864. Actual construction got underway in 1870 near Carlton, Minnesota. The railroad closely followed the route of Lewis and Clark. Then, after 13 years, the last spike was driven at Gold Creek, Montana, on September 8, 1893. (Pacific Northwest Railroads of McGee and Nixon, Richard Green)

Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad companies--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad roundhouses--Tacoma;

Northern Pacific locomotive No. 1783 rested on the turntable at the Northern Pacific Railway round house at 2211 East D St. in May of 1949. The round house was built in the late 1890s to service Northern Pacific's fleet of steam locomotives. Over the years, as the railroad companies switched from steam to diesel-electric engines, work at the round house dropped off. In the early 1970s the round house was closed down, and eventually demolished. The Reliance Lumber Company at 323 Puyallup Avenue can be seen behind the railroad facilities.. (TNT 11/30/1971 p.1) TPL-4421, TPL-3728

Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad companies--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad roundhouses--Tacoma;

Engine round house at Northern Pacific Railway, Elwin Barker. The North Coast Limited first went into service April 29, 1900. This passenger train was the pride of the Northwest Pacific. In the Pacific Northwest, the NP was the first railroad to offer sleeping and dining cars. As a passenger going from eastern Montana to western Washington, you would move across the flat lands of eastern Montana, across the Rocky Mountains, through valleys in Idaho and Washington, climb over the Cascade Mountains, and drop into the shipping port of Seattle. (Pacific Northwest Railroads of McGee and Nixon, Richard Green)

Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad companies--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad roundhouses--Tacoma;

Engine round house at Northern Pacific Railway, Elwin Barker. A side view of locomotive number 1783. In Washington state, the mainline crossed the Cascade Mountains at Stampede Pass, through Stampede Tunnel, 9,834 feet long built at an altitude of 2,852 feet. A switchback was originally used to cross the Pass until a tunnel was completed in May 1888. (Pacific Northwest Railroads of McGee and Nixon, Richard Green)

Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma); Railroad companies--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad roundhouses--Tacoma;