General Resources
Steam Locomotives
Diesel Locomotives
Freight Cars
Passenger Cars
MoW & Work Outfit Cars
Cabooses
Trucks Trailers & Buses
Miscellaneous
Resources for many different types of Northern Pacific equipment.
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This collection of scans presents a nearly-complete listing of NP equipment--boxcars, stock cars, flat cars, ore cars, tank cars, MoW equipment, etc. from an official NP Numerical Equipment Register. NP subsidiaries Gilmore & Pacific, Lake Superior Terminal & Transportation Co., Minnesota & International Rwy., and other smaller companies are included. Each record contains the builder, build date, authorization number, disposition, and disposition date. Note: We also have scans of similar register pages from BN-era equipment not posted here. Contact us for further information. |
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Part 1 of this 2018 presentation by Dean O'Neill begins with an overview of drawing standards the NP employed plus a definition of standard NP drawings and sketches, then provides a look at the various types of equipment drawings produced by NP's Mechanical Dept. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides access to thousands of scanned NP mechanical drawings. At this time, we do not have a comprehensive index of those drawings. (See also Part 2.) |
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This ledger appears to show the status of various in-progress NP capital projects, including many for various kinds of NP equipment. It is very deinititely not a comprehensive list of all approved projects but may be of use for certain types of research. Note: AFE = Authorization for Expenditure, the standard process used by the NP to propose and approve (or reject) all significant expenditures. Note: To best navigate this large PDF, a table of contents is provided using Acrobat's bookmarking feature. In most PDF viewers, the bookmarks panel will open automatically. Note: For each project listed, its type is indicated using its ICC account code. |
Information on the steam locomotives operated by the NP.
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Table |
A roster of all steam locomotives that served on the Northern Pacific after 1907. Update 2026-02: ICC account 51 cards from 1916 and later are included, where available. |
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Specifications of NP steam locomotives. Update 2026-02: Class diagrams are now part of this table. Older classes have also been added. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 includes 12 different steam loco diagram books, from 1883 through 1952. |
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NP steam loco tender diagrams from an official diagram book. |
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Monthly reports that list locomotive assignments for each NP division. There are significant gaps in coverage. Contributed by Jim Fredrickson and Walt Ainsworth. |
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Explore the many steam locomotive photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on the diesel locomotives operated by the NP.
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Table |
Roster of Northern Pacific Diesel Locomotives. |
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NP diesel locomotive diagrams from an official diagram book. |
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Monthly reports that list locomotive assignments for each NP division. There are significant gaps in coverage. Contributed by Jim Fredrickson and Walt Ainsworth. |
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Explore the many diesel locomotive photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on the freight cars owned and/or leased by the Northern Pacific Railway.
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Description |
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Table |
All-time roster of NP freight cars. Compiled by Matt Herson. |
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Table |
Freight cars in NP service during 1908, 1909, and 1910. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Freight cars in NP service during 1928, 1929, and 1930. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Freight cars in NP service during 1938, 1939, and 1940. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Freight cars in NP service during 1948, 1949, and 1950. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Freight cars in NP service during 1958, 1959, and 1960. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Freight cars in NP service during 1969 and 1970. Compiled by Lynn Francis, from one Official Railroad Equipment Register from each of those years. |
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Diagrams of box cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of flat cars and log cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of gondola cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of hopper cars and ore cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of refrigerator cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of stock cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of tank cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Diagrams of wood chip cars and wood rack cars owned by the Northern Pacific, from an official diagram book. |
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Explore the many freight car photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on the passenger cars owned and/or operated by the NP.
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Description |
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| List | The all-time roster of streamlined and lightweight passenger equipment operated by the Northern Pacific. |
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NP passenger train consists, car rosters, and other information compiled from John Strauss's NP pictorial books, published by Four Ways West Publications. |
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Explore the many passenger car photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on NP maintenance-of-way (MoW) and work outfit cars.
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Description |
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MoW equipment and work outfit car diagrams, from an official NP diagram book. |
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Explore the many MoW equipment and outfit car photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on NP cabooses.
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Description |
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Caboose diagrams, from an official NP diagram book. |
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Explore the many caboose photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress--only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's diesel locomotive photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on trucks, trailers, and buses owned and/or leased by the NP.
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Description |
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Table |
Northern Pacific Transport (NPT) trailers on lease to the NP as of July 1969, compiled by Lynn Francis. |
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Explore truck and trailer photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress-- only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's truck and trailer photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
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Explore bus photos held by the NPRHA. Update 2026-02: Going forward, all photographs held by the NPRHA will be cataloged on the Railroad Archives Online site. This is a work in progress-- only a fraction of the collections is available now but more are being added regularly. Note: The Vista Dome Package 2025 provides all of the NPRHA's bus photos (as of December 2025) in high-res JPEG format. Individual scans may be purchased through the NPRHA Company Store. |
Information on other equipment topics.
Resource |
Format |
Description |
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Table |
All-time roster of NP gas-electric and rail-diesel cars operated by the Northern Pacific, compiled by Lynn Francis. |
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Table |
Roster of NP-owned miscellaneous equipment supporting company operations, from 1947 and 1968, compiled by Lynn Francis. |
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1929 Railway Age article about the NP's Dynamometer Car No. 276, built by Como Shops in 1928. |