1971 BN Consolidated Annual Station Earnings

 Courtesy of Aaron Schwarz and the PNRA.  Originally posted on the Big Bend Railroad History Blog.

1976 Burlington Northern Spokane Division Locals and Switch Engines

 1976 Burlington Northern Spokane Division Locals and Switch Engines 

Info Courtesy of Aaron Schwarz and the PNRA. 

 Originally posted by Dan Bolyard on his Big Bend Railroad History Blog.

The Man in the Depot Dies....

 Milas "Jim" James Horton (1932-2022)

Pictured here in 2016, this former Waterville Railway Co. Depot was home to Jim for almost 60 years. This building also served as the headquarters for the Waterville Transfer Co., a local trucking company owned by Jim and his wife Muriel. They started the business out the the defunct depot in 1963 and ran it until 1979. Jim passed away last month at 90 years of age. Muriel preceded him in 2010. Rest easy Horny Toad....

1909 Mansfield Branch Mixed Train Troubles

1909 Mansfield Branch Mixed Train Troubles.

From the Jim Fredrickson Collection at PNRA.

Originally posted on the Big Bend Railroad Blog.

1909 Mansfield Branch Station Survey

1909 Mansfield Branch Station Survey

From the Jim Fredrickson Collection at PNRA.

Thanks to Aaron Schwarz for finding these documents.  

Originally posted by the Big Bend Railroad blog.

1909 Mansfield Business Inquiry Letter

1909 Mansfield Business Inquiry Letter

From the Jim Fredrickson Collection at PNRA.

Mr. Dwyer's letter is not available. Here is the response sent to him.

1909 Report On The Mansfield Branch

1909 Report On The Mansfield Branch

From the Jim Fredrickson Collection at PNRA.  

Originally posted on the Big Bend Railroad Blog.

Grain Warehouses on the Mansfield Branch

From the Jim Fredrickson Collection at PNRA.

Original post by the Big Bend Railroad History Blog.  Date of these documents are from approx. 1909.

Train Activity/Delay Reports for the Mansfield Branch Run

 Train Activity/Delay Reports for the Mansfield Local.  Filled out by the Conductor, Becky Jordan of Waterville.   

Feb. 1, 1981 Report

Dec. 29, 1983 Report

1909 Contract Between the WRY Co. and GNRY

Contractual agreement between the WRY Co. and the GNRY concerning the building of the Waterville Line.

Page 1 and 2

Page 3 and 4

1964 Maintenance Agreement

 1964 agreement between the Great Northern Railway Co. and Douglas County.

Replica station sign.

Drove the Last Train

George Mengelos drove the last train on the Mansfield Branch Line.

Great Book!

Great book put together by Dan Bolyard.  Dan is a blogger of history of the Big Bend Area Railroads and has now put it in a book.  You can find it on Amazon.com here. 

William 'Willie' M. Nollmeyer

I know this is not railroad related, but I thought this was worthy of posting.  Willie Nollmeyer was a staple of Withrow for many, many years.  He passed this last July at the age of 89.  His personality was infectious and he was interesting as hell.  He and his wife Shirley loved it when you came to visit and have a drink with them.  Withrow will never be the same.

These signs were just for fun and posted outside his house for years.  I was able to acquire them recently from his family.

Replica Railroad Station Sign

Finished aluminum sign.  Here are the plans for it.  Lamoine was never a place along the railroad.  Just a place I grew up.

Replica Railroad Station Sign

In the process of building a replica station sign for my place.  The sign is painted and letters will be going on tomorrow.  Pictures to follow.  Probably will have to wait until spring to put it in the ground.

Bridge Signs

Completed my bridge number and stream signs for my golf cart/ATV bridge. Based on GNRY 1950's standard plans for bridge and stream signs. The dimensions are scaled down from the original railroad specifications to keep them proportional to my bridge.  Here are the details for these signs.

1950's Great Northern Railway Standard Plans for Bridge and Stream Signs.

Building a Bridge

I'm in the process of building a golf cart/atv bridge at my farm.  I was given some very big timbers to work with so I decided to draw up some plans.  I was given (4) 12" x 24" x 25' timbers.  I don't think I will have any problems with it collapsing anytime soon.  I know this is not really railroad related, but I did try to incorporate into my design a bridge sign from GN standard plans.  I wanted to get a railroad type of feel.  

Great Northern Railway Section House Plans

Shown here are Great Northern Railway Section House Plans originally dated 1904 and revised up until 1916.  Provided by Bob Kelly of the Skykomish Historical Society.  Two of these structures still remain from the MB Line.  One sits next to the Mansfield Museum and the other resides in Alstown.