Passenger Trains > Project 430 — Monday Morning Rail

We are fortunate in Ritzville in that our 1910-built Northern Pacific Depot is still standing.

I used the depot as a prop Monday morning, where I caught number 27 barreling through town at 6:06 a.m., which is about 1:06 late.

There were once additional railroad structures in town, including a freight station, and various of smaller out buildings. With one big exception, they're all gone.

That exception is the small building shown in then and now photos.

Back in Northern Pacific days, this was a storage place for flammables, complete with a warning on the door.

I'm not sure exactly what it's used for today, but it's sporting a new roof, and a solar panel.

The then photo is a NP company photo, now in the collection of the NPRHA. I snapped the now photo last fall.

Ritzville's depot is now a museum, focusing on railroad, and town history. We have a pretty cool collection; stop by and see us sometime.

The museum is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from noon to 4, and by appointment.

We also have a NP caboose, and an collection of antique farm equipment.

Project 430 — which refers to the time I set my alarm to in the morning to get out trackside in time —  is my ongoing summer solstice project to capture number 27 around Ritzville at sunrise. The project began in May, and will continue until sometime in July.        

---

---

---

Amtrak needs to make Ritzville a whistle stop, there is enough small communities around to make it worthwhile, last time they stopped there was when Mt st Helen's erupted when the roads were closed

Posted from iPhone