St. Regis, Montana, a point at which the Milwaukee Road crosses over Northern Pacific in this scene, saw its first rail connection to the outside world with the completion of the NP "Coeur d' Alene Branch".  This line, shown as the diverging route in the foreground, was completed in December 1890 over the 4% grades of Lookout Pass and on to serve the mining interests in the Wallace, Idaho area, 80 miles to the west. A segment of track west of St. Regis was abandoned due to heavy flooding in 1933, necessitating trackage rights over the Milwaukee for 18.7 miles to Haugan. This lasted until Burlington Northern abandoned the entire line to Wallace in September 1980. The remnant of this line survived into the late 1980s as a short spur at St. Regis.
  In February 1909 the Northern Pacific completed an extension of track west to Paradise to connect with the mainline. This created a new water level grade along the Clark Fork River for freight traffic to avoid the heavy grades encountered on NPs original mainline over Evaro Hill, just west of Missoula.  St. Regis was now a mainline train order station witnessing the passage of most NP transcontinental freight traffic, although the route was some 28 miles longer than the original line. 
  Enter the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound, a Milwaukee Road predecessor, which began operations on its "Pacific Extension" through St. Regis in May 1909. Like the NP, Milwaukee also had the challenge of a mountain grade to the west. The summit of St. Paul Pass, at East Portal, was some 33 miles distant with the last 15 miles rising on a 1.7% grade. 
Electrification was completed through St. Regis in 1916 and for the next 58 years the various classes of Milwaukee electric locomotives could be seen crossing over the NP and the Clark Fork River. Sadly the electrics faded from the scene in 1974 and the Milwaukee itself departed from St. Regis forever in March 1980.
  This scene, circa 1968, depicts two trains of the competing railroads grabbing train orders "on the fly" during their respective westward journeys.
The NP operator has copied orders from each road's dispatchers for delivery to their trains. NP's new 3600 horsepower SD45s are accelerating on to Paradise while the conductor in the Milwaukee caboose is about to snag his orders.

Northern California's Mt. Shasta, at an elevation of 14,380 feet, towers over a Southern Pacific eastbound train as it passes the siding known as Andesite at milepost 360.7 (mileage from San Francisco).
  This portion of the Shasta Division, Black Butte District, stretches from Dunsmuir north 105 miles to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Trackage flanking the north face of the snowy peak was completed in 1926 as part of a  lower grade alternate to the heavy grades encountered on the original Siskiyou line in Oregon.
  In this scene, SP 8234. and EMD SD40T-2, is in charge of a train of general merchandise and empty cars bound for Klamath Falls, Eugene, Portland and points north in February 1989. This train, although proceeding generally northward, is actually considered and eastbound by the SP which uses its headquarters in San Francisco as a reference to train direction. It has but eight more miles to climb before attaining the highest point of the Shasta route at Grass Lake, elevation 5,063 feet, then easing downgrade to Klamath Falls for a crew change.
   Although the scenery remains as breathtaking, the face of railroading has changed dramatically with the Union Pacific takeover of Southern Pacific. 

The Canadian Parliament had withstood nearly ten years of debate, when on February 1, the Canadian Railway Bill of 1881 was finalized. When all was said and done, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was a reality. On November 7, 1885, the last spike of the railway’s transcontinental line was 
driven near Craigellachie, British Columbia.
   That line cut through the stunning Rocky Mountains of what is now Banff National Park. The glaciated peaks dwarf most mortals, but to the men who explored and surveyed them, they were spectacular conquests. 
   To William Cornelius Van Horne, the American born general manager of the CPR, the towering crags and remarkable vistas were a business opportunity. “Since we can’t export the scenery,” said Van Horne, “we shall have to import the tourists.”
The Canadian government shared the railway’s enthusiasm: the government 
would reserve the land, and the railway would transport tourists to the parks and provide dining and lodging accommodations.
   By 1887, the first national park was established near recently discovered hot springs, and a year later, the CPR had built the Banff Springs Hotel. Guests arrived by rail to the Banff station for a stay at the hotel or the equally opulent Chateau Lake Louise. 
   Spurred by tourists’ demands for accommodations in the far reaches of the Rockies, a series of tent camps was set up by the CPR. Many of these temporary shelters evolved into log bungalow camps including two “camps deluxe,” Emerald Lake Lodge and Lake O’Hara Lodge. Trail and bridle systems were cut to bring tourists into the backcountry, creating one of the great hiking and riding trail systems in the world. Swiss guides, hired by the CPR, led climbing parties from its hotels. 
   Today, tourists can still arrive by rail to Banff. They can wallow in luxury at the Banff Springs Hotel or Chateau Lake Louise, spend a few nights at a “camp de luxe” then hike to Twin Falls Chalet or helicopter to Mount Assiniboine Lodge. And they can thank the CPR, whose vision rarely wavered in those halcyon days of exploration and adventure.
 

The Dynamometer Car was designed and built by the Milwaukee Road at the Milwaukee Shops in 1930. It is 60’ long and weighs 77.5 tons. It was designed by Vern Green and Mr. Leonard Lentz to go over a mountain. It is said by some to be the strongest car ever built with structural supports every 12-18” throughout the car.
   Originally built to measure steam locomotive performance, the car was upgraded in 1969 with modern electronic measuring equipment.