BNSF Railway has honored Pasco, Wash. with the inaugural BNSF Railway Heritage Award, which recognizes towns that embrace their past, present and future ties to freight rail.
“BNSF is proud to celebrate our shared history, future and partnership with the city of Pasco,” said Zak Andersen, Vice President Corporate Relations for BNSF. “Together we’ve grown the economy of the Pacific Northwest for over 100 years, and I can’t think of a better fit for the first Heritage Community Award than Pasco.”
Pasco Mayor Matt Watkins and members of the Pasco City Council joined Andersen for a presentation of the award on July 2, 2015. The award comes in the form of a model BNSF locomotive.
Dinner was served aboard the BNSF business cars, as the train traveled along the Columbia River. Guests included distinguished members of the Pasco business community, elected officials and senior BNSF leaders.
Prior to dinner, the evening was kicked off by a presentation of a $10,000 BNSF Railway Foundation check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties. In addition to financial support, BNSF employees across the network and in Pasco have donated many volunteer hours to the organization. Brian Ace, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs, thanked BNSF with a piece of artwork that was hand painted by kids from the clubs. U.S. Congressman Dan Newhouse also joined in the festivities recognizing BNSF for its continued commitment to Pasco, and to the Boys and Girls Club.
“I want to thank BNSF for their wonderful hospitality in hosting myself, councilmembers and other community leaders for a wonderful meal and spectacular ride through our region. Your additional donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs as well as rides for youth and community members who have never ridden on a train was also a great demonstration of your commitment to Pasco and the Tri-Cities,” said Watkins. “The model BNSF engine was a wonderful gift and will be displayed proudly at Pasco City Hall,” he added.
Pasco was a railroad town from the outset. Virgil G. Bogue, Principal Engineer of Northern Pacific (NP) Railway’s Cascade construction branch, named the town in 1881. Years earlier, Bogue had helped build a railroad in South America and named Pasco after Cerro de Pasco, located in the Andes in Peru. Pasco was established as an NP station in 1884 and incorporated on Sept. 3, 1891.
In 1889, Pasco made a bold bid to become the state capital. Although unsuccessful, the town of less than 500 inhabitants achieved statewide publicity for its efforts. In 1887, NP opened a temporary railroad bridge across the Columbia River from Pasco to Kennewick. Prior to the bridge’s completion, steamboats ferried cars and locomotives across the river. A permanent bridge was completed in 1888. The Pasco-Kennewick railroad bridge has been rebuilt and is now used by BNSF.
One of the most valuable early commodities shipped by the railroad was silk, which was most prominent in the 1920s and declined in the 1930s. NP also shipped crops grown in the area, including wheat and potatoes. Passenger trains, including NP’s premier passenger train, the North Coast Limited, frequented Pasco as well.
The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) was another important railroad in Pasco. SP&S was a joint venture by NP and Great Northern Railway (GN), both controlled by railroad tycoon James J. Hill. The railroad was completed from Pasco to Portland along the Columbia River in 1908 and the line was opened from Spokane to Pasco in 1909.
The completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the United States, in 1942 helped make Pasco a major agricultural center.
In 1955, Pasco became home to the first modern electronic freight classification hump yard in the Pacific Northwest. Classification yards are where railroad cars are separated into blocks of cars headed for individual destinations. These blocks are combined to form new trains.
A hump yard is inclined on both ends. When cars are mechanically released, they roll down the tracks into the proper section. The new $5.5 million hump yard provided more expeditious handling of increased traffic from the vast Columbia Basin agricultural empire.
Thousands of residents and visitors attended a dedication ceremony on June 21, 1955 that included speeches from NP President RS Macfarlane and Washington Governor Arthur Langlie.
NP steam locomotives Minnetonka, 684 and 5111 were on display for the celebration along with two diesel locomotives and a variety of freight cars.
NP and SP&S merged into Burlington Northern (BN) in 1970, which merged with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) in 1996 to form Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, now BNSF Railway.
Pasco continues to play an important role on BNSF’s network. More than 400 BNSF employees work in Pasco. While Amtrak has taken over passenger service, BNSF’s Pasco yard is a key component in the movement of over 1.5 million carloads of freight each year. This freight includes consumer products like clothes and appliances, agricultural products like wheat and potatoes, timber and manufacturing products.
BNSF is proud of its enduring partnership with Pasco, which has served as a critical link for economic growth in the Pacific Northwest for more than a century.