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Vintage train ride gives BNSF workers, families a treat

Parker Adams, 6, takes in the view from a 1950s-era BNSF Railway observation car Wednesday. About 200 BNSF workers, their families and friends took a special employee-appreciation train ride from Spokane to Cheney and back on 15 vintage passenger rail cars. (PHOTOS BY COLIN MULVANY)
Parker Adams, 6, takes in the view from a 1950s-era BNSF Railway observation car Wednesday. About 200 BNSF workers, their families and friends took a special employee-appreciation train ride from Spokane to Cheney and back on 15 vintage passenger rail cars. (PHOTOS BY COLIN MULVANY)
By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com(509) 459-5454

Employees of BNSF Railway in the Spokane region are getting a close-up look this week at the history of their company.

The railroad has brought a passenger train with 15 vintage cars to Spokane for a series of two-hour excursions as part of an employee appreciation special through today.

The 12-stop tour began last month in Everett and will end Wednesday in Glasgow, Montana.

About 200 employees, family members and friends boarded the train Wednesday for an out-and-back ride on the former Northern Pacific Railroad line to the countryside southwest of Cheney.

The historic Northern Pacific was Spokane’s first transcontinental railroad and was one of the lines that was merged into what today is the BNSF.

For many of the younger people aboard, it was their first ride on a passenger train.

Trace Hinkle, 8, said his favorite part was going over the bridge.

Railroad workers talked about the web of historic rail lines that runs through the area and recalled how rail transportation has changed over time. Three separate lines ran side-by-side from Spokane to Cheney. One of those rights of way was turned into the Fish Lake Trail.

The employee special is made up of stainless-steel coaches, a dome car, diners, club cars and sleepers all dating to the 1950s. The railroad hooked a new 4,400-horsepower General Electric locomotive to each end of the train to provide the power.

The vintage stock is sent to different parts of the BNSF system each year to treat its employees to the fun get-together.

“It beats a company picnic,” said Gus Melonas, regional spokesman for BNSF, who was aboard the train.

The employee special was last in the Spokane area a decade ago.

“The railroads have such a significant role in the development of this area,” Melonas said. “It’s a chance to relive that.”