Together, we’re saving a legend!
Northern Pacific Engine 1356, decorated for the holidays, headlight and numberboards shining!
Northern Pacific Railroad Engine 1356 is an icon of Missoula’s railroad history. The engine was placed on permanent display in 1955, after being donated to the city by the railroad. The 1356 represents over 100 years of community and story, including being a rescue engine in the 1910 fire. Friends of the 1356 have organized to cosmetically restore the engine so she’ll remain a proud symbol of Missoula’s railroad past.
1356 with headlight, number boards, semaphores lighted
Andrew Skibo decorating, Scott Wolff lighting the semaphores, and 1356 at night
Engine 1356 got her electrical installation done this year, so we can now have the headlight and number boards lit, lights for signage, and more. In celebration she got a holiday wreath and garland and Christmas lights—and her headlight and number boards shining shine for the first time in 70 years! Scott Wolff installed solar panels to keep the semaphores lighted all year.
Thanks to Garnet Ghost Town and the Garnet Preservation Association’s License Plate Grant, which funded our electrical work, and to Craig & Ellen Langel, Susan Campbell Reneau, the Skibo Family, Scott Wolff of Ironhorse Towing, PCI Electrical, Ace Hardware, North West Denture Center and Higgins Avenue Dairy Queen for contributing to our holiday lighting:
and special thanks to Mitch Dahl, Mike Seitz, and Andrew Skibo, for putting up the lights!
See us at Missoula’s Clark Fork River Winter Market at 208 Ryman St. on Saturdays this winter!
A railroad town, then and now: Photos from our 2026 calendar
Get our 2026 calendar AND a free 1356 ebook with your membership to Friends of the 1356.
Our calendar features Ron V. Nixon photos, some from the private family collection and previously unpublished, great “now” photos from Mitch Dahl, and other historic photos as well as links to profiles and memories of people from the railroading community. Each month links to a new page on this website with more about that month’s subject.
The ebook is a 1356 book in progress, being compiled and edited by local writers and historians with lots of great photos, community and history. The print edition is to be published this spring, but we’re giving the ebook edition to Friends of the 1356 members. Memberships start at $25; get yours here.
Above photos: 1. Mitch Dahl’s great cover photo of the historic Missoula Northern Pacific Depot. 2. 1907 Missoula dispatcher’s office, Museum of the Rockies RVN06988. 3. 1918 Missoula depot, looking east on Railroad Street. Robert Graham photo, RVN08791, and 4. 1955 dedication of NP 1356, RVN20071
What’s up next for NP 1356
Rebuilding the cab, repairs to the tender
We envision the 1356 in her future as a newly painted, well maintained attraction with lights, bell and whistle, an informational kiosk, an educational opportunity for kids to peek inside the cab (and adults too), and with community events surrounding her, but we need your support.
Our next goal is rebuilding the cab, which we plan to do off site this winter. We’re applying for a grant of up to $5,000 but we need matching funds; your donations will help us do this. Tender repair has been funded by our grant from Garnet Preservation Association and will begin this spring. Click here to donate on line or for our mailing address.
You can also help with a sponsorship. Sponsorships start at $500 and will include your information in our social media and on this website, as well as the sponsor’s name on a banner on the engine’s tender. You can contact us to find out more about becoming a sponsor or go to our donation page to contribute directly.
What the 1356 means to Missoula: Your stories
Philip Dahl worked on the 1356 as a fireman, including its last trip as a helper engine for the North Coast Limited to push the passenger train over Evaro Hill in 1954. Photo by son Mitchell Dahl, on the event of his dad’s retirement. Read about Phil Dahl, and see some of his son Mitch’s photographs, here.
Stories of the brakemen, the firemen, the engineers and their families, and the people of Missoula for whom the railroad was part of the fabric of life. The history of passengers she carried and businesses that depended on her. These are why the 1356 matters to Missoula. If you have a story or photos to share, perhaps a childhood or family memory, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us through the form below, or email stories@missoula1356.org
… and passing the stories on
Trains are magical for adults and children alike, and the 1356 still has plenty of magic, though its fires are out. The 1356, keeper of story and history, community and magic, needs to be preserved for our children.
- Mayor John Engen, May 9, 2009, Missoula 1356 Day
The 1356: A Brave Engine, is a children’s book about the history of the engine, a boy who loves her, and its role in the 1910 fire. Copies are available through our online store. Profits from books sold through the website go to Friends of the 1356.
The 1356: A history
The 1356 when she was a year old, posed in front of the coal dock in Spokane, Washington, in 1903.
Melberg photo, Museum of the Rockies RVN06916
Northern Pacific 1356 was built in 1902. First she pulled the NP’s North Coast Limited passenger service between Missoula, Montana, and Spokane, Washington. Later she was reassigned to branch line freight, mixed and passenger service, largely in the Missoula area and between Missoula and Wallace, Idaho.
The engine’s most famous story is her role in 1910 as a rescue engine, when fires raged across the northwest. In the Big Blowup, the 1356 pulled families from Idaho to safety in Missoula, driving through fires on both sides of the track. She worked through floods, through snow slides, and finally a wreck on the Bitterroot River in 1943.
Thirty-six of the 40 S-4 10-wheelers that were built were turned into scrap iron half a century later. The 1356 was saved by photographer Ron Nixon and William McLeod of Missoula when they convinced the NP to refurbish her and donate her to the city of Missoula as a static display.
Here is her history, with photographs, from the Summer 2006 Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association’s Mainstreeter.
Speak up for Missoula’s 1356!
Community response is an important part of grants, fundings and permissions. Please let us know by checking “yes” in the box below if you’d like to see this historic engine maintained. We’d also love to hear your questions, suggestions, and welcome your expertise. You can sign up for our mailing list here too. Please know that we’re working on volunteer opportunities. We’re especially in need of licensed contractors.
NP X1356E, with NP 1356, Class S-4 locomotive moving freight between Missoula and Bonner, MT, June 23, 1942.
Ron V. Nixon photo, Museum of the Rockies RVN11827
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Proceeds benefit the 1356 restoration
