BNSF News

BNSF Railway Foundation helps preserve historic rare railroad postcards

2013-07-16

The BNSF Railway Foundation recently helped the Montana Historic Society acquire a rare postcard collection that includes photos of BNSF-predecessor railroad depots and railroad promotional materials.

The collection includes roughly 32,000 postcards produced from the late 1800s to the 1970s, with the bulk of the collection produced before 1930. The collection features nearly 2,000 railroad-related images, including images of train depots that no longer exist.

"We are pleased the Foundation is able to help preserve these rare images that have played an important part of BNSF's and Montana's history," said Barbara Ranf, executive director, State Government Affairs. "This collection provides substantial visual documentation of Montana's history in the early 20^th century and includes images from well-known artists such as C.M. Russell, E.S. Paxson, J.K. Ralston and Charles Morris, as well as images from BNSF's predecessor railroads."

Many of the postcards are rare or one-of-a-kind, said Bruce Whittenberg, director, Montana Historical Society. The collection was assembled over several decades and would be difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce, he added.

"We appreciate the BNSF Railway Foundation's generosity in helping us to purchase this worthwhile collection," Whittenberg said. "We plan to use the collection for educational purposes and to encourage students to learn more about Montana's history."

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