On April 29,1900, the North Coast Limited became the first of the great name trains to run from the Mississippi River to the West Coast.
Many changes were made between then and the final run on October 6, 1979 by Amtrak on the then combined North Coast Hiawatha. The replica that runs on the main layout at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum has been carefully built to represent the 1948 North Coast Limited.
Diesels were new to passenger service on the NP (Northern Pacific) and that was the year “Streamlined” passenger cars and paint job (known as the “Christmas Tree scheme) were introduced for service. These modern cars replaced the older “Heavy weight cars” as many of those dated back to the 1920’s or earlier.
The all-new train was so popular, by 1954 another up-grade in equipment, the introduction of Vista-Domes and the final color change to the two-tone green with a white stripe (the Lowey scheme).
A point of interest is that the Twin City Model Railroad Museum has selected this locomotive to be on its logo due in part to the fact that Bandana Square, known as the Como Shops, is where the Northern Pacific repaired and maintained their North Coast Limited and other passenger trains.
The shops were built in 1884 and operated until 1982 when the transformation and restoration to Bandana Square took place.