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You are bidding on an original 1940 antique lithograph print of the "The 400 on the Stone Arch Bridge Crossing the Mississippi" in Minneapolis. The print measures 16" by 10" and is in excellent condition. The edges are very nice. This litho has been framed and not moved for all these years. (Yes, we have located more railroad memorabilia, so keep watching our auctions in the next couple of weeks.)

The Chicago and North Western Railway was chartered on June 7 , 1859 . It had purchased the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad five days earlier. On February 15 , 1865 , it officially merged with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad , which had been chartered on January 16 , 1836 . Since the Galena & Chicago Union started operating in December 1848, and the Fond du Lac railroad started in March, 1855 , the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad is considered to be the origin of the North Western railroad system.

The North Western had owned a majority of the stock of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (Omaha Road) since 1882 . On January 1 , 1957 , it officially leased the company, and merged it into the North Western in 1972 . The Omaha Road's main line ran from an interchange with the North Western at Elroy, Wisconsin , to the Twin Cities, down to Sioux City, Iowa , and then finally to Omaha, Nebraska .

The Stone Arch is among the top 5 masonry railroad viaducts in North America, and perhaps the crown jewel of James J. Hills railroading accomplishments.
Part of what makes it such a spectacular engineering feat, is the nature of the river in that location. Just a few hundred yards upstream, the river plunges about 40 feet, at St Anthony Falls. The force of the water has demolished numerous man made srtuctures placed in it's path, including a power plant, as recently as 10 years ago, yet the bridge still stands.
In the early days Minneapolis got it's start because of the river. Companies like Pillsbury and General Mills owe their existance to the river, which was harnessed to power their first mills along it's west bank.
In the early 60's, the Army Corps of Engineers built lock and dam #1, and removed a section of the stone work replacing it with with a steel truss. This allowed comercial navigation to move about 5 miles north to the Port of Minneapolis, between bridges 13 and 14.
is a vintage photo of the Stone Arch Bridge, with C&NW's 400 departing Minneapolis. Beyond the bridge are the mills.

This is one item of a very extensive collection from the estate of my grandfather who was born in 1892. He worked as a Special Agent (Co. Policeman) for the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific from the 1930's until the early 1960's. During his career he saved many advertising items given to him by the various Railroad Traffic Offices that were in Seattle . This includes Midwestern and Eastern railroads along with the local lines. T are many calendars, timetables, maps, posters, name train brochures, travel brochures and some hardware items that we will be selling. This huge collection has been stored properly, free from humidity (North Pole!), with no odors, and from a smoke-free home.

We pack very carefully and only ship Priority Mail or First Class service to minimize the handling of the package from Alaska. Please check our listings daily as we are moving shortly and want to pass these treasures to collectors that will really appreciate them. I'm not a railroad collector, but feel free to email and I will do my best to answer your questions.

Good Luck Bidding. All our items come from a smoke-free home. We are happy to combine shipping for like-items!

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