Welcome to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society!
The GNRHS is dedicated to the preservation, study, and history of one of America's greatest railroads, the Great Northern Railway.
To Society Members, we offer carefully-researched Reference Sheets, a quarterly GN Goat publication, an annual calendar, discounts on model kits, books, CDs and other items, and an annual convention to discover all that is the Great Northern Railway.
Our extensive GN archives are available for study of the Great Northern Railway.
Each quarter GNRHS members receive the 'Goat' package. It includes the GN Goat Magazine, a varying number of Reference Sheets and the Modelers' Pages. Next year's calendar is included in the September package.
For researchers the GNRHS Archives have historic documents and photos available on a wide range of subjects covering the Great Northern.
A large part of the information is accesible via the joint GN-NP Archives website, but researchers can also visit the Archives or ask our Archives staff to search for materials.
Many GN fans are also modelers of the Great Northern Railway. A great modeling resource are our Modelers' Pages, with the Goat and our Archives offering a great information source for researching modeling projects.
Included in the quarterly Goat package is the Modelers' Pages. Geared towards the Great Northern modeler it contains modeling articles, tips, new GN product announcements and a questions and answers section.
GNRHS Members enjoy many benefits like our quarterly Goat publication, our yearly convention, research materials, GN modeling information and discounts in the GNRHS Store.
Find great GN items in the GNRHS Company Store! Model kits, Goat Back Issues and Reference Sheets, Apparel, Stickers and more! Discounts available for members!
Welcome to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society
The GNRHS is dedicated to the preservation, study, and history of one of America's greatest railroads, the Great Northern Railway.
To Society Members, we offer carefully-researched Reference Sheets, a quarterly GN Goat publication, an annual calendar, discounts on model kits, books, CD's and other items, and an annual convention to discover all that is the Great Northern Railway. Learn more.
For researchers the GNRHS Archives have historic documents and photos available on a wide range of subjects covering the Great Northern.
For a quick overview of all the GNRHS has to offer, checkout the menu at the top of the page or choose a link for more detailed information. JOIN GNRHS now!
Tom and Francina Carr have been very busy reorganizing the postponed 2020 Nelson BC (Canada) convention, working closely with our friends at Canadian Pacific Historical Association:
• New dates are Saturday September 17 through Wednesday Sept 21, 2022. • Full registration package is in the March GOAT magazine, and also available online. Click here for a preliminary timecard. If you prefer to pay by check, you may click here to download a registration form. • We have organized various speaker presentations; time for showing and discussing train models and pictures; optional bus-tours (historical rail and non-rail) of this very interesting and historically significant area; a Meet and Greet Friday evening, a Burger buffet Monday evening, and a Convention banquet on Wednesday evening. The Nelson Heritage tramway will be available for free rides to our attendees throughout the convention • There will be a very interesting full-day historical rail bus-tour on Saturday Sept 17th, so you should arrive Friday Sept 16th if you wish to partake.
Thank you to all who responded to our recent store survey. We got much good feedback about possible new products, and will be proceeding with production of the N scale grain elevator and water tank with pump house.
Interestingly, five people asked for things that we already have in the store. We have been adding items as rapidly as possible, some custom and some from higher volume manufacturers like InterMountain and Accurail.
To keep up with what is happening, please check the store out at least twice per year to see what is there.
190 members enjoyed last month’s GNRHS Virtual Convention. The Board meeting had 33 attendees, the business meeting 39 (about the same as our live conventions!), and Bob Kelly’s Archives presentation drew 54 people. Other presentations averaged about 50 attendees. And the auction of 30 donated items raised about $4,000 for the Society.
We have good news if you weren’t able to attend, or if you’d like to rewatch a presentation: videos of the presentations are now available on the GNRHS YouTube channel.
This was a first-time experience for the Society – thanks to all who worked so hard to prepare, and to all of you who attended! We do look forward to putting the pandemic mostly behind us and meeting in person next year in Nelson, BC.