After the turn of the century the Northern Pacific had a record of steady improvement.
Together with the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific also gained control of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, gaining important access to Chicago, the central Middle West and Texas, as well as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, an important route through eastern and southern Washington.
Its physical plant was upgraded continuously, with double-tracking in key areas, and automatic block signaling along its entire main line.
This in turn gave way to centralized traffic control, microwave and radio communications as time progressed.

The Northern Pacific maintained and continuously upgraded its equipment and service.
The road helped pioneer the 4-8-4 Northern type steam engine and the 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone.
 It was among the first railroads in the country to adopt diesel power beginning with General Motors’ FTs in 1944.

 
The Northern Pacific's premier passenger train, the North Coast Limited was among the safest and finest in the nation, suffering only one passenger fatality in nearly seventy years of operation.

By 1900, most of the remaining land-grant holdings were located west of Montana, in the "western district."
The railroad still hoped to sell this land, both to provide operating funds and to populate the region to provide new markets to sustain the railroad.
Nearly all the good farm land had been sold, leaving large tracts of grazing land or timber.
The grazing acreage was poor quality, and difficult to sell.
However, the timber lands were of high quality; much of these were sold to Frederick Weyerhaeuser.
After the turn of the century the Northern Pacific had a record of steady improvement. Together with the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific also gained control of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, gaining important access to Chicago, the central Middle West and Texas, as well as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, an important route through eastern and southern Washington. Its physical plant was upgraded continuously, with double-tracking in key areas, and automatic block signaling along its entire main line. This in turn gave way to centralized traffic control, microwave and radio communications as time progressed.
The Northern Pacific maintained and continuously upgraded its equipment and service. The road helped pioneer the 4-8-4 Northern type steam engine and the 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone.  It was among the first railroads in the country to adopt diesel power beginning with General Motors’ FTs in 1944.
 
The Northern Pacific's premier passenger train, the North Coast Limited was among the safest and finest in the nation, suffering only one passenger fatality in nearly seventy years of operation.
By 1900, most of the remaining land-grant holdings were located west of Montana, in the "western district." The railroad still hoped to sell this land, both to provide operating funds and to populate the region to provide new markets to sustain the railroad. Nearly all the good farm land had been sold, leaving large tracts of grazing land or timber. The grazing acreage was poor quality, and difficult to sell. However, the timber lands were of high quality; much of these were sold to Frederick Weyerhaeuser.
Northern Pacific Railway