Editing Northern Pacific Railway (section)

===Frederick Billings and the first reorganization===
In 1877, construction resumed in a small way. Northern Pacific pushed a branch line southeast from Tacoma to [[Puyallup, Washington]] and on to the coal fields around [[Wilkeson, Washington]]. Much of the coal was destined for export through Tacoma to [[San Francisco, California]], where it would be thrown into the fireboxes of [[Central Pacific Railroad]]'s [[steam engines]] locomotives.

This small amount of construction was one of the largest projects the company would undertake in the years between 1874 and 1880. That same year the company built a large shop complex at [[Edison, Washington]] (now part of [[Tacoma, Washington metropolitan area|south Tacoma metropolitan area]]). The Edison Shops became the largest on the system for building and repairing freight cars due to the easy access of cheap lumber. The Brainerd Shops to the east remained as the largest locomotive repair facility throughout the steam era. Another shops / foundry site was located at the center mid-way of the mainline in [[Livingston, Montana]], which became the primary diesel engine maintenance facility after 1955. In [[St. Paul, Minnesota]] were the Como Shops, which maintained most of the passenger car fleet, and the Gladstone Shops, which closed in 1915.

On May 24, 1879, [[Frederick H. Billings]] became the fifth president of the company. Billings' tenure would be short but ferocious. Reorganization, bond sales, and improvement in the U.S. economy allowed Northern Pacific to strike out across the upper [[Missouri River]] by letting a contract to build {{convert|100|mi}} of railroad west of the river. The railroad's new-found strength, however, would be seen as a threat in certain quarters.