Locomotive.]]
The , running from
St. Paul, Minnesota to
Seattle, Washington — more than 1,700
Mile s (2,736
Km ) — was the privately-financed creation of the
19th Century Railroad Tycoon James J. Hill and was developed from the
St. Paul And Pacific Railroad . The GN route was the most northern transcontintal railroad route in the United States and was north of the
Northern Pacific route. The GN had branches that ran north to the Canadian border in
Minnesota ,
North Dakota and
Montana . It also had branches that ran to
Superior, Wisconsin and
Butte, Montana . The GN eventually grew to a system of over 8,000 track miles.
The GN mainline crossed the
Mississippi River on the
Stone Arch Bridge in
Minneapolis , near the
Saint Anthony Falls , the only waterfall on the Mississippi. The bridge ceased to be used as a railroad bridge in
1978 and is now used as a pedestrian river crossing with excellent views of the falls and of the lock system used to grant barges access up the river past the falls. The GN mainline reached the
Puget Sound at Seattle in 1893.
In 1931 the GN also developed its "Inside Gateway" route to California that rivaled
Southern Pacific's route along the
I-5 corridor. The GN route was further east than the SP route and ran south from the
Columbia River in
Oregon . The GN connected with the
Western Pacific at
Bieber, California .
In
1970 the GN became part of the
Burlington Northern Railroad in a merger. The GN's routes are now owned by
BNSF Railway .
" logos such as these often adorned the ends of observation cars on the ''Empire Builder''.]]
The Great Northern operated various passenger trains but the
Empire Builder was the GN's premier passenger train. The Empire Builder was named in honor of Great Northern's railroad tycoon founder James Hill, who was considered an "Empire Builder".
- Empire Builder ''Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle''
- Western Star ''Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle''
- Dakotan ''St. Paul-Minot''
- Winnipeg Limited ''St. Paul-Winnipeg''
- Red River ''St. Paul-Fargo''
- Gopher ''St. Paul-Superior/Duluth''
- Badger ''St. Paul-Superior/Duluth''
- Internationals ''Seattle-Vancouver, B.C.''
- ''Great Falls-Shelby'' RDC
- ''Seattle-Portland''
Today,
Amtrak's ''Empire Builder'' uses the line.
