Locomotive.]]
The , running from
St. Paul, Minnesota to
Seattle, Washington — more than 1,700
Mile s (2,736
Km ) — was the creation of the
19th Century Railroad Tycoon James J. Hill and was developed from the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the most northern transcontinental railroad route in the United States and was north of the
Northern Pacific Railway route. The Great Northern was a privately funded transcontinental railroad, though some of its predecessor roads received land grants. The Great Northern was one of the few transcontinental railroads to avoid
Receivership following the
Panic Of 1893 .
The Great Northern was built slowly to create profitable lines before extending the road further into undeveloped territory. Contests were held to promote interest in the railroad.
James J. Hill used early promotional incentives like feed and seed donations to farmers getting started along the line. Contests were all-inclusive, from largest farm animals to largest freight carload capacity.
The Great Northern 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 Great Northern eventually grew to a system of over 8,000 track miles.
The 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 mainline reached
Seattle, Washington in 1893.
In 1931 the GN also developed the "Inside Gateway," a route to California that rivaled
Southern Pacific 's route between
Oregon and
California . 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 ; the Western Pacific connected with the
Atchison, Topeka, And Santa Fe in
Stockton, California and together the three railroads (GN, WP, and ATSF) competed with Southern Pacific for traffic between
California the
Pacific Northwest . With a terminus at Superior, Wisconson, the Great Northern was able to provide transportation from the Pacific to the Atlantic by taking advantage of the shorter distance to Duluth from the ocean, as compared to Chicago.
In
1970 the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific, the
Chicago, Burlington And Quincy Railroad and the
Spokane, Portland And Seattle Railway merged to form the
Burlington Northern Railroad , today part of the
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 founder James J. Hill, who was known as the "Empire Builder."
- '' Empire Builder '' Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle-Portland
- '' Oriental Limited '' Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle
- '' Western Star '' Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle-Portland
- ''Dakotan'' St. Paul-Minot
- ''Winnipeg Limited'' St. Paul-Winnipeg
- ''Red River'' Grand Forks-St. Paul
- ''Gopher'' St. Paul-Superior/Duluth
- ''Badger'' St. Paul-Superior/Duluth
- ''Internationals'' Seattle-Vancouver, B.C.
- ''Cascadian'' Seattle - Spokane
RDC Great Falls-Shelby, Great Falls-Billings, Great Falls-Butte
- Train Nos. 407-408, Seattle-Portland
Today,
Amtrak's ''
Empire Builder '' uses the line, running mostly on ex-GN trackage (between the Twin Cities terminal and St. Cloud, Minnesota; Moorhead, Minnesota and Sandpoint, Idaho, and between Spokane, Washington and Seattle).
