Great Northern Railway (U.S.)
Reporting mark | GN |
---|---|
Locale | |
Dates of operation | 1889–1970 |
Successor | Burlington Northern Railroad |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Length | 8,368 miles (13,467 km) |
The Great Northern Railway (
In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged with three other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, which merged in 1996 with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
History
Year | Traffic |
---|---|
1925 | 8,521 |
1933 | 5,434 |
1944 | 19,583 |
1960 | 15,831 |
1967 | 17,938 |
The Great Northern was built in stages, slowly creating profitable lines, before extending the road further into undeveloped Western territories. In a series of the earliest public relations campaigns, contests were held to promote interest in the railroad and the ranchlands along its route. Fred J. Adams used promotional incentives such as feed and seed donations to farmers getting started along the line. Contests were all-inclusive, from the largest farm animals to the largest freight carload capacity, and were promoted heavily to immigrants and newcomers from the East.[1]
The very first predecessor railroad to the company was the
The Great Northern had branches that ran north to the Canada–US border in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. It also had branches that ran to Superior, Wisconsin, and Butte, Montana, connecting with the iron range of Minnesota and copper mines of Montana. In 1898 Hill purchased control of large parts of the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota and its rail lines. The Great Northern began large-scale shipment of ore to the steel mills of the Midwest.[5]
The railroad's best-known engineer was John Frank Stevens, who served from 1889 to 1903. Stevens was acclaimed for his 1889 exploration of Marias Pass in Montana and determined its practicability for a railroad. Stevens was an efficient administrator with remarkable technical skills and imagination. He discovered Stevens Pass through the Cascade Mountains, set railroad construction standards in the Mesabi Range, and supervised the construction of the Oregon Trunk Line. He then became the chief engineer of the Panama Canal.[6]
The logo of the railroad, a
Locomotives and passenger cars were repaired and overhauled at the shops in
Mainline
The mainline began at Saint Paul, Minnesota, heading west along the Mississippi River bluffs, crossing the river to Minneapolis on a massive multi-piered
The mainline west of Marias Pass has been relocated twice. The original route over Haskell Pass, via Kalispell and Marion, Montana, was replaced in 1904 by a more circuitous but flatter route via Whitefish and Eureka, joining the Kootenai River at Rexford, Montana. A further reroute was necessitated by the construction of the Libby Dam on the Kootenai River in the late 1960s. The United States Army Corps of Engineers built a new route through the Salish Mountains, including the 7-mile-long (11 km) Flathead Tunnel, second-longest in the United States, to relocate the tracks away from the Kootenai River. This route opened in 1970. The surviving portions of the older routes (from Columbia Falls to Kalispell and Stryker to Eureka), were operated by Watco as the Mission Mountain Railroad until April 1, 2020, when BNSF (GN's modern successor) took back control of the Kalispell to Columbia Falls section.
The Great Northern mainline crossed the continental divide through Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Rockies south of the Canada–US border. Here, the mainline forms the southern border of Glacier National Park, which the GN promoted heavily as a tourist attraction. GN constructed stations at East Glacier and West Glacier entries to the park, stone and timber lodges at the entries, and other inns and lodges throughout the Park. Many of the structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to unique construction, location, and the beauty of the surrounding regions.
In 1931, the GN also developed the "Inside Gateway", a route to California that rivaled the
Branch lines in Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Between 1891 and 1917 GNR built a number of railway branch lines across the border with Canada. These lines were built to provide service to the city of New Westminster, Victoria (via ferry connection) and the new city of Vancouver. The first line was built between 1891 and 1893 providing a connection between Seattle and New Westminster. This line crossed at Blaine, passed through Cloverdale and terminated in Brownsville. In 1903 GNR constructed a line running from Cloverdale to Port Guichon (Present day Ladner, BC). A ferry service from the port provided service to Victoria and Vancouver Island. In 1909 this line was extended from Cloverdale to Huntingdon. Service from Blaine to New Westminster was redirected in 1909 over a new line past White Rock, across Mud Bay, through Annieville and on to Brownsville. After a new railway bridge was completed across the Fraser River from Brownsville to New Westminster the GNR extended its railway line to Vancouver. Between 1910 and 1913 GNR excavated the Grandview Cut to give it access to False Creek and used the resulting dirt to fill in the east end of False Creek. In 1915, on this infill, the GNR opened Union Station, the terminus of its rail line in Vancouver. Its service to Vancouver and Victoria experienced competition from a partnership between Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific. This competing service terminated at Pacific Station in Downtown Vancouver and from there offered direct steamship service to Victoria, thus offering a superior alternative to both services offered by GNR.
Settlements
The Great Northern energetically promoted settlement along its lines in North Dakota and Montana, especially by Germans and Scandinavians from Europe. The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal government – it received no land grants – and resold them to farmers one by one. It operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that promoted its lands, and brought families over at low cost, building special colonist cars to transport immigrant families. The rapidly increasing settlement in North Dakota's Red River Valley along the Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890 was a major example of large-scale "bonanza" farming.[11][12][13]
Later history
During World War II, the Army moved its
On March 2, 1970, the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, merged to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.[15] The BN operated until 1996 when it merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
Passenger service
GN operated various passenger trains, but the Empire Builder was their premier passenger train. It was named in honor of James J. Hill, known as the "Empire Builder." Amtrak still operates the Empire Builder today, running it over the old Great Northern's Northern Transcon north of St. Paul.
Named trains
- Alexandrian: St. Paul–Fargo
- Badger Express: St. Paul-Superior/Duluth (later renamed Badger)
- Cascadian: Seattle–Spokane (1909-1959)
- Dakotan: St. Paul-Minot
- Eastern Express: Seattle-St. Paul (1903–1906) (replaced by Fast Mail in 1906)[16]
- Empire Builder: Chicago-Seattle/Portland (1929–present)
- Fast Mail No. 27: St. Paul–Seattle (1906–1910) (renamed The Oregonian in 1910)[16]
- Glacier Park Limited: St. Paul–Seattle (1915-1929) (replaced by Empire Builder in 1929)[16]
- Gopher: St. Paul-Superior/Duluth
- Great Northern Express: (1909–1918) Kansas City-Seattle[17][18]
- International: Seattle-Vancouver, B.C.
- Oregonian : St. Paul–Seattle (1910–1915) (replaced by Glacier Park Limited in 1915)[16]
- Oriental Limited : Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle (replaced by Western Star in 1951)
- Puget Sound Express: St. Paul-Seattle (1903–1906) (replaced by Fast Mail in 1906)[16]
- Red River Limited: Grand Forks-St. Paul (later renamed Red River)
- Seattle Express[19]
- Southeast Express: (1909–1918) Seattle-Kansas City[17][20]
- Western Star : Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle-Portland
- Winnipeg Limited: St. Paul-Winnipeg
Rolling stock
In 1951 the company owned 844 locomotives, including 568 steam, 261 diesel-electric and 15 all-electric, as well 822 passenger-train cars and 43.897 freight-train cars.[21]
Paint schemes
The Great Northern had numerous paint scheme variations and color changes over the years, but Rocky the goat was consistently featured.[14]
Preservation
Preserved steam locomotives
Locomotive no. | Class | Type | Built | Retired | City | Location | Extra information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 - William Crooks | 1 | 4-4-0 | 1861 | 9/1897 | Duluth, Minnesota | Lake Superior Railroad Museum | In June 1962, the Great Northern transferred ownership to the Minnesota Historical Society Was at Saint Paul Union Depot from June 1954 to 1975 |
1147 | F-8 | 2-8-0 | 8/1902 | 6/1956 | Wenatchee, Washington | Lions Locomotive Park 1100 South Wenatchee Avenue |
Location also called "Mission Street Park"[22] |
1246 | F-8 | 2-8-0 | 11/1907 | 7/1953 | Snoqualmie, Washington | Northwest Railway Museum | Purchased from Fred Kepner Collection upon his death in 2021[23] Was stored by Kepner in Merrill, Oregon. Acquired by Northwest Railway Museum in April 2023. |
1355 | H-5 | 4-6-2 | Rebuilt from E-14 1020 5/1924 | 7/1955 | Sioux City, Iowa | Milwaukee Shops |
Completed cosmetic restoration |
2507 | P-2 | 4-8-2 | 10/1923 | 12/1957 | Wishram, Washington | Wishram Depot | Hidden under shelter |
2523 | P-2 | 4-8-2 | 10/1923 | 4/1958 | Willmar, Minnesota | Kandiyohi County Historical Society | |
2584 | S-2 | 4-8-4 | 3/1930 | 12/1957 | Havre, Montana | Havre Depot | Largest surviving GN steam locomotive |
3059 | O-1 | 2-8-2 | 2/1913 | 12/1957 | Williston, North Dakota | Williston Depot |
Preserved diesel locomotives
- EMD SD45 #400 "Hustle Muscle"
Rails to Trails
In addition to the Stone Arch Bridge, parts of the railway have been turned into pedestrian and bicycle trails. In Minnesota, the
In popular culture
Appearances in popular culture:
- The Great Northern Railway is considered to have inspired (in broad outline, not in specific details) the Taggart Transcontinental railroad in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.[26]
- The song Great Northern by the Western band Riders In The Sky featured on their 2002 album Ridin' The Tweetsie Railroad describes a journey along the Great Northern Railway.[27]
See also
- Great Northern Roster
- Great Northern Railway: Mansfield Branch (1909-1985)
- W-1GN's largest electric locomotive
- Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad interurban electric railway purchased by G.N. in 1929.
- Western Fruit Express
- Snow Dozer- A snowplow design unique to the Great Northern.
Footnotes
- ^ Martin (1991), chapter 12.
- ^ Malone (1996), p. 38-41.
- ^ Malone (1996), p. 49.
- ^ Yenne (2005), p. 23.
- ^ Hofsommer (1996).
- ^ Hidy & Hidy (1969).
- ^ The Great Northern Goat. Vol. 10–15. 1939. p. 11.
- ^ Downs, Winfield Scott (1940). Encyclopedia of American Biography. American Historical Company.
- ^ ""Kenney's Goat" Story Recalled". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 12, 1931. p. 1.
- ^ "GN Steam Locos". www.gngoat.org. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ Murray (1957), p. 57-66.
- ^ Hickcox (1983), p. 58-67.
- ^ Zeidel (1993), p. 14–23.
- ^ a b "GNRHS : GN Paint Schemes". www.gnrhs.org. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ Lennon, J. Establishing Trails on Rights-of-Way. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. p. 50.
- ^ a b c d e "Glacier Park Limited". Ted's Great Northern Homepage. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ a b "Transcontinental Trains". Ted's Great Northern Homepage. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ "Great Northern Express". Ted's Great Northern Homepage. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ "Archives West: Great Northern Railway Company Wellington Disaster records, 1907–1911". nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- ^ "Three Daily Trains". Great Northern Railway. c. 1912. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ "Great Northern History". Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- ^ rgusrail.com
- ^ Wrinn, Jim. "Major private collection of steam locomotives is sold to Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad". Trains.com. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-89732-812-8. Archivedfrom the original on May 4, 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-57061-412-5. Archivedfrom the original on May 4, 2018.
- ^ Rand, Peikoff & Schwartz (1989), p. 92.
- ISBN 0813122848.
References
- Doyle, Ted. "Great Northern Flyer". Teds' Great Northern Homepage.
- Hickcox, David H. (1983). "The Impact of the Great Northern Railway on Settlement in Northern Montana, 1880–1920". JSTOR 43523868.
- Hidy, Ralph; Hidy, Muriel E. (1969). "John Frank Stevens, Great Northern Engineer" (PDF). Minnesota History. 41 (8): 345–361.
- Hidy, Ralph W.; Hidy, Muriel E.; Scott, Roy V.; Hofsummer, Don L. (2004) [1988]. The Great Northern Railway: A History. Minneapolis: OCLC 54885353.
- Hofsommer, Don L. (1996). "Ore Docks and Trains: The Great Northern Railway and the Mesabi Range". Railroad History. 174 (Spring 1996): 5–25. JSTOR 43521883.
- Hofsommer, Don L. "Rivals for California: The Great Northern and the Southern Pacific, 1905-1931." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 38.2 (1988): 58–67.
- Malone, James P. (1996). James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest. Norman, OK, USA: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806128603.
- Martin, Albro (1991). James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0873512619.
- Murray, Stanley N. (1957). "Railroads and the Agricultural Development of the Red River Valley of the North, 1870–1890". Agricultural History. 31 (4): 57–66. JSTOR 3740486.
- Rand, Ayn; Peikoff, Leonard; Schwartz, Peter (1989). The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought. New American Library. ISBN 9780453006347.
- Sherman, T. Gary (2004). Conquest and Catastrophe: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Great Northern Railway Through Stevens Pass. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4184-9575-6.
- Sobel, Robert (1974). "Chapter 4: James J. Hill". The Entrepreneurs: Explorations within the American business tradition. Weybright & Talley. ISBN 978-0-679-40064-6.
- Starr, Timothy (2024). The Back Shop Illustrated, Volume 3: Southeast and Western Regions. Privately printed.
- Strauss, John F. (Jr.) (1993). Great Northern Pictorial – Volume 3. La Mirada, California: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 0-9616874-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link - Strauss, John F. (Jr.) (1994). Great Northern Pictorial – Volume 4. La Mirada, California: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 1-885614-01-2.
- Whitney, F.I. (1894). "Valley, Plain and Peak. Scenes on the line of the Great northern railway". St. Paul, Minnesota: Great Northern Railway Office of the general passenger and ticket agent.
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(help) - Wilson, Jeff (2000). Great Northern Railway in the Pacific Northwest (Golden Years of Railroading). Waukesha, Wisconsin: ISBN 978-0-89024-420-3.
- Wood, Charles (1989). Great Northern Railway. Edmonds, Washington: Pacific Fast Mail. ISBN 978-0-915713-19-6.
- Yenne, Bill (2005). Great Northern Empire Builder. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI. ISBN 978-0-7603-1847-8.
- Zeidel, Robert F (1993). "Peopling the Empire: The Great Northern Railroad and the Recruitment of Immigrant Settlers to North Dakota". North Dakota History. 60 (2): 14–23.
Further reading
- Pyle, Joseph G. "James J. Hill." Minnesota History Bulletin 2#5 1918, pp. 295–323. online
- Rae, John B. "The Great Northern's land grant." Journal of Economic History 12.2 (1952): 140-145.
External links
- Lively World of Great Northern (Around 1960)
- Fort Langley
- Great Northern Railway Company Records, Minnesota Historical Society.
- Great Northern Railway Historical Society
- The Great Northern Empire — Then and Now
- The Great Northern Railway
- Great Northern Railway Page
- Great Northern Railway Post Office Car No. 42 — photographs and short history of one of six streamlined baggage-mail cars built for the Great Northern by the American Car and Foundry Company in 1950.
- Great Northern Railway route map (1920) Archived September 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill Sr. Book, Book about Louis W. Hill Sr., son and successor of empire builder James J. Hill at Ramsey County Historical Society.
- "The Egotistigraphy", by John Sanford Barnes. An autobiography, including his role in the early financing of the Great Northern Railway and the career of James J. Hill, privately printed 1910. Internet edition edited by Susan Bainbridge Hay 2012
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MT-52, "Great Northern Depot, 100-110 Neill Avenue, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, MT", 7 photos, 11 data pages, 1 photo caption page
- HAER No. MT-53, "Great Northern Railroad Bed, From Big Sandy to Verona, Fort Benton, Chouteau County, MT", 8 photos, 13 data pages, 1 photo caption page