Great Northern Timetables (August, 1952)

Published: February 23, 2024

The Great Northern Railway (GN) was an American Class-I railroad, operating across the Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and the Pacific Northwest, spanning from Minnesota to Washington.

Established by "Empire Builder," James J. Hill in 1889, the GN was pivotal to western US expansion, facilitating transportation, commerce, and settlement. What distinguished GN from other railroads was its full reliance on the region's local resources, such as timber and local coal for locomotive operations, and wheat for revenue.

Highway competition, which began in the 1950s, led to the decline and eventual consolidation of GN with the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway to form the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, now part of the BNSF Railway.

Notable landmarks associated with GNR include Glacier National Park, which the company promoted heavily, leading to the nickname "The Glacier Park Route".

GN's famous passenger trains included the Empire Builder, Western Star, and Oriental Limited. The railway’s legacy is its robust impact on the northwest US’s growth, indelibly imprinted in its transportation, tourism, and agricultural history.

Public Timetables (August, 1952)