 | |
 GN system map, c. 1918; dotted lines represent nearby railroads. | |
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Railroad and Bank Building Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Founders | |
| 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) |
TheGreat Northern Railway (reporting markGN) was an AmericanClass I railroad. Running fromSaint Paul, Minnesota, toSeattle,Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century Canadian-American railroad entrepreneurJames J. Hill and was developed from theSaint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route made it the northernmosttranscontinental railroad in the U.S.
In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged with three other railroads to form theBurlington Northern Railroad, which merged in 1996 with theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form theBurlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
| 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 theSt. Paul and Pacific Railroad owned byWilliam Crooks. He had gone bankrupt running a small line betweenSt. Paul andMinneapolis. He named the locomotive he ran for himself and theWilliam Crooks would be the first locomotive of the Great Northern Railway.J.J. Hill convinced New YorkbankerJohn S. Kennedy,Norman Kittson (a wealthy fur trader friend),Donald Smith (aHudson's Bay Company executive),George Stephen (Smith's cousin and president of theBank of Montreal), and others to invest $5.5 million in purchasing the railroad.[2] On March 13, 1878, the road's creditors formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds and control of the railroad to J.J. Hill's investment group.[3] On September 18, 1889, Hill changed the name of theMinneapolis and St. Cloud Railway (a railroad which existed primarily on paper) to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1, 1890, he consolidated his ownership of the StPM&M,Montana Central Railway, and other rail lines to the Great Northern.[4]
The Great Northern had branches that ran north to theCanada–US border in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. It also had branches that ran toSuperior, Wisconsin, andButte, 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 wasJohn Frank Stevens, who served from 1889 to 1903. Stevens was acclaimed for his 1889 exploration ofMarias Pass inMontana and determined its practicability for a railroad. Stevens was an efficient administrator with remarkable technical skills and imagination. He discoveredStevens 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 thePanama Canal.[6]
The logo of the railroad, aRocky Mountain goat, was based on a goatWilliam Kenney, one of the railroad's presidents, had used to haul newspapers as a boy.[7][8][9]
Locomotives and passenger cars were repaired and overhauled at the shops inSt. Paul, Minnesota, while the shops at nearby St. Cloud were dedicated to freight cars beginning in 1890. In 1892, a new shop site was established five miles west ofSpokane, Washington in Hillyard (named after James Hill) to serve the western half of the GN system.
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The mainline began at Saint Paul, Minnesota, heading west along the Mississippi River bluffs, crossing the river to Minneapolis on a massive multi-pieredstone arch bridge just below theSaint Anthony Falls. The bridge ceased to be used as a railroad bridge in 1978, becoming a pedestrian river crossing with excellent views of the falls and of the lock system. The mainline headed northwest from the Twin Cities, across North Dakota and eastern Montana. The line then crossed theRocky Mountains at Marias Pass. It then followed theFlathead River and thenKootenai River toBonners Ferry, Idaho, south toSandpoint, Idaho, west toNewport, Washington, and then toSpokane, Washington. The company town and extensive railroad facility ofHillyard, Washington was named afterJames J. Hill and briefly manufactured the R Class 2-8-8-2 around 1927 which was the largest steam locomotive in the world at the time.[10] From there the mainline crossed theCascade Mountains through theCascade Tunnel underStevens Pass, reachingSeattle, Washington, in 1893, with the driving of the last spike at Scenic, Washington, on January 6, 1893. The Great Northern electrified Steven's Pass and briefly owned the electricSpokane and Inland Empire Railway. The deadliest avalanche in US history swept two Great Northern trains off the tracks atWellington, Washington by the Cascade Tunnel killing 96 people.
The mainline west of Marias Pass has been relocated twice. The original route overHaskell Pass, viaKalispell andMarion, Montana, was replaced in 1904 by a more circuitous but flatter route viaWhitefish andEureka, joining the Kootenai River atRexford, Montana. A further reroute was necessitated by the construction of theLibby Dam on the Kootenai River in the late 1960s. TheUnited 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 (fromColumbia Falls to Kalispell andStryker to Eureka), were operated byWatco as theMission 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 thecontinental divide through Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Rockies south of the Canada–US border. Here, the mainline forms the southern border ofGlacier 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 thestructures 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 theSouthern Pacific Railroad's route between Oregon and California. The GN route was further inland than the SP route and ran south from theColumbia River in Oregon. The GN connected with theWestern Pacific atBieber, California; the Western Pacific connected with theAtchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe inStockton, California, and together the three railroads (GN, WP, and ATSF) competed with Southern Pacific for traffic between California and thePacific Northwest. With a terminus at Superior, Wisconsin, 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.
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 dayLadner, 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,[citation needed] 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.
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 specialcolonist cars to transport immigrant families. The rapidly increasing settlement in North Dakota'sRed River Valley along the Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890 was a major example of large-scale "bonanza" farming.[11][12][13]
During World War II, the Army moved itsMilitary Railway Service (MRS) headquarters toFort Snelling, Minnesota. The MRS worked collaboratively with commercial railroading in the U.S. The Great Northern sponsored the 704th Grand Railroad Division. It was the second Grand Division that the Army stood up. The Great Northern also sponsored the 732nd Railroad Operating Battalion (ROB). They were one of twospearhead ROBs. The 732nd operated in support of thePatton's3rd Armored Division crossing into Germany with them. The Officers of the 732nd were all previous employees of the Great Northern.
On March 2, 1970, the Great Northern, together with theNorthern Pacific Railway, theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and theSpokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, merged to form theBurlington 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.
GN operated various passenger trains, but theEmpire Builder was their premier passenger train. It was named in honor of James J. Hill, known as the "Empire Builder."Amtrak still operates theEmpire Builder today, running it over the old Great Northern'sNorthern Transcon north of St. Paul. The GN had commuter service in the Minneapolis area running between Great Northern Depot and Hutchinson.
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]
The Great Northern had numerous paint scheme variations and color changes over the years, but Rocky the goat was consistently featured.[14]
| Image | 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 theMinnesota Historical Society Was atSaint 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 inMerrill, 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 | Undergoing restoration to operating condition |
 | 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 |
In addition to the Stone Arch Bridge, parts of the railway have been turned into pedestrian and bicycle trails. In Minnesota, theCedar Lake Trail is built in areas that were formerly railroad yards for the Great Northern Railway and theMinneapolis and St. Louis Railway. Also in Minnesota, theDakota Rail Trail is built on 26.5 miles of the railroad right-of-way. InKalispell, Montana the original Great Northern grade from 1892 has been converted into a trail. The trail starts in Kila, MT, and goes to Kalispell Montana, travelling through downtown, right past the Kalispell Depot. The section of rails from Kila to West Kalispell was taken out in the early 1900s, while the section from downtown to where the current end of rail is, was taken out in 2021. Further west, the Iron Goat Trail in Washington follows the late 19th-century route of the Great Northern Railway through the Cascades and gets its name from the railway's logo.[24][25] TheSpokane and Inland Empire Railroad thatJames J. Hill purchased in 1929 became a bicycle path betweenSpokane, Wa andCoeur d'Alene, Id. andSpokane, Wa. andPullman, Wa.
Appearances in popular culture:
The Great Northern is mentioned in the song "Jack Straw," written by Bob Weir and Robert Hunter and originally performed by The Grateful Dead.
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