The Empire Builder is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship
The Empire Builder in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, March 2026.
Empire Builder on the Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis, c. 1929
Empire Builder traveling through Glacier National Park, Montana. (1947)
The train at Winona Junction, Wisconsin, in 1958
The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century Canadian–American railroad entrepreneur Jam
Empire Builder
…Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971. The end-to-end travel time of the route is 45–46 hours for an average speed…
GN's 4-8-4 S-2 "Northern" class locomotive #2584 and nearby sculpture, U.S.–Canada Friendship in Havre, Montana
William Crooks in 1939 with the Great Northern logo above the drivers
A Great Northern H class pacific with a Belpaire firebox. Belpaire fireboxes were rare in the US, but the Pennsylvania and Great Northern both had locomotives featuring them in significant numbers. They were mostly manufactured by or to Baldwin specifications. (1914)