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
The Empire Builder traveling through Glacier Park Montana. (1947)
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)
Empire Builder
Videos
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
Great Northern Railway (U.S.)
…with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. 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…
The Empire Builder in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, March 2026.
Empire Builder on the Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis, c. 1929
The train at Winona Junction, Wisconsin, in 1958