As a railroader myself, the greatness of the railroad industry is making a dramatic come back with many railroads now double and in some cases triple tracking rail lines in order to accomadate the huge increase in business in the 21st century.
I worked for the GN from 1960 - 68 as a Brakemna on the Mesabi Division. If you didn't have 250 cars you were running around lite. One trip East out of Cass Lake with 269 car they had use stop and pickup Outfit Cars, haul them fifteen miles, and set them out. Ore trains were 220 empties up and 205 loads back. The extra cars were picked up loaded with ore at Gunn Jct by the Eastbound freights from Cass Lake If they were short on 250 cars. Empty extra's with box cars going west were 250 empty box cars with ONE SD9. The fastest you went was the sag between Island Siding and Swan River Siding was 20 MPH. The railroads motto was "You've got sixteen hours".
There is still a Great Northern Way in Vancouver B.C. but the railroad is now BNSF, it's ironic that the Cheif engineer of the Canadian Pacific railway was an American (William Cornelius Van Horne) and the Cheif engineer of the Great Northern was a Canadian (James J. Hill )
Nice shots of the Empire Builder and freight trains rolling through Glacier National park. Under Amtrak, the eastbound Builder goes through the park at 7:30 a.m. while the westbound doesn’t go through until early evening after 7:30 p.m. The trains do not slow down when going through the park either and if it’s your first time on the train through Glacier you don’t even realize you need to switch sides to get the best views of the scenery. I take the train in to Essex and stay at the Izaak Walton Inn. They have rental cars so you can do some railfanning or go back and see the sights you missed on the train. It’s not too far to Great falls and civilization from Essex.
@kmillard yes. In 19 67, Great Northern refurbished their entire premier passenger train by painting it 'Sky Blue.' The famous f-units were replaced due to age and ware and were reassigned to freight service.
Ask a Grandparent: Child: Whats GN? Grandparent: One of the most popular rail services! Ask a Kid: Kid: Whats GN? Kid: Google Network... Such ashame not to see GN anymore. My grandfather once did work on the GN before he moved to the Chessie System.
No, he'd be dismayed that the merger between GN, NP and CB&Q that he pushed so hard for somehow hadn't gotten by the Supreme Court yet. Burlington Northern was Hill's brainchild more than anybody's and might have meant more to him than anything else he did. Even back then I think he knew there was going to have to be a rationalization and he wanted GN to be on the front edge of that rather than left behind like the Milwaukee and Rock Island.
The Northern Pacific and Thrall Car built the first Center Beam Flat cars in the late 1960's. The people at Thrall Car came up with a better design in 1976-1977.
The Silent Generation born 1928 to 1945 you worked for the great northern and the Burlington Northern. Boomers worked for BN Railroad and Generation X worked for the BNSF.
I always liked the old orange and green empire builder passenger trains, but those blue and white trains do look sharp. What a great old film.
As a railroader myself, the greatness of the railroad industry is making a dramatic come back with many railroads now double and in some cases triple tracking rail lines in order to accomadate the huge increase in business in the 21st century.
I worked for the GN from 1960 - 68 as a Brakemna on the Mesabi Division. If you didn't have 250 cars you were running around lite. One trip East out of Cass Lake with 269 car they had use stop and pickup Outfit Cars, haul them fifteen miles, and set them out. Ore trains were 220 empties up and 205 loads back. The extra cars were picked up loaded with ore at Gunn Jct by the Eastbound freights from Cass Lake If they were short on 250 cars. Empty extra's with box cars going west were 250 empty box cars with ONE SD9. The fastest you went was the sag between Island Siding and Swan River Siding was 20 MPH. The railroads motto was "You've got sixteen hours".
There is still a Great Northern Way in Vancouver B.C. but the railroad is now BNSF, it's ironic that the Cheif engineer of the Canadian Pacific railway was an American (William Cornelius Van Horne) and the Cheif engineer of the Great Northern was a Canadian (James J. Hill )
Nice shots of the Empire Builder and freight trains rolling through Glacier National park. Under Amtrak, the eastbound Builder goes through the park at 7:30 a.m. while the westbound doesn’t go through until early evening after 7:30 p.m. The trains do not slow down when going through the park either and if it’s your first time on the train through Glacier you don’t even realize you need to switch sides to get the best views of the scenery. I take the train in to Essex and stay at the Izaak Walton Inn. They have rental cars so you can do some railfanning or go back and see the sights you missed on the train. It’s not too far to Great falls and civilization from Essex.
GN big sky blue SDP45's with F7B's is a really cool combination.
@kmillard yes. In 19 67, Great Northern refurbished their entire premier passenger train by painting it 'Sky Blue.' The famous f-units were replaced due to age and ware and were reassigned to freight service.
this remind me of that one scene from runaway train 1985
OK, the hair at 2:19 is just awesome in its hugeness.
Awesome video,don`t see alot of GN video!
Dispatcher and CTC Machine at King Street Station 2:37-2:48. Very interesting!!
I did not know that, very cool!
This is the type of railroad video that must be shown on The History Channel.
Does any transportation company still do promo videos (Except passenger lines?)
That grade from Mukilteo to the Everett Boeing plant is a whopping 4.6 percent.
Wow! Insane. Still in service?
Yes still in service, also started pushing 737s recently up the line.
Ask a Grandparent:
Child: Whats GN?
Grandparent: One of the most popular rail services!
Ask a Kid:
Kid: Whats GN?
Kid: Google Network...
Such ashame not to see GN anymore. My grandfather once did work on the GN before he moved to the Chessie System.
James Hill would've been proud...
No, he'd be dismayed that the merger between GN, NP and CB&Q that he pushed so hard for somehow hadn't gotten by the Supreme Court yet. Burlington Northern was Hill's brainchild more than anybody's and might have meant more to him than anything else he did. Even back then I think he knew there was going to have to be a rationalization and he wanted GN to be on the front edge of that rather than left behind like the Milwaukee and Rock Island.
Bulkhead flatcars: The way of transporting lumber before someone cooked up the idea for centerbeam flatcars in the late 1980s...
The Northern Pacific and Thrall Car built the first Center Beam Flat cars in the late 1960's. The people at Thrall Car came up with a better design in 1976-1977.
Ive had a lot of computers and none of them ever made those sounds.....
The Silent Generation born 1928 to 1945 you worked for the great northern and the Burlington Northern. Boomers worked for BN Railroad and Generation X worked for the BNSF.
the man walking the track in the foreground at 3:30 must be wearing a helmet or something. he looks like an alien!!
Many folk call it a ‘hat’
It is ironic that they are promoting a freight railroad with parts for Boeing Airliners and streamlined passenger cars.
Andrew Falconer They're not promoting a freight railroad. Listen to the words as the family is riding in the dome car.
Sweet,GN,BN made awesome public relations videos,BNSF has made some but not very many.
telly savalas narrating?