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Home , Dining car, Empire Builder, Fast Mail (MILW train), Lounge car, North Coast Limited, Observation car

REFERENCE SHEET NO . 227 DATE: MARCH 1995 GNRHS©

THE GREAT NORTHERN Part 4: 1955-1959 Contributor: John F. stra uss, Jr. GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY HISTORICALSOCIETY Founded 1973

Out of the mountains and into the plain s. GN's Empire Builder eastward o n its way to the Twin Cities and Ch icago aft er passing th rough the grandeur of the and Glacier National Park. GNRHS Archive photograph. A trend toward meeting ever increasing passenger expec- 1955 Empire Builder in an information brochure, as follows: tations was seen in the se rvice being offered by competitive railroads, and in 1953 the Great Northern announ ced an "To day's modern fleet of f ive Grea t Do me order of dome cars for the Empire Bu ilder. These dome cars whi sks ac ross the top of the na tion da ily, offering th e became the last new passenger cars pu rchased by the Great utmost in luxurious accommodations at standard far es . Re- Northern. Even thoug h the Great Northern cou ld be regarded discov er the joys of trave l. Go Great . . . Go Great as the "Johnny-Come-Lately" to the dome competition , Northern's Incom parable Empire Builde r." when it decided to do so , it did so in grand style . Each of the five Em pire Builders in service received three dome coaches Som e authors who have written about this 1955 edition and one full-length dom e , and they were the only of the Empire Builder have ascribed "Great Dome" to the full- Northw est domeliners to have two differently styled dom es in length lounge cars only. This implication is incorrect as the their consists . With these four do me cars, the Empire Builder Great Nor th ern, from the day they entered se rvice , had offered 150 do me seats to its passengers, more by quite a few named these cars "Great Dome Coaches" and "Great Dom e than offered by any of the com peting domeliners: the Cana- Lounge Ca rs", and always referred to this latest edition as the dian, the , the . the "Incomparable Great Dome Empire Builder". Olympian , and the . With the inclusion of the full-length Great Dom e Lounge The coach domes were inaugurated into the consists on Cars, each of the five consists of the Empire Builder was May 29 , 1955 and the full-length dom e lounge cars were assigned the following locomotives and car s. Included are the placed in service during the following Oct ober. The dom e line numbers assigned to those cars that pr ovided reserved coaches and the full-leng th dome lounge cars were named coach seats an d accommodation s. Cars without "Grea t Domes" by the Great Northern , which described the line numbers (-) did not contain reserved spaces. A gleam ing, brand ne w, GN Dome Coach, ready to give 46 coach seats and 24 dom e seats to expectant passengers. The three domes usuall y in the consist replaced the 48 seat coaches ofthe earlier version of the train. The seats were available to coach class passengers. GNRHS A rchives.

EQUIPMENT WEST EAST EQUIPMENT (cont'd) WEST EAST Four Passenger Fs and Ranch Co ffee Shop-Dinette -Lounge Class W or Y Electric Motors, St.Paul Car- Chic ago- -Wenatchee-Skykomish-Seatt le 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car Baggag e Car: Storage -Portland via Spo kane 11 2 1 St. Paul to Spokane (Westbound) 6-5-2 Sleep ing Car Railway -Storage Mail Car Chicago-Port land via Spokane 12 2 2 St. Paul-Seattle 16-4 Sleepi ng Car Baggage Car: Storage Mail Spokane to Seattle (Westbound) 33 Chicago to Seattle (Westbound) Seattle to St. Paul (Eastbound) 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car Note: Car did not depart Se attle Chicago-Se attle 14 2 4 on Saturdays or Sundays. Baggage-Dormitory Car Chicago-Seattle Chicag o-Seattlc

Flat-top 60-Seat Coach Great Dome Lounge Car Ch icago-Seattle 100 20 0 Chicago-Seattle

Great Dome 46-Seat Coach 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car Chicago-Se attle 101 201 Chicago-S eattl e 15 2 5

Great Dome 46-Seat Coach 6-5-2 Sleeping Car Chicago-Seattle 102 202 Chicago-Seattle 16 2 6

Grea t Dome 46-Se at Coach 6-4-1 Lounge-Observation Ca r Chicago-Portland via Spo kane 103 2 0 3 Chicago-Seatt le 1 7 2 7

2 Th e new fu ll dome ca r was a massive piece of equip ment, weighing in at over 90 tons and ridi ng on six-whee l truck s. Th e car became the observation and lo unge ca r for first class passe nge rs. There were 32 seats in the lower leve/lo unge, and more in a special upperdeck lounge sect ion, with a further group of sofa seats on the upper leve l, angled to get an easier view of the passing scene, GNRHS Archives photo . Because of the increased weight of each consist due to the Notice also that the RPO -storagemail car was assigned four Great Domes plus the storage mail cars, four Pa ssenger between St Paul and Seattle in both direction s. The Burling- F locomotives were assigned in order to maintain the west- ton Route operated its own stainless-steel RPO-storage mail bound schedule of 43 hr. and 50 min. and the ea stbound 44 car along with its own E Series diesel locomotives in both and 1/2 hr. schedules. The westbound Empire Builder 's directi on s between Chicago and St.Paul. Th is was done in schedule was speeded up by on e hour and ten minut es in order to provrde more time in St.Paul for the handling of mail 1955 in order to meet the requirem ents of the new US Post by the RPO crew assigned between St.Paul and Minot. US Office contracts. Th ese had the 1955 Empire Builder carry- Mail was, and had always bee n, important on the Grea t ing priority storage mail westb ound in two streamlined bag- Northern, an d the storage mail cars plus the RPO -storage gage cars in addition to the working RPO -storagemail car. mail car add ed considerable revenue that offset passenger Within a yea r the Passenger Fs were ass igned betw een ope ration loss es the Empire Builder, despit e the Great Dom e St. Paul and Seattle when the Electrified District betw een cars, was beqinninq to experience . Wenatchee and Skykomish was discon tinued on July 3 1, Th e thr ee Great Dome Coaches replaced the 4S -seat flat- 1956. The Passeng er Fs op erated westbound through to top coaches in each con sist as of May 29 , 1955 . Each Great Seattle from St.Paul. On theeas tbound trip they were cha nge d Dome Coach had 46 "Day-Nita Sleepy Hollow" reclining out at Havr e whe re each set received major se rvicing by the seats on the main level divided by the dom e section into an Havre Diesel Sho ps . During the eas tbound Havre stop pas- IS-seat forward secti on and a 28-seat rear section . All 46 sengers and employee s who were Passen ger F-unit fan s sea ts on the main level were reserved and individually as- enjoyed the action as the incoming set was cut off and signed in advance . The upstairs dom e area had 24 lounge- proceeded to th e sho ps while the newly serviced set backed type seats that were not reserved , but were designed for down and coupled up for its trip to St.Paul. exceptional sight-seeing by the coach passeng ers. This all- As indicated above , one storage mail car was inse rted in glass penthouse provided unexcelled viewing of the passing the westbound co nsist of the Empire Builder in St. Pa ul for its scenery in ail direction s. The men 's an d women's very large trip to Spokan e. This car came from Chicago via Mil waukee dressing rooms were located below this dom e ar ea. in the Road 's Morning Hiawatha, train 5 . It was The interior dec or of the Great Dome coa ches was also always a Great Northern streamlined baggage car so that the beautiful and com fortable. Brilliant colors and designs had Empire Builder 's EB colors and appearance were main - been adapted from the art of the Pa cific northwest Native tained when it joined the westbound streamlin er. Th e Seattle American nations. This art was pre sen ted as inlaid murals on to St.Paul storage mail car was not in the eastbo und consist the interior walls of each main floor section, an d the drapes of the Empire Builder leaving Seattle on Saturdays and along side the Venetian -blind windows carried this art in its Sundays, and the mail which was handl ed the other days did fabric. The coa ch seats them selves were very com fortable, not have the priority status of tha t handl ed in the westbound and included leg -rests to create sleeping positions during Chicago to Se attle and St.Paul to Spokane storage mail cars. night trave l hour s.

3 The Great Dom e Lounge cars, named in the View Se ries , were very beautiful cars with an inte rior decor that was sta rtling to a first-time viewer. Th e up stairs full-length dome area provided 57 sofa seats angled for better viewing and 21 loun ge seats in the Top Deck Lounge that was locat ed at the rea r of the dome area . One very pleasant way to enjoy the passing scen ery was to ord er a refres hment from the car' s atte n- dant and watch the view in the Top Deck Lounge. The ta ble top s had indirect lighting that softly illuminated their inlaid designs. Even at night with the main lights out, this area was an enjoyable spot to watch the trip 's miles pass by in the moonlight, with lots of stars visible overhead and the green signals changing to red as the Em pire Builde r rushed past. The Lower Level Club-Lounge of the Great Dome Lounge Car provided an infor- mal Western atmos phere with a beverag e bar and 32 sofa and loun ge seats at tables plus a writing desk and cha ir. Th e beautiful dec or included multi-colored carvings and etched glass totem pole panels der ived from Native American ar t. This Club-Lounge was the place to be to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail, and it was very po pular with business travelers as well as vacation- ers. Other than wine with dinner, the dining car did not se rve alcoholic beverages so tha t the dinner reservation system was not ham- pered by guests who lingered. With the Great Dome Lounge Ca r right beh ind the This is the tvpe ofscen ery which co Ltld be enjoyed in comfort fro m the new domes dining car, sleeping car pa ssenge rs ha d of the 1955 Em pire Bu ilder. The GNpublicized th is newtravel am e nity with relish . their pre-dinne r cocktails and after-dinner cordials in the Lower Level Club-Lounge or eled 1947-edition River Se ries two double bedroom -one -buffet- the Top Deck Lounge. lounge-observ ation cars th at retain ed th eir equipment car numbers . Th is Withou t a doubt, the best place for view- remodeling took place during the 19 55 summer months. The floor plan was ing the sights was in on e of the Great Dom es somew hat unorthodox in that starting fro m the vestibule end of the car on e as the Em p ire B uilder hustled along the found the existing 's room, the rear brakeman (flagman) seat , and th e Palisades, cruised through two existing double bedrooms, followed by a new double bedr oom, a new the Rocky Mountains and Glacie r National compartment, and a second new double bedroom. Then came the six new Par k, and snaked its way along roo me ttes , three on each side of the car , and the hallway in between that between Everett and Se attle. Th e Gr eat opened up into the lounge. This small room had a lounge chair in each corner, Domes were also excellen t places to ob- a four-seat diaqonal table arrange ment in the cente r, and a three-person sofa serve Great Northern and Burlington Route that faced backward toward the observation windows and rear door. Th is door train op erat ions . Passengers were always carri ed the light ed square Empire Builder tail sign on its outside lower panel. fascinated with the signal lights changing Man y app raised the 1955 Em pi re Builde r with its 150 non -reserved dome and with the Em pire Builde r meeting or seats, distinc. tive Ranch Car , exquisite dinmg car, unique Great Dome Lounge overlapp ing freight trai ns in the sidings as it Ca r an d Great Dom e Coaches, and variety of sleeping car accommodation s as raced along on single-tracked main line or ' the most beaut iful passe nge r tra in in the nation !" When "The Incomparable passing, at speed, opposing passen ger and Great Dom e Empi re Builder " was compa red to the competition, eve n th ough freight on double track. its arrival on the sce ne was ta rdy, it is easy to und erstand the Great Northern's Other consist chan ges were made whe n contentio n that its Empire Builder was still number one and incompa rable. the Great Domes came. The Mountain Se- With the introdu ction of the Great Dome Coaches on the Empire Builder ries observations cars and one of the Chi- in 1955 the revenue reserved coach capaci ty was redu ced to 19 2 passenge rs. cago-Se attle Pass Series 6-5-2 sleeping cars The revenue sleeping car acc ommodations ca paci ty with the inclusion of th e were replaced by the Great Dome Lounge Coulee Senes 6-4-1 in place of a Pass Se ries 6-5-2 sleeping Cars and the Cou le e Series six roo mette - car was also rev ised to 12 lower berths, 12 upper berths, 19 duplex roo mettes, four double bedroom-one co mpartment - 18 roo mettes, 23 double bedrooms, and eight com pa rtments. This sleeping car lounge-observation cars. The Coulee Se ries acco mmodations capacity did not include the Spokane to Seattle 16 dup lex 6-4-1 lounge -observation cars were remod- roomett es and four double bedrooms. Dup lex #2 and # 3 in Lines

4 All of the new and rebuilt cars th at were added to th e 1955 Emp ire Builder carried EB colors and had the train name ce nte red on each lette rboard , located under each car's roof line and above the windows. "Grea t Northern", "CB&Q", or "SP&S Ry. Co ." appeared in smaller let- ters at ea ch end of th e lett erboard, de - pending up on wh ich ra ilway company owne d th e car. Of the new and rebuilt ca rs that were added to the consists of the 1955 Emp ire B u ilder , the Bur ling to n Ro ute ow ned Great Dome Coach es Nos. 133 3- 13 35 , Grea t Do me Lou nge Car No . 1395, and Coulee Series 6-4- 1 observation car No. 1 194 , and the SP&S owne d Grea t Do me Coach No . 13 32. Refer to Re fer e nc e Sheet No. 209 for the cars that came from the 195 1 Em p ire Bu ilde r for the railroad which owned th em. Each View Se ries and Coulee Series car had its nam e centered below the win- dows, and all of the new and rebuilt cars ha d th eir equipmen t car numbers at each end below the windows. Th e Spokane to Sea tt le 16-4 Glacier Serie s sleeping car ca me fro m the 's assigned ca r pool, an d these ca rs were ro ta ted betwee n transco nti ne ntal a nd Spokane- Se attle assignments on a define d mainte- nance schedule . Effective with the Sep- te mber 14, 19 58 timetable , th is car was no t in th e westbo und Empire B uil der's Across the page, the Empire Builder is travelling through , and above it is shown consist le aving Sp o ka ne o n S atu rd ay travelling through the for ests and superb views along the Flath ead River. GNRHS photo. n igh ts . Because of lower traffic pr ojec tions 15 and 25 wer e ass igned to the Pullman Conductor and the Trave ling du ring the wint er sea son, the Grea t Pass enger Represent ative, and they were not sold as revenue space. Northern reduced each consist of th e 195 5 The five consists of the 1955 Incomparable Great Dome Empire Builder Empi re Builder by one Great Dome Coach were drawn from the following pool of cars that also included the pro tect ion and one sleeping ca r during the 1955- cars: 1956 and th e 1956-1957 winter months, Baggage Cars : Storage Mail 26 2-276 and remov ed a seco nd sleeping ca r du ring -Storage Mail Ca rs 37-42 the 1957-1958 and th e 1958-1959 win- Baggage-Dormitory Cars 120 0-1 20 5 te rs. In addition to minimum vacatio n Flat-top 60-Seat Coaches 1209-1 21 4 travel between Octo be r and May, except Great Dome 46-Seat Coaches 13 20-13 3 5 fo r the Christmas ho liday period , the Ranch Coffee Shop-Dinette- Empire Bu ilder was beg inn ing to feel the Lounge Cars 1240-124 5 impact of trans con tinental jet airp lane Dining Cars 1250-1255 busi ness travel. Great Dome Lounge Cars 13 90-1395 Of course, th e use of the private auto- 1390 Glacier View 1393 Lake View mobile cont inued to gro w as the federal 1391 Ocean View 13 94 View h ighway s were im proved, d evelo ping 1392 Mountain View 1395 River View eventua lly into the beginnin gs of the In- 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Cars 12 60-12 74 ter sta te Highw ay System by the en d of the and 702 de cade. 6-5-2 Sleeping Cars 13 70-1384 In or der to facilitate Pullman on -train and 70 1 and oth er operations, the winter season 6-4-1 Lounge-Observation Cars 11 90 -11 94 consist of the Emp ire Buil der was re- and 1197 arranged. The co nsist listed ov er the page 1190 Choteau Coulee 11 93 Rocky Coulee was in operation for the 195 8 an d 1959 11 91 Twelve Mile Coulee 11 94 Trail Co ulee winte r travel seas on . 11 92 Corra l Coulee 11 97 Grand Coulee

5 60-seat coach for p asse ngers traveling betw ee n interm ediate stations Seatsare recl ining. have individ ual foot rests. All sea ts ar e reserve d .

888 8 88co aCH l1 e l lOIl eo.e l'l lI t TlO. 88 88 888888 G reat Dom e coacheseachhave 46 reserved reclining le g-re st seats on the lower leveland 24 unrese rved upper levelse a ts. They have c omm od ious luggage ra c ks as w ell as spa ci ous d re ssing rooms.

'NI '''(14 ell The Ranch, uniq ue coffee shop-lounge car inWestern d ecor. seals 14 a t th ecounter, 12in the d ine tte a nd 18 in the lo ung e sec tion .

The Dining c ar a ccommodates 36 a t eachsitting. Glass partitions at either endof the d ining a rea form a semi-p rivate a lcove.Evening din ne r is b y reserva tio n.

fQul , ..,.r ,"'er

The full-len gth Gre a t Dome-Loun ge for Pullma n pass engers has 75top-de ck sea ts. a ngled for e asy view ing. The superbly a p pointed lounge onthe low er deck is arendezvo us for fun and ref reshments.

I---...Jr-...... e lll"l( I IOO_l nn

This Pullman c ar has 4 up per and lower b erths . 7 d uplex-roomettes, 3 d ouble bedrooms and one comp a rlment. The c ompartment and a bedroom may b e combined into a suit e .

I ' 6 t ' ---.

I I IO OM(Tl(1 , I D [I Six ro omettes, 5double b edroomsand 2 comparlments c omprise each of these Pullman cars. Suitescan be c reated b y combi ning an adjoinin g c ompa rtm ent and b edroom.

The Pullman-Loun g e-Observa tion car provid es 6 s, 4 double b edro oms and one compartment.

6 A close up of thecons truction of the coach dom e, with its curved windows. Th e glass was tinted,andthe GN took special pains to inform its passengers of the correct m eth odof compensating ex posure and co lor correctio n for goo d ph ot ographic resul ts. A special brochure with tec hnical discussion s and correct filt ers and type ofcolo r film to use was available for all passen gers.

Th e usua l conf iguration ofthree come coaches co upled together created an impressive look ing train, and indeed the GN promoted that its new edi tion of theEmpire Builder carried more domeseats than any othertrain ofthat tim e. Phot o fro m GN RHS Archives.

7 EQUIPMENT WEST EAST well as meal service between Williston and Seattle on the Thr ee Passenger Fs consolidated Western Star- during th e winter sea- St. Paul to Seattle (Westbound) son . The Western Star 's dinin g car and Moun tain Series Seattle to Havre and Havre buffet-lounge-o bservation car were in the consist between to St. Paul (Eastbound) St.Paul and Williston only in order to facilitate the consolida- tion west of Williston. Ho wever, Empire Builder coa ch Baggage Ca r: Storage Mail passengers sen t a barrage of letters to the Great Northern St. Paul to Spokane (Westbound) complaining about the loss of the Ranch Car. Suffice it to say that, following the 1955-1956 winter sea son , the Ranch Car Railway Post Office-Storage Mail Car was returned to the Em pire Builder's consists, and it was not St .Paul -Seattle removed again during the winte r sea son until the Big Sky Blue Era that began in 1967. Baggage Car: Storage Mail Effective with the April 29 , 1956 timetable , the Empire Chicago to Seattle (Westbou nd) Builder 's train numbers were chang ed to trains 31 and 32 for Seattle to St. Paul (Eastbound) its Chicago-Seattle run s on the Grea t Northern and the Note: Car did not depart Se attle Burlington Route . All of the through slee ping car line num- on Saturdays or Sundays. bers had the digit "3 " added as shown in the table above in the 1958-1959 winter season consist. Baggage-Dormitory C:,H During the 1959-1 960 winter seaso n the assigned consist Chicag o-Seat tle reflected the decreasing passenge r traffic pressures upon the Em pire Builder. For the first time since its 1929 inaugura- Flat-top 60-Sea t Coach tion, the Em pire Bu ilder did not have an observation car. Chicago-Seattle 100 2 00 Lines 3 17 and 327 were withdrawn on February 14 , 1960, and the consist was reduced to three coaches and three Great Dome 4 6-Seat Coach sleep ing cars. Along with the observation car, the famous Chicago-Se attle 102 202 lighted square Em pire Bu ilder tail sign also disappeared. Only aportable red oscillating Mars light ap peare d on the tail Great Dome 46-Sea t Coach gate of the Chicago-Seattle 6-5-2 sleeping car, Lines 316 Chicago-Portland via Sp okane 10 3 203 and 326. The Coulee Seri es observation cars continue d to be in the Emp ire Builder 's consists during the sum me r travel Ranch Coffee Shop-Dinette-Lounge season until 1967, however. Car Chicago-Seattle As the Em pire Bu ilder completed service during the decade of the 1950's, there were regressive trends emerging 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car (See Note) in the seasonal traffic statistics that trains 3 1 and 32 were Chicago-Portland via Spokane :=; 1:,_ 321 accumulating. Operating costs were also increasing at a precipitous rate despite winter season on-train crew reduc- 16-4 Sleepi ng Car tions along with car removals from the five consists. It was Sp okan e to Seattle (Westbound) 33 also difficult to proj ect a positive future for the Empire Not e: This car did not dep art Builder during the 1960's. (The Empire Builder's se rvice Spokane on Saturday night s. during the decade of the 1960's leading up to the Burlingto n Northern Lines merger will be covered in a future Reference 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car Sheet ) Chi cag o-Seattle 3 15 325 Grea t Northern modelers have expressed frustr ation over the years with their attempts to model the "Inco mparable Dining Ca r Great Dome Empire Builder." Modeling it accurate ly as a Chi cago-Seattle transco ntine ntal strea mliner results in an extre mely long train that overwhelms mos t modelers ' layouts. Ho wever, if the Grea t Dome Lounge Ca r modeler is willing to fantasize a bit, it is possi ble to construct Chicago Seattle a sh orter Empire Builder that is historically acc urate . Assume tha t the layout centers in Spokane dur ing the 6-5-2 Slee ping Car 1955-1959 pe riod , and it is modeling the winter tra vel Chicago- Seattle 3 16 326 season. The Great Northern Em pire Builder 's westbound 12-car winter season consist was as follows betwe en Spo- 6-4-1 Lounge-Observation Car kane and Seattle during that period: Chicago-Seattle 3 17 3 2 7 Three Passe nger Fs NOTE: The Great Northe rn alternated Lines 31 1 St. Paul-Se attle Railway Post Office-Storage Mail and 321, a 4-7-3-1 sleep ing car. with Lines 31 2 and 322, a Chicago to Sea ttle Storage Mail Car 6-5-2 sleeping car, dep ending upon the winter travel seas on Chicago-Seattle Baggage-Dormitory Car being considered between 1955-1956 and 1959-1960. Chicago-Seattle Flat-top 60-s2a t Coach Chicago-Seattle Great Dome Coach During the 1955-19 56 winter season the Great Northern Chicago-Seattle Ranch Car decided to replace the Ranch Car in eac h consist with the Spokane to Seattle 16-4 Sleeping Car remodeled Western Star's coffee sho p-dinette-do rmitory cars, Chicago-Seattle 4-7-3-1 Sleeping Car Nos. 1140-1144 and 1148. This was do ne in orde r to Chicago-Seattle Dining Car provide coach and sleeping car passenge rs with lounge as 8 create the SP&S , and operate it on this fant asy Spokane layout as a companion to the Em - p ire B uilder. Th e Streamlin er 's winte r season seve n-car Spokane - Port lan d consist during the 1955- 1959 period included the follow- ing cars :

SP&S E7 and F Series Diesel Locomotives SP&S Spoka ne-Portland RPO- Storage Mail Car (Note 1) SP&S Spokane-Portland Baggage-Dormitory Car SP&S Spokane-Portland Coach Empire Bu ilde r Chicago to Portland Great Dome Coach SP&S Spokane-Portland Dining Car Empire Builder Chicago-Portland Sleeping Car (Note 2) SP&S Spokane -Portland 6-3 Buffet-Lounge (Note 3)

Note 1: A considerable amou nt of ma il was transloaded fro m and to the Em p ire B uilder, and to and from the Streamline r, during the Spokane station dwell time while the switching activities were taking place.

Note 2 : The Great Northern assigned either a 4-7-3-1 or a 6-5-2 slee ping car to Chicago -Po rtland service depending upon which win- ter season between 1955-1956 an d 19 59-1960 is selected.

Note 3 : The SP &S owned two 6-3 buffet-lo unge cars, one which was available for westbou nd pas- se ngers to board in Spo kane at 9 :3 0PMand the other on th e arriv - ing eastbound consist, which laid over until the next night.

Note 4 : By 1955 all SP&S pas- Whil e there are many photographs of the exterior of passenger ca rs, very few have been published showing the Entry Vestibule ofa car. This is what the passenger saw entraining a GN senge r locomotives an d cars were stream liner. A very clean and update design is show n in this GN Archives photograph. painted in SP&S corporate colors.

Chicago-Seattle Great Dome Lounge Car Of course , the Stream liner also had the winter season Chicago-Seattle 6-5-2 Sleeping Car North Coast Limited's two Chicago-Portland cars in its Chicago-Sea ttle 6-4-1 Lounge-Observation Ca r consist between Pasco and Po rtland. However , the modeler can des ignate that the layout encompasses the Spo kane area This westbo und consist contained every type of car as- only. signed to the 1955 Empire Bu ilder an d is historically acc u- To add accuracy to the Spokane terminal facilities, the rate as the winter season consist from Spokane to Seattle . mod eler could have the Empire Bu ilder's St.Pa ul to Spokane The eastbound con sist was 10 cars long between Seattle and storagemail car already set out and unloading at Spo kane GN Spokane when operated on a Saturday or Sunday. Then the Station 's mail terminal building tha t was adjace nt to the consis t did not have the Seattle to St. Pa ul storage mail car or passenger sta tion. Then the modeler can account for all of the 16-4 sleeping car. the 14 cars that the westbound winter season Empi re Builder In orde r to further historical accuracy, a modeler can had in its consist arri ving Spokane and the 12 cars that it had

9 leaving Spokane eastbound Sa turday and Sun - day nigh ts during winte r season operatio ns. The eastbound consist contained 13 cars including the Seattle to St. Pa ul sto rage mail car on the It's the Streamlined EM PIREBUILDER'S birthday ot her nights . ...but how many candles for the cake - 2, 6 or 1O? The inclusion of the consolidated West ern Great N orthern's Empire Builder- the incomparable Great Dome cars for coach and Pullma n passengers-the Star-Fast Mail winter season consists into this atrearuliner that speeds each day, each way between third modernization of this world famous train in 8 years. Chicago and Seattle-Portland-s-will be 10 years old on That basbeen the of Great Northern Ra ilway 's Spo kane layout presents problem s of train length February 23. pro gress in providing the ultimate in fast, comfortable, But, new as it was in 1947 the Empire Builder was passe nger serv ice across the scenic top of the nation. also . However, the modeler might consider the full y roe-equipped from baggage car to obse rvation lounge in 1951 and in 1956 again was improved by addition of ope rating dioram a approach. The layout could model that short night time fram e of abou t one t\ " and a half-hours wh en th e winte r season eastbound and westbound Empire Builder and the Streamline r arrived in Spokane, and then departed fro m S po ka ne afte r co ns ide ra ble tran sloading of mail and complex switching act ivities by the two Spokan e GN Passeng er Station switch engines. They should also be included , working the head-end and the rear of each train, in this operat ing diorama. The ideas expressed above formulate a sche - mat ic that a modeler might use as the beginning for modeling the Grea t Dome Empi re Builder . It provides the basis for the modeler's inge nuity and creativity as the diorama (layout) eme rge s into its winter season operation al phas es with shorte r, but still acc urate train consists in and around a fant asy terminal area named Spokane . In summary we have see n how the Grea t Nort hern managem ent so ught to respond , not only to the press ures of compe tition, but also to the wishes and demands of their customers - the living , paying passen gers -by improving service on th e grea t Em p ire Builde r trains. Budget costs were always a big consideration , but the Grea t Northern was, to the end, committed to serving the passen ger in as grand a style as possible. Tbe railway syste m that, in a very literal sense, haa put three new E mpire Bui lder trlliM on itA line in 10 yeura bas also moved swift ly ahead in supplying a eu pe rta t tve qua lit y of fre igh t service . After all, th e Great Northe rn slogan was For in/ormation. on this aspea: of Great N orthern, write W . E. N icholson, always "If yo u want to GO GREA T , then yo u Freight T raffic .1rfgr.. Great Northern Railwa y , St. Paul I , Minn. GO GREAT NOR TH ERN".

A ny excuse to get the GN image in fro nt of the public. A protii«: GN Public Relations Departm e n t a t wo rk again, ce rta inly ca tc hi ng th e attention of reader s.

The attractive lowe r lounge of the do me coach The spacious viewing and seatillg area of the dom e coach.

10 The lower lou nge area ofthe dom e coach featured reclining The lower lounge level of the Great Dom e held the bar and seats with adjustable leg res ts. The decorat ing was subdu ed entertainment facilities . There was a small lounge on the upper und modern, and Indian Art was prominen tly d isplayed. deck as well as sofa seat ing. Again Ind ian A rt was prom inent.

Looking the ot her direction from the bar area in the lower lounge of the Great Dome. The Ranch Car from the earlier version of the Empire Bu ilder was con tinued in the 195 5 versio n, and was always a pop ular attraction . Besides se rving inexpensive meals, the carprovided a lo u nge section dec orat ed in We .stern ranch style.

11 Company artists provided much adve rtising mater ial ex tolling the virtu es of the new full dome equipment carried on the Em pire Builder for Pullman passengers. This drawing is a sam ple of part of one of the full-color "on train" brochures.

Th e Public Re lati o ns Departm en t of the Gr eat No rthern co n tin ued th e co mpany poli cy of providing supe rb photographi c advertis ing fo r itspasse nge r trains, an d thi s photograph of the 1 95 5 Empi re Builder is a good exam ple of th e ar t. It shows th e ne w Gre at Do me Empire Builder running along th e southern bo undary of Glacier National Park. Great view s su ch as thiswere ava ilable from the four dome coaches, and were obvious attracti o ns wh ich the GN used to attrac t passenger patronag e . Photograp h from the Great No rth ern/ Bu rlington Nort he rn Archives .

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