This elegant brochure has no date, but I suspect it was from 1929, when the Empire Builder began operating, or 1930, before the effects of the Depression were fully felt. The interior devotes six pages to the train’s observation-lounge car, … Continue reading
This blotter is clearly from the pre-streamlined period (meaning before 1947) and probably from the pre-war period. We know the Empire Builder was only partially air conditioned in 1934, so it is from after that year. Some of the companies … Continue reading
To mark the opening of the railway’s Cascade Tunnel, on June 11, 1929, the Great Northern inaugurated a new train, the Empire Builder, named for the railway’s founder, James J. Hill. This brochure describes it as a “companion train” for … Continue reading
One more Glacier Park menu from the New York Public Library. Like yesterday’s, this one is from 1946 and has the lower prices ($1.25 for “plate dinner number one”). Curiously, the number of entrées in the number one plate dinner … Continue reading
Unlike yesterday’s menu, which is from my personal collection, this one is from the New York Public Library. Like yesterday’s, this dinner menu is dated 1946, but the prices are the lower prices as the 1947 menu. Where today’s menu … Continue reading
Here’s another dinner menu in Great Northern’s Glacier Park series, this one from 1946 showing Lake Josephine, in the Many Glacier region. The menu itself is similar to, but actually slightly higher-priced than, the 1947 Empire Builder menu presented here … Continue reading
This 1943 menu has the same cover as the 1949 Oriental Limited menu that I posted a few weeks ago. Inside is very different with lower prices, advertisements for “victory bonds,” and a sticker proclaiming May 17-22 as “National Cotton … Continue reading
Like the Little Chief Mountain menu shown here previously, this menu is from 1941. While the two are not exactly the same, the main entrées seem to have been simply rearranged. Click image to download a 652-KB PDF of this … Continue reading
To commemorate the 175th anniversary of the birth of James J. Hill, who built and managed the Great Northern Railway, here is a video about Hill produced by the Minnesota Historical Society. The first person interviewed in the video is … Continue reading
This menu has the same cover photo as yesterday’s, but is for the Empire Builder instead of the Oriental Limited. Dated 1943, it’s selection of meals is similar to the 1949 Oriental Limited menu, but at far lower prices: $1.25 … Continue reading
