As we’ve seen in the last few days, Great Northern engaged in a major public relations campaign when it inaugurated the new Oriental Limited, a nearly-all-steel train, in 1924. We’ve previously seen two booklets issued about this train, and this … Continue reading
After putting the New Oriental Limited into service on June 1, 1924, Great Northern sent a variety of promotional letters, cards and brochures to members of the public. We’ve already seen several of these including one claiming outright that it … Continue reading
Introduced in 1905, the Oriental Limited was the pride of the Great Northern. This 1911 booklet says that the train had “recently been augmented by the installation of entirely new equipment throughout.” The new cars had electric lights, wide vestibules, … Continue reading
In 1924, GN completely re-equipped the Oriental Limited with mostly all-steel cars. The new cars were such an improvement that for the next five years GN invariably called the train “the New Oriental Limited.” Among the amenities not found on … Continue reading
The Great Northern punched its line through the Cascade Mountains to Seattle in January 1893, almost a decade after Northern Pacific and eight years after Union Pacific reached Portland. While NP didn’t name any of its trains or offer a … Continue reading
The Great Northern issued this series of postcards promoting its newly re-equipped Oriental Limited in 1924. We’ve already seen one of the cards in the series showing a P-2 locomotive pulling the train through the Washington Cascades. I copied all … Continue reading
Just as the Charles Russell menus were handed down from the streamlined Empire Builder to the Western Star, Great Northern’s color photo menus were handed down from the heavyweight Empire Builder to the revived Oriental Limited when the previous train … Continue reading
Today’s first menu features a P2 mountain-type locomotive, the pride of the Great Northern in 1926, pulling the Oriental Limited by Mount Index in the Washington Cascades. While the 44-hour Chicago-Seattle streamlined Empire Builder would later pass this scene in … Continue reading
This book of children’s verses is as much an advertisement for the 1924 Oriental Limited as it is a way to entertain children waiting for their dinners. Each page includes a few lines about one course or entrée of a … Continue reading
Great Northern kept its media campaign going when the 1924 Oriental Limited reached its first anniversary. This elaborate menu cover encloses a standard two-page menu contained within six pages of text and photos advertising the train. Click image to download … Continue reading
