Articles

Proposed Reference Sheet
Ted Doyle

Number three's first run left St Paul June 15, 1893 with a running time to Seattle of 75 hours and number four’s first trip left Seattle on June 18, 1893. Shortly after starting service the running time between St Paul and Seattle was cut to 72 hours and GN arranged to run through cars to Chicago over the Milwaukee Road. In June 1893, the trip from Seattle to Spokane took 18 hours. Portland was a 24 hour trip from Spokane where ‘across the platform’ connections were made with the OR&N. Service to Great Falls, Helena, and Butte was provided by connecting trains 23 & 24 at Havre, where through sleepers were cut in and out of numbers 3 & 4.The schedule was modified, lengthening the scheduled time.

More concerned with building the line, Great Northern gave little thought to naming its St Paul - Seattle train. The naming of passenger trains, viewed by many as a gimmick of advertising people did not seriously get started until after 1895 on the Great Northern - although a name had been used for the Butte train. There were few named trains in the U.S. before the 1890s, although 'vestibuled, solid trains’ were advertised.

To inaugurate passenger service, GN took delivery of twenty E-7 Ten-wheelers (650-669) from Rogers in April, 1893. Sporting 72" drivers and a tractive effort of 17,730 lbs, they were the first Ten-wheelers acquired for passenger service. Passenger trains drawn by E-7s were limited to 9 cars and 350 tons. Reliable 4-4-0's continued to handle the train for much of the journey. Although that year also witnessed the addition of new head-end equipment, vestibuled coaches, diners, and sleepers, the consist still included many open platform cars. Shortly after the beginning of service in 1893, the free colonist’s car disappeared from the timetables, to be replaced by the family tourist car. Ten sets of equipment were needed for the 72 hour schedule. Four sets were traveling eastbound and four others westbound. The remaining two were at the east and west terminals being readied for departure.

Although the amount equipment available was low initially, Great Northern did operate its own diners & sleepers rather than contracting with Pullman. New cars ordered in 1893 were the best available. The diners and sleepers were finished in polished oak. In September, 1893, Barney & Smith had delivered an additional six, 10 section, 2 stateroom sleepers. The enclosed vestibule, grooved sheathing cars were named Wenatchee, Spokane, Flathead, Marias, Columbia, and Peshastin. The trains carried headend cars for the Great Northern Express which had been formed on July 1, 1892. In February, 1895, it was announced that numbers three and four would carry buffet-library from April until November. Between Spokane and Portland, reclining chair cars, and Pullman Palace Buffet Sleepers were operated via OR&N as a connection.

The Limited first appeared in the timetable in May, 1895 and operated between May 5, 1895 and January 2, 1899. It was the first name applied to Great Northern’s transcontinental train. Also in 1895, Great Northern began operating through sleepers and coaches to Portland, Oregon. Through Portland service was possible because GN and OR&N shared the same depot in Spokane. The running time was speeded up and a library was added to the train. Photographs from the period indicate that three locomotives were still required to get a seven car train over the Cascade switchbacks.

Increasing traffic was being generated by the growing Puget Sound ports, especially Seattle. In 1896, Great Northern became the first U.S. railroad to serve the Orient when the Japanese SS MIIKE MARU sailed into Seattle in August. The arrival was the first visit for a Nippon Yushen Kaisha (NYK) line vessel and was the result of a prior meeting Hill had with NYK in 1892. The event helped establish Seattle as the major Puget Sound seaport. On July 17, 1897 the SS PORTLAND steamed into Seattle with three tons of gold. It was the first Yukon/Alaskan gold to reach the lower forty-eight and established Seattle’s hegemony in Alaskan commerce. Charles Wood’s book The Great Northern Railway reports that in the late 1890's at the time of the Alaska/Klondike goldrush, the train was nicknamed the Alaska Limited.

In May 1898, the Eastern Minn Railway took delivery of eight heavy E-10 Ten-wheelers 1000-1007 having a tractive effort of 32,380 lbs, these were quickly sent to the Cascades for use as helpers.

Carries the Pacific Fast Mail

Although widely known, very little has been written about this early Great Northern train. In 1899, Great Northern took the mail contract from the Northern Pacific on the Seattle - St Paul route after running a faster running time between the cities. Numbers three and four were renamed the Great Northern Flyer, and ran on the fastest schedule of any train between Seattle/Portland and St. Paul. New equipment and locomotives were acquired for the new trains. The Flyer was the first scheduled passenger train to use both the Cascade Tunnel in 1900 and the new route between Columbia Falls and Jennings via Whitefish/Rexford in 1904, eliminating Haskell Pass. The tunnel’s opening eliminated the switchbacks and allowed the faster schedule.

For the Flyer, GN took delivery of 10 heavier E-3 Ten-wheelers in March 1899. The locomotives, numbered 900-909 had a tractive effort of 18,150 lbs, and rode on 73" drivers. 65' mail cars were also delivered for the new transcontinental mail contract. The Flyer was renumbered 1 & 2 in 1903.

In November 1901, more speedsters were received. The 10 E-8's, numbers 1050-1059, also had 73" drivers and tractive effort was increased to 23,540 lbs.

The Flyer kept its same basic schedule and newer equipment continued to be acquired during the entire period that the train operated. The Flyer featured Buffet-Library-Observations with wicker chairs, wrought iron, design woodwork, colorful curtains and ornamental lamps. - all in contemporary Victorian fashion. Its book lovers library won praise from many travelers including Adlai Stevenson who wrote that "the car is one on the greatest conveniences to tourists in making long journeys. It is a comfortable thing to find a library of books ... daily newspapers, writing materials, easy chars, a bathroom, a barbershop and smoking room... It is a club life carried through out the journey."

For a brief three month transitional period, numbers one and two were called The Great Northern Limited, before the renowned Oriental Limited was adopted in December 1905. The schedule was similar to the Oriental Limited’s, and excepting the new compartment observation cars, the Great Northern Limited’s equipment was the same as carried on the Oriental Limited.