Articles

Great Northern Railway Historical Society
Reference Sheet No. 217
June 1994

BACKGROUND

As a lad in remote Rockwood, Ontario, in the 1850's, James J. Hill devoured books on a variety of subjects. The idol of Jim Hill's boyhood was Marco Polo and his dream was to be a sea captain in Oriental commerce. He noted that among the rich men of 1855 many had made their fortunes in the Orient. When he left home in 1856, at the age of 17, his great scheme was to go to the Orient from New York and to make his own fortune. However, after his arrival in New York, he soon realized that the only way to reach the Orient was as 'an ordinary seaman in front of the mast'. Instead, he went overland and made it as far as St. Paul, Minnesota, where steamships and trade with the Orient continued to be one of his dreams as he built the Great Northern westward. By 1893, the Great Northern had reached Seattle and began operating transcontinental passenger trains in June of that year.

Great Northern sought to promote the image of Seattle as an important West Coast port. Seattle was a port capable of handling all classes of cargo to and from the Far East. It has always been the closest major U.S. port to the Orient, and the G.N. had the shortest route from Seattle to Chicago and the East Coast. Mr. Hill was hoping to build a greater market for American exports, such as steel, wheat and cotton. He was also anxious to establish Great Northern in the lucrative silk and tea trade. In 1896, Great Northern became the first U.S. railroad to serve the Orient when Mr. Hill negotiated an agreement with Nippon Yushen Kaisha, a Japanese steamship line, to serve Seattle. The agreement called for through freight rates over GN and NYK routes between the Midwest and the Orient.

The Oriental Limited Begins

In early 1905, the Great Northern steamships, Minnesota and Dakota were placed in service, with Seattle as their home port. The two huge, 20,000 ton ships plied the trade routes from the Pacific Northwest to the Far East. It was now possible to travel on Great Northern equipment from St. Paul to the distant ports of the Orient. In December 1905, the Oriental Limited was inaugurated as Great Northern's flagship on a 58 hour schedule over the 1,829 miles between the Twin Cities and Puget Sound, replacing the Great Northern Flyer. It was a name which emphasized that the transportation service offered by Great Northern did not end at the Port of Seattle. The Oriental fulfilled Hill's dream of direct rail-water connections between the Middle West and the ports of the Far East.
Triumph of Car Architecture

Less than five years after Hill had driven the G.N. to Seattle, the Klondike Gold Rush began. The Seattle city fathers worked hard to have their city known as the shipping point to Alaska. By 1902, the Klondike rush was winding down. Seattle, with its fine, deep sheltered harbor, was looking for an alternative shipping route so that its rapidly developing port could be kept busy. Trade with the Orient was regarded as the riposte and Seattle civic leaders found a willing ally in James J. Hill.

In 1909, Seattle hosted a World Fair called the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition, an event designed to promote trade between the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Far East. Great Northern re-equipped the Oriental for the occasion. The Oriental's equipment was the subject of a perpetual renewal and re-equipping program.
The new Oriental placed in service on May 23, 1909, carried an RPO/Bag, Day Coach, Tourist Sleeper, Diner, 12-1 and 16 section Standard Sleepers, and a Five Compartment Observation. 12-1 sleepers bore the names of Oriental ports such as Tokio (sic), Fujiyama, Yokohama, Manila and Foochuo. The Oriental's Observation Car had mahogany and cocoa finish like an English club and featured a large oval smoker separating the compartments from the lounge. This train was the first Oriental to be equipped with a vacuum cleaner. According to advertisements heralding the train's arrival, it was:

"Luxurious in appointment, well nigh perfect in mechanical construction, complete in every detail from head-end light to rear end platform lantern, this train fulfills every requirement... In all the train is a triumph of car architecture."

Dependable Railway

The Oriental Limited's route was extended over the rails of the CB&Q to Chicago in 1909 and was officially known as Numbers 1 & 2. Over the next decade and a half, trade between Seattle and the Far East flourished and Great Northern began to call itself a 'Dependable Railway' in its advertising. It operated two transcontinental passenger trains to St Paul, the Oriental Limited and the Glacier Park Limited.

The Glacier Park Limited ran as Numbers 3 & 4. Initially, it had been called the Oregonian but the name was changed to the Glacier Park Limited in the early twenties. The train ran as the tourist schedule and serviced the principal cities half a day apart from the Oriental. The two trains traded routes in Minnesota and North Dakota. The Oriental traveled through Fargo westbound and New Rockford east bound. The Glacier Park Limited went through Fargo eastbound and New Rockford westbound. Because of their respective schedules, the Glacier Park carried more sleepers westbound and the Oriental handled more eastbound. The Glacier Park carried an observation only between Seattle and Spokane.

USRA Era

Between May 26, 1918 and May 30, 1920, the Oriental Limited was operated by the United States Railway Administration. With the end of government operation and return of control to St. Paul, plans were made to refurbish the Oriental. Pullman operation of sleeping cars on the Oriental was instituted in 1922. It proved so successful that an agreement was signed by which Pullman furnished new equipment for the entire train. Pullman, seeking to acquire all of Great Northern's sleeping car operations, provided its finest equipment for the new Oriental. Within three years, in 1925, Great Northern ended its sleeping car operations.