Articles

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

LEGACY

The Oriental Limited operated for less than seven years and was the premier Great Northern transcontinental train for a short five years. The Oriental Limited's star had really begun to set in 1927, when the rival Milwaukee Road introduced the more spacious 8-1-2 Pullman floor plan to the Northwest on its upgraded Olympian Hiawatha. The Olympian was now a superior train and Great Northern had to react by updating its train also. In 1929, a new train, the Empire Builder, was introduced on an even faster schedule. The Oriental continued as the second transcontinental train, replacing the Glacier Park Limited.
Great Northern's new train featured a modern solarium observation, spacious 8-1-2 Pullmans and more tourist sections which had proven so popular on the Oriental. With a faster schedule made possible by the new tunnel, a solarium observation made sense for the Builder. Great Northern abandoned the handsome two tone green exterior color scheme, and returned to the somber dark wood tudor styling for the observation's interior. All sleeping accommodations were removed from the observation, perhaps in response to complaints from passengers who had their night's sleep interrupted by switching operations as Pullmans were cut in and out of the train. The valet/barber shop and men's shower were moved to the observation, permitting 16 section tourist cars instead of the 12 section tourist cars that had been carried on the Oriental.

It is interesting to note several similarities between the 1924 Oriental and the 1947 Empire Builder. Both lost their premier status after four or five years but continued as the second train. Both trains introduced sleeping car configurations which were not repeated, the 10-1-2 on the Oriental and the 4-8-4 on the Builder. Many names of the Lake series sleeping cars were recycled in the 1947 Builder consist. The final similarity is the sleeping accommodations in the observation car. As noted above, passenger sleeping space was eliminated from the Founder Series Observation car carried on the 1929 Builder. The 1947 Empire Builder's design reintroduced sleeping accommodations in the Observation Car. When the train was upgraded in 1951, sleeping space was removed from the newer Observation Cars except the two roomettes that were dedicated as crew space.

It is evident from the amount of equipment which was acquired, that Great Northern intended to operate both the Oriental Limited and the Empire Builder on a long term basis. Unfortunately, passenger revenues declined in spite of new equipment, excellent service and advanced advertising techniques. In 1931, not many more than one million passengers travelled G.N. trains compared to 8.5 million in 1920. Revenue dropped from $30.4 million in 1920 to $11 million in 1931. The Oriental became a casualty of the downturn in business caused by the Great Depression. The Oriental was withdrawn in March 30, 1931.