Great Northern Empire Builders (Great Passenger Trains) (Great Passenger Trains S.) - Hardcover

Bill Yenne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760318476 ISBN 13: 9780760318478

Publisher: Motorbooks International, 2005

Synopsis

Travel the rails of the American West in this stunning illustrated history Names for renowned entrepreneur James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway, the incomparable Empire Builder was launched in 1929 by legendary CEO Ralph Budd. Powered by steam until 1947, the Empire Builder charged into the diesel era at full-bore with streamlined EMD E7As trailing Pullman cars from St. Paul to Spokane and generating millions for the railroad. This is a history of the Empire Builders through their 1970s demise. Included here are the trains, their various forms of motive power and rolling stock, and their services. wealth of black and white archival images and period color photography depict the Empire Builder along one of the nation's most scenic routes. Also shown are uniforms, dinnerware, terminals and stations, interior views of Pullman and dome cars, period advertisements, and route maps.

About this title

Review:

Those devoted to elegant passenger trains and to Great Northern Railway will enjoy it --Rail History

This is mostly a history of James Hill and the Great Northern Railroad. If someone is trying to build an accurate model of the passenger train the Empire Builder or the Great Northern Railroad they won't find the information they need here. There is little information about the trains themselves, the facilities, or the equipment they used. There's a lot more background information than I've seen in other books, and more history of the business side of GN than in other books. --Max Smart

This book starts with a biography of Great Northern Railroad founder, James J. Hill. It then goes on to a history lesson about the building of the Great Northern Railroad and its early years. Next comes a picture of the inauguration of the Empire Builder and its early service as a heavyweight luxury train. Finally, the book addresses the post World War 2 streamlined version of the train. There are some colored pictures of the streamliner and of several color ads touting the luxury features of the train and the magnificent trip through the Rocky Mountains. I wish the pictures of the ads were larger, so that I could read the copy without a magnifying glass. This book gives a good picture of the development of the Northwest and the part played in this development by Great Northern and the Empire Builder --GGrossman

About the Author:

Raised in Montana on the route of the Empire Builder, veteran author Bill Yenne also penned MB Great American Beers and Attack of the Drones.

About this edition

• Publisher: Motorbooks International
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0760318476
• ISBN 13: 9780760318478
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160