The Great Northern Railway (reporting mark GN) was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's (GN) route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.
On March 2nd, 1970 the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway merged to form the Burlington Northern Railroad. The BN operated until 1996, when it merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
Freight Cars
1923: Front facing goat herald replaces slant lettering in square. (First "Rocky" herald.)
1941: Side Facing Goat Herald introduced. First FT's delivered (first orange and green livery).
1948: New/repainted freight cars use "Great Northern" instead of "Glacier Park" in logo.
Up to 1956: Most freight equipment was either brown or mineral red.
1956-1961: Freight equipment was painted "Vermillion Red".
1961-1967: Freight equipment was painted "Glacier Green".
1966: "Big Sky Blue" color scheme introduced (diesels and freight).
There were also some box cars with orange on top and Pullman green on the bottom which were built and ran from the late 1940's on. Many of these were express boxcars and the orange/green paint scheme helped them blend in better on trains like the Western Star, Fast Mail and others.
See also: