This cache is part of the 2018 Spokane Trains And Railroads GeoChallenge. If you are participating in this GeoChallenge be sure to download and print your STAR Passport and find other helpful resources at STAR Challenge and get started today.
and get started today.
This cache is placed and maintained by D'Dawg.
If the Santa Fe’s famed Super Chief was the premier passenger train to the Southwest then the Great Northern Railway’s legendary Empire Builder was the train to take if you were headed to the Pacific Northwest and the Puget Sound region. In terms of the industry as a whole the Builder was actually late to the game, not inaugurated until after World War I. However, the train quickly made up for its lost time against its competitors and soon became the plush operation to the Pacific Northwest, thanks in part to major advertising campaign to keep it in the public eye. The Builderbecame so popular that it sustained a relatively good ridership until the beginning of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. The carrier retained the train and today it still ranks as one of the most popular long-distance run in Amtrak's fleet.
For years it battled with rival, and ally, Northern Pacific Railway and its North Coast Limited for top bragging rights to the Northwest. For those who rode the trains, it will likely always be argued over which was the best. However, if perception can be used to measure a train’s status, few ever operated compare to the level of respect and luxury found aboard the Builder. Even today, under Amtrak, the Builder remains a top operation and is perhaps the carrier’s most popular and well-known long-distance train in the fleet. The streamliner has its beginnings dating back to 1929 when then CEO Ralph Budd inaugurated the train that year (it garners its name from railroad tycoon James J. Hill, who started the Great Northern and whose well-known nickname was "Empire Builder").
The train was jointly operated with partner Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and subsidiary Seattle, Portland & Spokane Railway; the former ferried it between St. Paul and Chicago while the latter provided connecting service between Spokane and Portland, Oregon. Much like the Santa Fe’s Super Chief incorporated the surrounding geography and historical cultures into its design, so too did the Great Northern with the Builder. The train featured murals and designs not only highlighting the beauty of the Cascades and the Pacific Northwest but also the Native American cultures also found in the region. For instance, because the train also operated through ranch country, after it was streamlined in the late 1940s, the lunch counter-lounge (appropriately named “The Ranch”) featured rustic themes and even included old-fashioned fencing with “GN” adorning the design near the ceiling which passenger would walk under. Quite eye-catching!
Interestingly, it wasn’t until after World War II that the GN decided to completely streamline the Empire Builder. Before then the train had been operated by steam locomotives and heavyweight passenger equipment. However, with the new streamlined train, headed by new EMD E7A diesel locomotives, the Builder truly shined and earned its celebrated status so remembered today. The paint scheme chosen for the all new streamlined Builder, a mix of orange, dark green, and yellow trim (with the “Rocky” emblem adorning the front of the locomotives) is one of the best remembered of all time and was soon adopted as GN’s official livery for all of its locomotives, freight equipment and passenger trains.
Overall, the Great Northern Railway operated perhaps the finest, cleanest, and most respected passenger train fleet in the country, all the way up to the end in 1971 when Amtrak took over most of intercity operations. This was no different for the Builder. While the train had adopted a new paint scheme in 1967 dubbed “Big Sky Blue,” a simple, yet elegant, blend of sky-blue and white with the “Rocky” logo adorning the lower flanks of the cars (usually the lower left area), the train remained a plush operation right until the end (and, compared to most other passenger trains during this time, the train remained a quite popular train and by the late 1960s was considered the premier means of train travel to and from the Pacific Northwest).
Under Amtrak the Empire Builder has remained a top operation, and one of the carrier's most popular, although certainly nothing quite like what it was under Great Northern during the true "Golden Age" of rail travel. It also is still a quite popular train, much because it not only remains well operated under Amtrak but also traverses its original route between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. While the train cannot get you to either destination quite as quickly as a plane, the view (crossing areas such as the Cascades and Bitterroot Mountains) and the service is second to none and well worth the trip if you have the means and time.
This cache is part of the 2018 Spokane Trains And Railroads GeoChallenge. Spokane has a strong history as a major train hub, and in many ways still is. The STAR Challenge will take geocachers on an adventure, finding caches in places significant to railroads past and present. You will visit locations featuring retired train cars, streetcar rails, bridges, graves and rail yards. Successful completion of the STAR Challenge is rewarded with a trackable Geocoin.
- All caches begin with the series name STAR: followed by a location-specific name so they are easy to search. We also made a STAR Bookmark of the caches.
- To qualify for a Geocoin, find the code word or stamp in each geocache and record it on your passport.
- Visit STAR Challenge and get started today.
to find the challenge rules, a printable STAR Passport and map view of qualifying caches.
The Spokane Trains And Railroads GeoChallenge is sponsored by Cache Advance, and by donation from local cachers. We hope you enjoy!
