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Introduction

The Great Northern Railway (GN) merged on March, 2nd 1970 with Northern Pacific (NP), Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) and Spokane, Portland and Seattle (SP&S) to form the Burlington Northern.

Click on a logo to go to the website of the respective historical society.

Much has changed since; Burlington Northern itself merged with Santa Fe creating the current Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, buildings have been raised, equipment repainted or phased out, lines relocated or abandoned, etc., etc.

Today, over 30 years after the merger, one would not expect to find many remnants of the old Great Northern empire. This is fortunately not true, as I discovered on recent discovery and rail-fanning trips that have taken me to seven of the ten states and two Canadian provinces once served by the Great Northern Railway. Other Great Northern fans have also alerted me to many still existing pieces of Great Northern history.

 Much of the history of the Great Northern Railway is still around. Many structures are still in use, some altered to fit new purposes, lots of rolling stock has escaped repainting and some locomotives are on display at former Great Northern served towns. Many miles of the original Great Northern routes are still serving the railroads of today.

This website shows what I found on my discovery trips with the purpose of sharing it with other fans of the Great Northern Railway and to provide an easy source for information to help explore the old Great Northern lines yourself.

This website also includes all kinds of information on the Great Northern. See the main menu on the left for more! You can also help with sending me information and pictures you have; see You can help.

I hope you will enjoy this website as much as I enjoy creating it. Constructive feedback is always welcome through the email link below .

Ben Ringnalda