Great Northern Railway (U.S.)

Great Northern Railway

GN system map, c. 1918; dotted lines represent nearby railroads.
The Empire Builder traveling through Glacier Park Montana. (1947)
Overview
Headquarters	Railroad and Bank Building Saint Paul, Minnesota
Founders	James J. Hill John S. Kennedy Norman Kittson Donald Smith George Stephen
Reporting mark	GN
Locale	British Columbia California Idaho Iowa Manitoba Minnesota Montana North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Washington Wisconsin
Dates of operation	1889–1970
Successor	Burlington Northern Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length	8,368 miles (13,467 km)

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 route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.

In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged with three other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, which merged in 1996 with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.