Day 2: The Empire Builder and the Hi-Line Across Montana

We’re traveling west on the train called the Empire Builder, the name of the marquee passenger train on the former Great Northern Railway. The Empire Builder was the name of the man who expanded the Great Northern across the continent, James J. Hill.

James J. Hill of St. Paul acquired a small Minnesota railroad with a group of investors in 1878, renamed it the Great Northern, and expanded it west across North Dakota and Montana in the 1880s and early 1890s, completing the link to the Pacific in 1893. He encouraged settlers to locate along the line, promoted the growing of wheat and other crops, and imported cattle. He led the building of an empire. Later, in the early 20th Century the Great Northern backed the creation of Glacier National Park, built hotels and lodges, and promoted tourism. 

The area running across northern Montana from North Dakota to the Rockies is known as the Hi-Line, named after the rail line. It has a distinctive regional identity and is characterized by prairie, wheat fields, cattle ranches, small towns on the railroad, and Big Sky.

Statue of James J. Hill on the Hi-Line
at Havre, Montana

Great Northern steam locomotive at Havre

Amtrak locomotives at Havre