Unveiled in June 1929, the "Empire Builder" quickly established itself as the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern. Named for GN founder James J. Hill, it ran from Chicago (via the Burlington to St. Paul) to Seattle, with a separate section to Portland. Post-war plans for the new streamlined version were unveiled in early 1945 with the arrival of EMD E7A-A diesels attired in brilliant Omaha Orange and Pullman Green (later known as the Empire Builder scheme); deliveries of matching cars continued through 1947. Not content with this upgrade, GN completely refitted the train once more in 1951 and assigned A-B-A sets of F units as standard power. The Empire Builder reached its pinnacle of luxury in 1955 with the arrival of brand-new Vista-Dome and full or Great Dome cars offering incredible views of western scenery. This longer and heavier train was pulled by A-B-B-A sets of F units.
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