Lively World of Great Northern (1960s) Part 1

[greenwaterhose]

what type of locomotive is in the opening scene? Is it a SD-?

[skinnyshit8888]

@greenwaterhose that is a geep! you can tell by the axle count. I saw double axles. SDs have triple axles!

[greenwaterhose]

what type of locomotive is in the opening scene? Is it a SD-?

[htc6600]

I love the ending of this film with the boxcar door closing and then the geep pulling the car away.

[htc6600]

TheWoodsmanhunter: James J. Hill always wanted to merge GN, NP and CB&Q. He tried to long before the '60's with the Northern Securities Company. The BN merger was about marrying the best parts of three railroads to create the best possible railroad from Chicago to the Pacific Coast and had nothing to do with taxes. It was about increasing ton miles with minimum train miles, a Hill dictum and the biggest reason why GN was so successful.

[LordoftheKaty]

As a logistics and economics major, and a railroad buff, this is gold to me, I really LOVE it! Capitalism baby!

[NShighnoser]

This was back when you were allowed to smoke and drink alcohol while driving/working on trains

[airplanebuilderman]

Ahhhh smoking on the train

[tngjstn]

The one person who dislikes this isn't a rail fan.

[newjackdoug]

great video! groovy music! so much of what used to be produced in the United States now occurs elsewhere.

[Petermax99]

You can still see GN cars from time to time watch the North Towns Yards in Minneapolis your bound to see one.

[AndrewNeilFalconer]

The all Big Sky Blue passenger train must have been a short lived sight since BN and AMTRAK came in soon after this film was produced.

[GeileSexyZeiten]

Yes, this scheme was introduced in 1967 and lasted only until 1970, when repainting into BN colors started. But there was never a BN Empire Builder painted completely into the green and white BN colors, sinde many cars remained into the Big Sky Blue scheme right into Amtrak.

[AndrewNeilFalconer]

The Great Northern Exterior-Braced 50' Box Cars in Big Sky Blue built in the late 1960's lasted in that paint scheme at least into the late 1990's. Have you seen a GN Big Sky Blue Box Car lately?

[fullglottalstop]

I think I saw a Big Sky Blue woodchip gondola in 2005 or thereabouts.

[AndrewNeilFalconer]

In 2005 I did see a Great Northern 4-Bay High Sided Hopper in the original G.N. Scheme applied in 1966 just before Big Sky Blue. I wonder if they are sitting in railyards today.

[fullglottalstop]

More likely scrapped, or stored on branchlines. Now it is quite common to see disused branchlines stuffed with continuous (over 15-mile) strings of stored freight cars. Most commonly, they are centerbeam lumber cars and empty well cars.

Some examples in the midwest:

Gunn Jct. to Hibbing, Minnesota

Carrington to Sykeston, North Dakota

Rogers to Monticello, Minnesota

Plentywood to Scobey, Montana (I think)

Grafton to Glasston, North Dakota

[bertxblitzkrieg]

Empty well cars were stored on the Casco sub between gunn and hibbing for quite some time... i often thought it would be pretty cool that when they moved them, they'd move all however many miles of them at once. that'd be a huge train.

[fullglottalstop]

Although it might be interesting to see, the train wouldn't fit in any yards or sidings. Also, it would block crossings, hog the mainline with low-priority traffic and occupy tracks that other trains have to use. Normally, they have to splice extra engines into the consist with extra large trains to take away slack in the drawbars and prevent them from breaking. Most of the well car extras I've seen were probably just over a mile in length.

[alfie9876]

7:51 is a no no these days

[cochranexyz]

You never see (at least I haven't in years) a mixed freight over that line at the beginning.  All doublestack containers.

[fullglottalstop]

On the hi-line? Plenty of manifests travel that route.

[cochranexyz]

No, the Casdace Tunnel route. Alongside U.S. Highway 2 in Washington State. All doublestacks.

[jschmid]

excllent videos, i never thought I would find someonthing like this ononle, or even youtube! ty for posting this, iI really like how the conductor gets onto the locomotive at 7:52 ! :)

[MakeChooChooGoNow]

These corporations we have today have no right calling themselves a 'railroad'.

[sd39hogger]

As for that switchman tying onto that moving geep at 7:53, that was perfectly normal back then on the GN. Nowdays, the BeaNSnifF is just one of a handful of roads, that actually has a no boarding on/bailing off moving equipment policy. Sheesh, when I worked at the Soo/CP in the Twin Cities, that was one of the things that kept the job fun ( not to mention more fluid for productivity ), tying on and bailing off moving equipment.

[DRG1939]

THANK YOU!!! Ive been with NS for 18 yrs. The "railroad" has been taken out of the railroad hasn't it?? Im all for working safe...but there is something about catcing up on a moving locomotive or boxcar that you just can't beat!!

[BlackWolfessUSCM]

@sd39hogger I volunteered out at a railway museum last year as the radio girl in the cab, and the engineer of the u-Boat I was assigned to actually has a class he teaches on how to properly do that. Although we're not supposed to do it, since that was his generation he taught me anyways :D

[sd39hogger]

WOW, excellent vids! Forget the NP, forget the Q, forget the BN & BNSF....GN FOREVER!!!

Steve from St.Louis Park,MN (grew up 4 blocks from the Willmar line and the Monkey Nut$ behind my house)

[mrsooline]

Great transition to end the movie. Big Sky Blue was one of the best paint schemes there ever was-too bad it chalked so badly.

[bdtubbs]

Best vid. on Utube. Period.

[wheeeeee111]

beauiful beauiful just beauiful!! remenber hustle muscle from 1966!

[seankolker]

Did`nt know such awesome GN video existed.

[SpecificationR]

wow that yard worker at 7:53 has balls

[seankolker]

It`s one of many "deadly decisions" on todays railroads,on BNSF an official see you do that your ass is out the door.

[Rustyrex]

And if a manager sees you doing what the engineer's doing at 1:02, you may suffer the same thing. Welcome to railroading in the 2000s.

[DRG1939]

Ha ha...same here on NS.

[wesolint]

That's how we did it until the early 1990's when they disallowed it - up to 20 MPH!

[bnsffreighttrain]

Awesome to see Great Northern in action!

[mafarnz]

Agreed, it's so cool to see the old F units, and the mixed GN paint. Very cool old film.