GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY. The Great Northern's genealogy began in 1857 with the chartering of the Minnesota and Pacific railway by the State of Minnesota, a road that was soon taken over by the St. Paul and Pacific railway. Ten miles of actual railroad were then built between St. Paul and St. Anthony, now Minneapolis, upon which service was estab lished in 1862, the first in the North-west.
In 1875, Mr. J. J. Hill and a group of associates began reor ganizing the St. Paul and Pacific, then in the hands of receivers, into the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway. Under the leadership of Mr. Hill this new road expanded rapidly, despite the lack of Government aid then considered so essential to the construction of new lines. By 1888 the line reached central Mon tana and five years later the Rockies had been crossed through the elusive Marias Pass and service established between the Twin Cities and Puget Sound. It was during this latter period that the present Great Northern Railway Company was formed.
In 1935 the Great Northern ranked among the leading railroads of the United States. It operated 8,25o m. of line, covering a territory extending from the Great Lakes to the Pacific ocean. It also owned a half interest in the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, and in the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Ry. Easy grades and low mountain crossings, only 5,213 ft. in the Rockies and 2,883 ft. in the Cascades, mark the main line of the Great Northern. It keeps in service over i,000 locomotives, Boo passenger cars and approximately 54,00o freight cars. Its freight service varies from the branch line way freight to the fast through freights operating between the Twin Cities and Puget Sound. Its passenger service ranges from short haul transporta tion by rail motor cars and branch line trains to fast transcon tinental service between Chicago and the Pacific coast.
The Great Northern also provides bus service on highways through a subsidiary, the Northland Greyhound Lines, Inc. The Northland had in 1935 over 6,000 m. of bus routes, mainly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and Montana.
(R. By.)