GN-1967 Empire Builder

In 1967, Great Northern made a bold move to change their image. Big Sky Blue was adopted as the lines color brand.

The well known Empire Builder passenger train also went thru a few subtle consist changes as it speed into the history books. This scheme lasted the final three years before the Burlington Northern merger took place in 1970. When Amtrak took over the nations rail passenger service, these Big Sky Blue cars were dispersed from coast to coast and played a key role in what we call the ‘rainbow years’. That slang term coming from the fact that a passenger train, once all the same color, now could be a complete hodgepodge of color. Color and continuity no longer mattered. Soon, it was Amtrak’s Red, White and Blue!

With encouragement and support, RailSmith will build this train. The final car and we plan do it, will  be the Budd Great Dome.