Western Star (train)
{{Short description|Train operated by the Great Northern Railway}}
{{italic title}}
{{Expert needed|trains|talk=Chicago service|reason=Chicago connection unclear in sources|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width =
| name = Western Star
| logo =
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| image = Western Star 1951.JPG
| image_width = 300px
| caption = Western Star in the Cascades, 1951
| type =
| status = Discontinued
| locale =
| predecessor = Oriental Limited
| first = June 3, 1951
| last = May 1, 1971
| successor = Empire Builder
| operator =
| formeroperator = Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Great Northern Railway
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
Burlington Northern Railroad
| ridership =
| start = Chicago, Illinois
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| end = Seattle, Washington/Portland, Oregon
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| map = {{Western Star}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}
The Western Star was a named passenger train operated by the Great Northern Railway between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest via Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Between Chicago and St. Paul the train used the route of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; in later years eastbound passengers were accommodated on Burlington trains east of St. Paul. Through cars from the train operated between Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon via the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. It operated from 1951 to 1971.
History
The Western Star was inaugurated on June 3, 1951, replacing the Oriental Limited as the secondary train along the Great Northern's transcontinental route. The Great Northern's primary train was the famed Empire Builder, which made the run in 45 hours. The Western Star required a more leisurely 58 hours, making more intermediate stops and serving branches the Empire Builder bypassed, such as Grand Forks, North Dakota and Great Falls, Montana.{{rp|91}} The Star used equipment from the Empire Builder, which had been completely reequipped.{{rp|245}}
On March 7, 1966, the westbound Star crashed head-on with the eastbound Empire Builder {{cite news |title=Head-on Crash Kills Engineers |agency=Associated Press |location=Chester, Montana |publisher=Great Falls Tribune |date=1966-03-08 |pages=1,10 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/great-falls-tribune-2-great-northernpas/15453195/}} at Buelow, {{convert|5|mi|km}} east of Chester, while Great Northern's then-president John M. Budd rode along in the Empire.{{cite book |last1=Langel |first1=Ruby |url=https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/5583 |title=A history of Chester Montana and surrounding communities from 1890 to 1994 |year=1994 |pages=30–31 |accessdate=2024-08-30 }} The engineers of each train died and 79 were hurt with 29 of those having to be hospitalized.{{cite web | url = https://www.gnarchive.com/incidents/1966_buelow_mt/buelow.html | title = Accident, Buelow, MT, 1966 | last = Snyder| first = Jon | date = 2024 | website = Great Northern Archive| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240830064417/https://www.gnarchive.com/incidents/1966_buelow_mt/buelow.html |archive-date=2024-08-30 | access-date = 2024-08-29}} The accident became known as the Great Northern Buelow wreck.The Anatomy of Great Northern Buelow Wreck - March 7, 1966. [Exhibition]. Whitefish Museum, Whitefish, Montana, USA. https://www.stumptownhistoricalsociety.org/whitefish-museum
The Western Star and a connecting train between Havre and Great Falls continued operating until May 1, 1970.{{cite book |last1=Edmonson |first1=Harold A. |title=Journey to Amtrak |date=1972 |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |isbn=978-0890240236 |pages=102–104}} as mentioned in {{cite magazine |magazine=Trains|title=Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak |url=https://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224220507/https://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-24 }} Amtrak did not retain the Western Star as part of its national route network and the train was discontinued, although it did re-route the Empire Builder to serve Grand Forks.{{rp|158}}
Equipment
The 1951 Western Star required six sets of equipment to operate; it inherited five of these from the faster Empire Builder. Each set of equipment consisted of fourteen cars:{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
- Baggage-mail car
- Baggage car
- Coach (60 seats)
- Coach (48 seats)
- Coach (48 seats)
- Coach (48 seats)
- Lounge car
- Dining car
- Sleeping car
- Sleeping car
- Sleeping car
- Sleeping car
- Sleeping car
- Observation lounge
}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite book | first=Bill | last=Yenne | title=Great Northern Empire Builder | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VFO3ttOCU9IC | publisher=Voyageur Press | year=2005 | isbn=0760318476}}
{{cite book | last=Hidy | first=Ralph W. | title=The Great Northern Railway: A History | location=Minneapolis | publisher=University of Minnesota Press | year=2004 | isbn=0-8166-4429-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MkA050YuDJQC|display-authors=etal}}
}}
External links
- [http://streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track7/westernstar196607.html 1966 timetable]
{{GN named trains}}
Category:Passenger trains of the Great Northern Railway (U.S.)
Category:Named passenger trains of the United States
Category:Railway services introduced in 1951
Category:Railway services discontinued in 1971
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