1931 Goat

Great Northern GOAT - January 1931

Until its merger into the Burlington Northern, the Great Northern Railway's traffic department published a monthly pamphlet entitled, "The Great Northern Goat". This is Volume 8, Number 1 of the Goat published in January 1931.

The Great Northern Goat was published for the Traffic Department of the Great Northern Railway.

This edition I picked up courtesy of my buddy Scott Tanner (Thanks, Neighbor Scott!!)  It is noteworthy because it discusses in detail the Empire Builder radio program sponsored by the Great Northern Railway in the 1930's.  For more information on these radio programs, visit the website of Rich Samuels by clicking here.  

WARNING:  These are BIG .jpg files and may take a while to download (especially if you're on a dial-up connection).  Click on the thumbnailed picture to view the page of your choice.  Below each page is a brief description.

Front Cover

Page Two:  Rehearsing for Empire Builders

Page Three:  Empire Builder radio program begins.  Talks about 1931 GN extension into California via the Inside Gateway with Western Pacific Railroad.

Page Four:  More history on how Inside Gateway came to be.

Page Five:  Breaking ground for the California extension (Klamath Falls, Oregon to Bieber, California.

Page Six:  Describes how train sound effects are made for radio program.

Page Seven:  More sound effects described.

Page Eight:  Miss Flynn and the Old Timer.

Page Nine:  Miss Husting, The Old Timer and Don Ameche.

Page Ten:  Bio's of the performers on the Empire Builder radio program.

Page Eleven:  How Empire Builder radio program is produced.

Page Twelve:  More production notes.

Page Thirteen:  Writing contest for the radio program.

Page Fourteen:  Photos of the Empire Builder.

Page Fifteen:  Description of journey on the Empire Builder.

Page Sixteen:  Describes trip within Glacier National Park.

Page Seventeen:  Describes trip from Glacier Park to Wenatchee.

Page Eighteen:  Wenatchee to Seattle.

Page Nineteen:  Speeded up schedule of the Empire Builder.

Back Cover