(The Associated Press circulated the following story on June 5.)
HAVRE, Mont. — A celebration of the Empire Builder passenger train’s 75th anniversary is set for June 12 in Havre, one of the cities on the rail route from Chicago to Portland, Ore., and Seattle.
The Empire Builder made its first run on June 11, 1929, as part of the Great Northern Railway. Later it became part of the Burlington Northern system. Current operator Amtrak took over the Empire Builder in 1971.
Anniversary celebrations are planned at a number of cities on the route, including Chicago, St. Paul, Minn., Seattle and Portland, Ore. In addition to Havre, Montana towns with festivities are Shelby and Whitefish.
Lt. Gov. Karl Ohs plans to greet Amtrak’s president, David Gunn, when he arrives in Havre the afternoon of June 12. Also on hand will be Mark Simonich, the state commerce director, and Betsy Baumgart, administrator for the state tourism office.
Plans include drawings for round trips on the Empire Builder. Money raised through sales of $5 raffle tickets will go to the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers, a group that advocates continued service by the Empire Builder.
The early Empire Builder was crucial to the development of northern Montana, said Frank DeRosa, president of the Havre Railroad Museum.
“I would say if it wasn’t for that, transportation in and out of here would have been almost impossible,” DeRosa said. “Not many people had cars in those days.”
He remembers his mother putting the family on the train with packed lunches, for a day trip to Glacier National Park. They took the return train home at night.
Amtrak cut the train’s schedule to three days a week in 1979, later restored daily service but set a four-day-a-week schedule in 1995. After Amtrak discontinued several other trains, daily service by the Empire Builder resumed.
Federal financial support for Amtrak has been debated for years, and uncertainty about the railroad’s future continues today. Amtrak said the number of riders on the Empire Builder increased from 368,000 in 2002 to about 415,700 last year.