The Great Northern's Oriental Limited train at King Street station, Seattle, May 27, 1924.
(University of Washington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
ORIENTAL LIMITED
The Oriental Limited was a named passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington. The train was operated by the Great Northern Railway between St. Paul, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington, and by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between St. Paul and Chicago. The train's name was intended to be evocative of travel to the Far East and Japan, since trans-Pacific Great Northern steamships once connected with the railway's trains in Seattle.
The Oriental Limited name was in use by December 1905 as a St. Paul–Seattle train; the route was extended to Chicago in 1909. A new Pullman-equipped train debuted in June 1924 powered by an oil-burning steamer with electric power utilized in western Washington.
It was the premiere train on its route until 1929 when the Empire Builder started. The Oriental Limited name disappeared in 1931, and during the Great Depression and beyond the Great Northern operated only one through train between Chicago and the coast. The Oriental Limited name returned in 1946, when the railroad's secondary through train was resumed, but that train became the Western Star in 1951.
A proud name in Great Northern Railway passenger train service and history is the "Oriental Limited" a de luxe train seen here crossing the historic Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi River linking St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1912. This double-tracked bridge, which has 23 arches in its 1200-foot span, is the only structure upon which James J. Jill, the Empire Builder, permitted his name to be inscribed. (["Oriental Limited" crossing the Mississippi River], photograph, 1912; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth28860/m1/1/: accessed August 17, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Museum of the American Railroad.)
According to the Great Northern's advertising, the Oriental Limited offered the following:
" Every modern device for travel comfort and convenience... among its features: shower baths for men and women, woman's lounge, ladies maid, manicure, hairdresser, and masseuse, men's smoking room and club room, barbershop and valet service, Four o'clock tea, well stocked buffet, magazines, newspaper, telegraphic news bulletins and stock market reports, extra large dressing rooms for women, boards between sections of the standard sleeping cars, individual ventilation devices, new scheme of decoration, handsomely furnished dining cars and many other features."
Lucius Beebe had this to say:
" Every convenience known to First Class travel in its time was lavished on this splendid flyer by a management which failed to see eye to eye with the founding father's oft quoted dictum that passenger traffic was neither useful nor ornamental".
An Oriental Limited Gallery
Photo postcard of the telephone system aboard the Great Northern Railway's Oriental Limited. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the Great Northern Railway's "Oriental Limited" emerging from the Cascade Tunnel in Washington state. The train is being pulled by an electric locomotive. (Postcard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Postcard photo of the dining car of the "new" Oriental Limited. The train began its route in 1906 and received a new all steel trainset in 1924. It was at this time Great Northern promoted it as "the new Oriental Limited"; by 1929, it was downgraded from a deluxe to a secondary train. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Color postcard photo of the observation deck of the Oriental Limited, Great Northern Railway, 1912. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the observation platform of the Oriental Limited. This lists the amenities of the train and the stops it made on its route. (Great Northern Railway., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the observation platform of the new Oriental Limited. The train received a complete new trainset which was all steel cars in 1924. Great Northern then promoted the train as the "new" Oriental Limited. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the barber shop aboard the Oriental Limited in 1925. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard depiction of the Ladies' Lounge of the Oriental Limited, where maid service was offered. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the parlor car of the "Oriental Limited" train which went from Chicago to Seattle. An African-American porter is seen vacuuming the car's carpet, ca. 1909. (Great Northern Railway/Burlington Route, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of an Oriental Limited valet/porter ironing in the train's barber/beauty shop. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
An alternate postcard photo of the parlor car of the "Oriental Limited" train which went from Chicago to Seattle. An African-American porter is seen vacuuming the car's carpet. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the Great Northern/Burlington Route "Oriental Limited". The card advertises that the train's cars are all steel, 1906. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Photo of the Oriental Limited's first run with an electric locomotive as power through the Cascade Mountains. This is a Westinghouse Z-1 locomotive, April 29, 1928. (Photographer-Lee Pickett, official Great Northern Railway photographer., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Photo postcard of the shower exclusively for women offered on the Great Northern Railway's "Oriental Limited". (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of a Pullman car interior of the Oriental Limited. The trainset was new in 1924, featuring all steel cars and the Great Northern billed the train as "the New Oriental Limited". (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of afternoon tea held in the observation car of the Great Northern Railway's "Oriental Limited" which traveled from Chicago to Seattle. (Great Northern Railway/Burlington Route, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the Great Northern Railway's "Oriental Limited" in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. (Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Great Northern Railway's plan for radio reception on its transcontinental train "Oriental Limited", April 25, 1925. (The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the Great Northern train, the Oriental Limited running at full speed, ca. 1907. (Chas. E. Morris, Chinook, Montana-photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Title: "Train of 1862 & 1924 Limited -- Great Northern" Photograph shows an Oriental Limited train in the foreground and the "William Crooks" in the background. Photograph was published in newspaper in 1924 when the Oriental line started. (Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Service type: Passenger
Status: Discontinued
Successor: Western Star, Empire Builder
Current operator: Great Northern Railway and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Route Termini: Chicago / Seattle