Gilbert B Norman wrote:Mr. Vincent, Fargo-Grand Forks-Minot 286 miles; Fargo-New Rockford-Minot 236 miles.
Nuf said?
Again let us note that via New Rockford was the Empire Builder route until The End. My earlier statement that it was also the route of the Western Star must be modified to the extent that after 7-8 Fast Mail was killed (somewhere after the 1967 Post Office massacre), Western Star was rerouted via Grand Forks.
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The variance in mileage between the detour route (via New Rockford) and the current route (via Devils Lake) is today only about 40 miles in favor of the New Rockford route. The 286 mile figure includes going into downtown Grand Forks and backing out to the junction west of the University of North Dakota, which today's Empire Builder doesn't do (the current station is at the wye). Also, the current detour route includes traversing the coal connection from the Fargo Amtrak station to West Fargo to re-enter the ex-NP main (for a westward train) and then to west of Casselton, then finally back onto the pre-Amtrak Empire Builder routing at Nolan, so this route is somewhat longer than the last pre-Amtrak Empire Builder route through New Rockford. All told today, the detour route is about the same in running time as the regular route, all things considered.
The Fast Mail was trains 27 and 28. Trains 7 and 8 on the Great Northern were the Winnipeg Limited between St. Paul and Winnipeg. The Fast Mail name officially died on the Great Northern in May of 1960, when the Western Star (until this time trains 3 and 4) started using the Fast Mail's train numbers, 27 and 28. In reality, the consolidation of the Western Star and Fast Mail started in the mid-1950s. After then, the Fast Mail was consolidated with the Western Star in various segments along its route, and depending on the time of the year. In the summer months when travel was heavy, especially to and from Glacier Park, and during the Christmas holiday season, the Fast Mail and Western Star operated separately, and always did (until 1960) between St. Paul and Minot. Depending on your interpretation of absolute date of discontinuance, the Fast Mail passed on 7 to 12 years prior to 1967.
When the Western Star was created in 1951, it operated via Grand Forks, and stayed on this routing utnil May of 1960. Until May of 1960, trains 27 and 28 (Fast Mail) operated at least from St. Paul to Minot via New Rockford, and ran through to Seattle or consolidated with the Western Star, depending on the season, as stated above. In May of 1960, the Western Star assumed the Fast Mail's numbers 27 and 28, and began operating via New Rockford as did the Fast Mail. Trains 3 and 4, the "old" Western Star numbers remained on the St. Paul-Minot "Dakotan" that continued to operate via Grand Forks, connecting with the Western Star in Minot.
In the summer of 1968, the Dakotan was cut back to a St. Paul-Fargo service, and the Western Star was routed back via Grand Forks to fill the void, although the Winnipeg Limited continued to operate, along with the Western Star between Fargo and Grand Forks. In February of 1970, the Winnipeg Limited was discontinued between St. Paul and Grand Forks, and instead became a daytime stub train (retaining its 7 and 8 numbers until the BN merger a month later, and then they changed to 47 and 48) between Grand Forks and Winnipeg only, connecting with the Western Star in Grand Forks.
All passenger service in the area, except the Empire Builder, was discontinued effective May 1, 1971.
