Northern Transcon

Northern Transcon
The Empire Builder crosses the Two Medicine Trestle at East Glacier Park, Montana on the Hi Line Subdivision in 2011.
Overview
Owner	BNSF Railway
Locale	Northwestern and Midwestern United States
Termini	Chicago Vancouver / Portland
Connecting lines	Chicago Subdivision Aurora Subdivision St. Croix Subdivision Midway Subdivision St. Paul Subdivision Staples Subdivision KO Subdivision Glasgow Subdivision Milk River Subdivision Hi-Line Subdivision Kootenai River Subdivision Spokane Subdivision Columbia River Subdivision Scenic Subdivision Lakeside Subdivision Fallbridge Subdivision Yakima Valley Subdivision Stampede Subdivision Seattle Subdivision
Service
Type	Freight rail Inter-city rail Commuter rail
Operators	BNSF Railway Metra Amtrak Sound Transit
Technical
Number of tracks	1–4
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Train protection system	PTC

The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.