Great Northern Big Sky Blue and the Izaak Walton Inn

After the era of Omaha Orange and Pullman green, Great Northern ushered in its new livery of "Big Sky Blue."  New locomotives and newly repainted locomotives wore this attractive scheme that complimented the wide open spaces of Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

The first picture I saw of a Great Northern locomotive was a Big Sky Blue SDP45 crossing Marias Pass in Montana.  Years later, I would take my first railfanning trip to the Izaak Walton in at Essex, Montana.  The Izaak Walton Inn is a bed and breakfast located in a historic hotel that was built by the Great Northern railway in 1939 to house railroad crews.