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Shelby sits in the center of the "Golden Triangle" - a rich farming region that produces the majority of the state's barley and wheat, as well as almost all of the mustard seed grown in the United States.

Annual Station Ridership (FY 2025): 7,090

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Facility Ownership: BNSF Railway
Parking Lot Ownership: BNSF Railway
Platform Ownership: BNSF Railway
Track Ownership: BNSF Railway

Empire Builder

Alex Khalfin
Regional Contact
governmentaffairssea@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

City of Shelby

Shelby was named after Peter B. Shelby, the general manager of the Montana-Central Railroad. In 1891, James J. Hill, railroad tycoon and founder of the Great Northern Railway (GN), chose Shelby as a suitable junction point for the construction of a railroad line south to Great Falls, Mont., and also north to Alberta, Canada. Shelby sits in the center of what locals call the “Golden Triangle”–a rich farming region that produces the majority of the state’s barley and wheat, as well as almost all of the mustard seed grown in the United States.

The GN depot is a one story wood frame structure clad in horizontal wood siding; texture is created by using wider boards on the bottom third of the walls. In addition to an Amtrak waiting room, BNSF Railway also maintains a crew base and a maintenance-of-way facility at the depot.

Considered to have been America’s premier northern trans-continental railroad, the GN ran from St. Paul, Minn., to Seattle. It was formed in 1889 when Hill orchestrated the merger of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad with the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway. Hill holds a special place in railroad history and lore, and is known as the “Empire Builder.” Whereas most transcontinental lines were built with federal assistance in the form of federal land grants, the GN did not utilize this method.

Hill’s business acumen guided the planning and construction of the GN. Much of the upper Midwest and West was sparsely settled, so instead of racing across the continent, the GN developed the regions through which it traveled as it steadily moved toward the Pacific. This action helped settle the land and created a customer base. Hill the businessman actively sought to establish trade links with Asia, and the railroad is credited with putting sleepy Seattle on the map and transforming it into an important and powerful Pacific Ocean port after the railroad reached the West Coast in 1893.