1930–1931 · NBC Blue

Empire Builders (1930–1931)

A railroad's own drama, carried on NBC before the networks were sure drama worked

The Great Northern Railway sponsored Empire Builders from 1929, dramatising the West with sound effects that were considered extravagant at the time — real locomotives, real bells. It ran on NBC until the Depression took the sponsor's budget in 1931. The handful of surviving discs are among the earliest American network dramas that can still be heard.

9 recordings · Chicago and Saint Paul

Empire Builders dramatised stories of the American Northwest for the Great Northern Railway between 1929 and 1931. Transferred from the Internet Archive item 'empire-builders-1931-01-19-69-glacier-national-park'.