Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern system (shown in green) at the time of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe merger.
Reporting marks	BN, BNFE, BNFT
Locale	Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Dates of operation	1970–1996
Successor	BNSF
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	St. Paul, Minnesota

The Burlington Northern Railroad (AAR reporting marks BN) was a United States-based railroad company operating between 1970 and 1996.

History

Burlington Northern Railroad was the product of a March 2, 1970, merger comprising the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. Consent for this merger came only on the fourth attempt dating back to the days of James J. Hill, but for many years they shared a headquarters building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, until the merger was finally approved. On November 21, 1980, the former St. Louis - San Francisco Railway was acquired. In 1981 corporate headquarters of parent Burlington Northern Inc. were moved to Seattle, Washington, and in 1988, after its non-rail operations were spun off as Burlington Resources, to Fort Worth, Texas.

On December 31, 1996, the Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

Route

Main line heading north out of Seattle, Washington along the shore of Puget Sound

The Burlington Northern traversed the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route started at Chicago, Illinois and ran west-northwest to La Crosse, Wisconsin. From here the route continued northwest through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Grand Forks, North Dakota. From Grand Forks the route ran west through North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho to Spokane, Washington. At Spokane the route split into three routes. The former Great Northern route proceeded west to Wenatchee, Washington, crossed under the Cascade Range at New Cascade Tunnel, and descended into the Puget Sound region through Everett, Washington. The former Northern Pacific proceeded southwest towards the Tri-Cities, turned northwesterly to Yakima, Washington, and crossed under the Cascade Range at Stampede Tunnel, descending into the Green River Valley at Auburn, Washington, where it connected with existing NP lines running from British Columbia to Portland, Oregon. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle also proceeded southwest to the Tri-Cities, then followed the north bank of the Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington.

With the acquisition of the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway, the route was extended into the South Central and Southeastern United States.

Rolling stock

BN 3157, an EMD GP50 leads a westbound freight train past Eola yard in Aurora, Illinois.

The Burlington Northern's locomotive livery painted the top quarter or so of the locomotive black and the rest in the corporation's official Cascade green, with a white BN logo. The front of the locomotive was striped with white and green for visibility. In 1985, several GP50 locomotives test ran a paint alteration of orange and black stripes on the cab face and nose to raise visibility at grade crossings. At the same time, the logo and road number switched locations on the body. The BN logo moved to the long hood along with the words "Burlington Northern" painted in white alongside the herald on the hood of the unit. The road number moved to the panel under the side cab window where the BN logo normally resides.

Preserved equipment

Burlington Northern 1 and 2, formerly Northern Pacific Railway 6700A and 7002C, EMD F9s, were built in 1954 and later rebuilt by BN for special train service. They are currently owned by the Illinois Railway Museum and are on display in Union, Illinois.

See also

• BNSF Railway
• Paul Bunyan Trail Rail Trail
• Great Northern Railway: Mansfield Branch (1909-1985)

References

• BURLINGTON SYSTEM from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 2005-05-26.

External links

• Friends of the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN historical society)
• Burlington Northern Adventures: Railroading in the Days of the Caboose, written by former BN brakeman, conductor and trainmaster William J. Brotherton

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