Burlington Northern Railroad

Burlington Northern Railroad
Burlington Northern Railroad system map at the time of the BNSF merger. BN lines are colored in green. Burlington Northern EMD F9 No. 766 basks in the sun with its paint still fresh.
Reporting mark	BN
Locale	Pacific Northwest, Midwestern United States, Southern United States, Western United States
Dates of operation	March 1, 1970 (1970-03-01)–December 31, 1996 (1996-12-31)
Successor	Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Length	27,000 miles (estimate)
Headquarters	St. Paul, MN (1970–1981), Seattle, WA (1981–1988), and Houston, TX (1988–1996)

The Burlington Northern Railroad (reporting mark BN) was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995.

Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroading with the chartering in 1848 of the Chicago and Aurora Railroad, a direct ancestor line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which lends Burlington to the names of various merger-produced successors.

Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1995 to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (later renamed BNSF Railway), which was owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation. That corporation was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 2009 which is controlled by investor Warren Buffett.

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, and other, small, wholly jointly-owned subsidiaries. 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 Houston, Texas.

On September 21, 1995, Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The new railroad began fully merged operations on December 31, 1995; in 2005 its name was shortened to BNSF Railway.

Route

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

The Burlington Northern traversed the most northerly routes of any railroad in the western United States. These routes started at Chicago, Illinois and ran west-northwest to La Crosse, Wisconsin. From here the routes continued northwest through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Grand Forks, North Dakota. From Grand Forks the routes ran west through North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho to Spokane, Washington. The former GN routed through North Dakota/Northern Montana, crossing the continental divide at Marias Pass, while the former NP line routed through the southern part of Montana (which was spun off to Montana Rail Link in 1987), crossing the continental divide at Mullan and Bozeman Passes. At Spokane the routes split into three. The former Great Northern route proceeded west to Wenatchee, Washington, crossed under the Cascade Range at New Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass, 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.

Equipment Colors and Painting

Burlington Northern NW2 No. 510 awaits its next switching duty in Aurora, Illinois.

The locomotive livery of the Burlington Northern traces its early history to the final years of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In 1968, EMD GP40 #629 was painted in a green, black, and white scheme introducing a new lettering style and logo. The green color was known as "Cascade Green" based on the reflections of pine trees along various routes the trains traveled.

In February 1970, the Spokane, Portland & Seattle ordered 6 new EMD GP38s that would become the creation of Burlington Northern's paint scheme. Originally numbered 200–205 on the order, the numbers were changed to 2072–2077. These would be the first units to introduce the horn, beacon, and antennae locations as well as adopting the "BURLINGTON NORTHERN" lettering style seen on the CB&Q's SD45s and U23Cs as well as GN's "Big Sky Blue" lettering.

In October 1990, BN departed from its Cascade Green, black and white scheme on its business car and locomotive fleet. Adopting Grinstein Green (an altered version of Brunswick Green/British Racing Green and named after the president of Burlington Northern, Gerald Grinstein), Cream, and Alizarin Red. This scheme was applied to EMD F9A-2 #BN-1, EMD F9B-2 #BN-2, and EMD E9A-2 #BN-3, of the locomotive fleet and the business car fleet. In November 1993, brand new EMD SD70MAC #9401 received the Executive colors, making a departure from the standard Cascade Green, White & Black scheme. This trend continued only on the EMD SD70MAC's until BNSF #9837.

Throughout its history, the Burlington Northern had various oddities and interesting test demonstrators/paint schemes:

Burlington Northern Paint Schemes
Locomotive Model	Road Numbers	Notes
EMD GP40	629	First locomotive experimented in pre-Burlington Northern Livery in 1968
EMD SD45 & GE U23C	516 – 530, 460 – 468	Pre-Burlington Northern livery designed by the CB&Q in 1969
EMD GP38	200 – 205 (2072–2077)	First new locomotives for the Burlington Northern; ordered by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle in 1970
EMD SD40-2	8174	Carried a ‘’Together at Last’’ BN-SLSF Merger slogan along the walkway
EMD SD40-2	8002	First locomotive painted in an experimental ‘’Tiger Stripe’’ paint scheme
EMD GP50, EMD SD60	3110 – 3162, 8300 – 8302	The only SD60’s leased from EMD for three years
EMD SD40-2	6826	The first locomotive to receive the ‘’Whiteface’’ paint scheme in mid to late 1989
EMD GP50	3110 & 3112	The only units receiving an alternative version of "Tiger Stripes", using white instead of black
EMD F9A-2, EMD F9B-2, EMD E9A-2	BN-1, BN-2 & BN-3	The first new locomotives painted in an ‘’Executive’’ scheme
EMD GP38-2	2100	The only unit receiving white striping along the front cab section
EMD GP38	2075 & 2085	#2075 was the first unit painted in a ‘’Pacific Pride’’ Scheme; later temporarly replaced by #2085 after 2075 was reported with fire damage
EMD GP9	1813 & 1863	Received "The National Academy of Railroad Sciences" lettering along the carbodies
EMD SD60M	1991	Painted to honor the employees serving in Desert Storm
EMD SD40-2	7149 & 7890	Modified to run on compressed liquefied natural gas (refrigerated liquid methane)
MK GP28M	1522	The only unit with Operation Lifesaver logos
EMD SD70MAC	9647	Introduced a proposed Burlington Northern Santa Fe paint scheme
EMD SD70MAC	9709–9712	9709 – 9710 were the last two new locomotives for the BN in January 1996. 9711 – 9712 are the first new locomotives for BNSF
EMD GP50, EMD SD40-2	3120 & 7812	The last locomotives painted in Burlington Northern green on August 8, 1996
MK GP39E	2911 & 2931	Painted in an experimental Cascade Green BNSF scheme

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.
• [2] Burlington Northern 'Executive' Paint Scheme
• [3] Burlington Northern 'Tiger Stripe' Paint Scheme
• [4] Burlington Northern 'Whiteface' Paint Scheme
• [5] Burlington Northern History

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
• List and Family Trees of North American Railroads