In 1967, it reported 19,565 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 723 million passenger miles; corresponding totals for C&S were 1,100 and 10 and for FW&D were 1,466 and 13. At the end of the year, CB&Q operated 8,538 route-miles, C&S operated 708, and FW&D operated 1362 (these totals may or may not include the former Burlington-Rock Island Railroad). In 1970, it merged with the Northern Pacific Railway and the Great Northern Railway to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.
History
1848–1882
The earliest predecessor of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Aurora Branch Railroad, was chartered by act of the Illinois General Assembly on October 2, 1848. The charter was obtained by citizens of Aurora and Batavia, Illinois, who were concerned that the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad would bypass their towns in favor of West Chicago on its route; at the time, that was the only line running west from Chicago. The Aurora Branch was built from Aurora, through Batavia, to Turner Junction in what is now West Chicago. The line was built with old strap rail and minimal, if any, grading. Using a leased locomotive and cars, the Aurora Branch ran passenger and freight trains from Aurora to Chicago via its own line from Aurora to Turner Junction and one of the G&CU's two tracks east from there to Chicago. The G&CU required the Aurora Branch to turn over 70 percent of their revenue per ton-mile handled on that railroad; as a result, in the mid-1850s, surveys were ordered to determine the best route for a railroad line to Chicago.[3]
The line from Aurora to Chicago was built through the fledgling towns of Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Berwyn, and the west side of Chicago. It was opened in 1864, and passenger and freight service began. Regular commuter train service started in 1864 and remains operational to this day, making it the oldest surviving regular passenger service in Chicago. Both the original Chicago line, and to a much lesser extent, the old Aurora Branch right of way, are still in regular use today by the Burlington's present successor BNSF Railway.
The company was renamed Chicago and Aurora Railroad on June 22, 1852, and given expanded powers to extend from Aurora to a point north of LaSalle;[4] this extension, to Mendota, was completed on October 20, 1853. Another amendment, passed February 28, 1854, authorized the company to build east from Aurora to Chicago via Naperville, and changed its name to Chicago and Southwestern Railroad.[5] The latter provision was never acted upon,[6] and was repealed by an act of February 14, 1855, which instead reorganized the line as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.[7]
With a steady acquisition of locomotives, cars, equipment, and trackage, the Burlington Route was able to enter the trade markets in 1862. From that year to date, the railroad and its successors have paid dividends continuously, and never run into debt or defaulted on a loan—the only Class I U.S. railroad for which this is true.
After extensive trackwork was planned, the Aurora Branch changed its name to the Chicago and Aurora Railroad in June 1852,[8] and to Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad in 1856, and shortly reached its two other namesake cities, Burlington, Iowa, and Quincy, Illinois. In 1868 CB&Q completed bridges over the Mississippi River at both Burlington and Quincy, giving the railroad through connections with the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad (B&MR) in Iowa and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad (H&StJ) in Missouri. In 1860 the H&SJ carried the mail to the Pony Express upon reaching the Missouri River at St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1862 The first Railway Post Office was inaugurated on the H&StJ to sort mail on the trains way across Missouri.
The B&MR continued building west into Nebraska as a separate company, the Burlington & Missouri River Rail Road, founded in 1869. During the summer of 1870 it reached Lincoln, the newly designated capital of Nebraska and by 1872 it reached Kearney, Nebraska. That same year the B&MR across Iowa was absorbed by the CB&Q. By the time the Missouri River bridge at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, was completed the B&MR in Nebraska was well on its way to Denver. That same year, the Nebraska B&MR was purchased by the CB&Q, which completed the line to Denver by 1882.[9][page needed]
1882–1901
Burlington's rapid expansion after the American Civil War was based upon sound financial management, dominated by John Murray Forbes of Boston and assisted by Charles Elliott Perkins. Perkins was a powerful administrator who eventually forged a system out of previously loosely held affiliates, virtually tripling Burlington's size during his presidency from 1881 to 1901.
Burlington Route system map, 1892. Burlington lines are black; connecting railroads are red.
Ultimately, Perkins believed the Burlington Railroad must be included into a powerful transcontinental system. Though the railroad stretched as far west as Denver and Billings, Montana, it had failed to reach the Pacific Coast during the 1880s and 1890s, when construction was less expensive. Though approached by E. H. Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad, Perkins felt his railroad was a more natural fit with James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway. With its river line to the Twin Cities, the Burlington Route formed a natural connection between Hill's home town (and headquarters) of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the railroad hub of Chicago. Moreover, Hill was willing to meet Perkins' $200-a-share asking price for the Burlington's stock. By 1900, Hill's Great Northern, in conjunction with the Northern Pacific Railway, held nearly 100 percent of Burlington's stock.
By 1899, the company had rostered 1,205 locomotives, 936 passenger cars and 40,720 freight cars.[10]
In 1901, a rebuffed Harriman tried to gain an indirect influence over the Burlington by launching a stock raid on the Northern Pacific. Though Hill managed to fend off this attack on his nascent system, it led to the creation of the Northern Securities Company, and later, the Northern Securities Co. v. United States ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Burlington strike of 1888
The only major strike in the line's history came in 1888, the Burlington railway strike of 1888. Unlike most strikes, which were based on unskilled workers, this one was based on the highly skilled well-paid engineers and firemen, a challenge to management prerogatives. A settlement would have been much cheaper, but President Perkins was determined to assert ownership rights and destroy the union threat. The fight dragged on 10 months before the financially and emotionally exhausted strikers finally gave up, and Perkins declared a total victory. However, he had spent heavily on strikebreakers, lawsuits, and police protection, hurting the balance sheets and putting the railroad in a poor position to face the nationwide depression of the Panic of 1893.[11][page needed][12][13]
1901–1945
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 4-6-0 steam locomotive 701 on static display at Iron Horse Park.
Following the purchase of the Burlington by GN and NP, expansion continued. In 1908, the CB&Q purchased both the Colorado & Southern and Fort Worth & Denver Railways, giving it access south to Dallas and the Gulf of Mexico ports in Houston and Galveston.[citation needed] It also extended its reach south in the Mississippi Valley region by opening up a new line from Concord, Illinois, south to Paducah, Kentucky. It was during this period that the Burlington was at its largest, exceeding just over 12,000 route miles in 14 states by the 1920s.[14] With the First World War having the same effect on the railroad as on all other railroads, during the 1920s, the Burlington Route had an increasingly heavy amount of equipment flooding the yards. With the advent of the Great Depression, the CB&Q held a good portion of this for scrap. Despite the decrease of passengers, it was during this time that the railroad introduced the famed Zephyrs.
As early as 1897, the railroad had been interested in alternatives to steam power, namely, internal-combustion engines. The railroad's shops in Aurora had built an unreliable three-horsepower distillate motor in that year, but it was hugely impractical (requiring a massive 6,000-pound flywheel) and had issues with overheating (even with the best metals of the day, its cylinder heads and liners would warp and melt in a matter of minutes) and was therefore impractical. Diesel engines of that era were obese, stationary monsters and were best suited for low-speed, continuous operation. None of that would do in a railroad locomotive; however, there was no diesel engine suitable for that purpose then.
Always innovating, the railroad both purchased "doodlebug" gas-electric combine cars from Electro-Motive Corporation and built their own, sending them out to do the jobs of a steam locomotive and a single car. With good success in that field, and after having purchased and tried a pair of General Electric steeple-cab switchers powered by distillate engines, Burlington president Ralph Budd requested of the Winton Engine Company a light, powerful diesel engine that could stand the rigors of continuous, unattended daily service.
Burlington locomotive hauling an express freight circa 1967. These locomotives were also used for the Zephyr passenger trains.
The experiences of developing these engines can be summed up shortly by General Motors Research vice-president Charles Kettering: "I do not recall any trouble with the dip stick." Ralph Budd, accused of gambling on diesel power, chirped that "I knew that the GM people were going to see the program through to the very end. Actually, I wasn't taking a gamble at all." The manifestation of this gamble was the eight-cylinder Winton 8-201A diesel, a creature no larger than a small Dumpster, that powered the Burlington Zephyr (built 1934) on its record run and opened the door for developing the long line of diesel engines that has powered Electro-Motive locomotives for the past seventy years.[17]
1945–1970
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy steam locomotives4960 and 5632 sitting at the Clyde Roundhouse in 1962.
After the Second World War, the CB&Q had overworked steam locomotives in a fleet which it was beginning to convert to diesel engines. The company rapidly expanded its diesel program and slowly took steam locomotives out of service. On September 28, 1959, the last steam-powered commuter train from Chicago rolled to a stop in Downers Grove, marking the end of steam passenger operations on the railroad. The last steam in regular revenue service was CB&Q Subsidiary C&S, which operated locomotive 641 until 1962 to serve the Climax Mine near Leadville, Colorado (internal combustion engines were not as effective as steam locomotives due to the high altitude of the mine.) However, the Burlington’s president at the time, Harry C. Murphy, decided to use two of their retired steam locomotives for a steam excursion program,[18] but the road's next and final president, Louis W. Menk, was not on the same page. The Burlington's last steam excursion run took place on July 17, 1966.
As the financial situation of American railroading continued to decline through the 1960s, forcing restructuring across the country, the Burlington Railroad merged with the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway railroads on March 2, 1970, to form the Burlington Northern[19] (26 years later, the BN and Santa Fe Railroads merged to become BNSF). Passenger service was markedly reduced, as people had shifted to using private automobiles for many trips. Most passenger operations would be assumed in 1971 by Amtrak.
The Burlington Zephyrs
The passengers, including "Zeph" the burro, that rode the Zephyr on the "Dawn-to-Dusk Dash" gather for a group photo in front of the train after arriving in Chicago on May 26, 1934.The Alton-BurlingtonOzark State Zephyr in 1936.
The railroad operated a number of streamlined passenger trains known as the Zephyrs which were one of the most famous and largest fleets of streamliners in the United States. The Burlington Zephyr, the first American diesel-electric powered streamlined passenger train, made its noted "dawn-to-dusk" run from Denver, Colorado, to Chicago, Illinois, on May 26, 1934. On November 11, 1934, the train was put into regularly scheduled service between Lincoln, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri.[20] Although the distinctive, articulated stainless steel trains were well known, and the railroad adopted the "Way of the Zephyrs" advertising slogan, they did not attract passengers back to the rails en masse, and the last one was retired from revenue service with the advent of Amtrak.[21][page needed]
Other named passenger trains which operated on the Burlington included:[23]
These trains were operated jointly with Northern Pacific Railway and had a different name when they were east or westbound.The club car of the Chicago Limited and the Denver Limited. The train had an eastbound and westbound name.
Mainstreeter: handled the Northern Pacific Railway's secondary transcontinental between Chicago and Minneapolis
Nebraska Limited (Chicago–Lincoln): replaced by the Ak-Sar-Ben
North Coast Limited: handled Northern Pacific Railway's flagship between Chicago and Minneapolis
North Pacific Express (Chicago-Seattle-Tacoma): jointly with Northern Pacific Railway
Overland Express (Chicago-Denver). This train, along with The Aristocrat and the Colorado Limited, were promoted as companion trains to the streamlined Denver Zephyr[24]
Shoshone: (Denver-Billings) operated between Denver and Billings, Montana; referred to affectionately as "The Night Crawler"
504 (EMD SD24) - It is currently operational and used for pulling occasional tourist trains at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.[31][32]
637 (K-2 4-6-0) - It made an appearance at the Chicago Railroad Fair, and was used for pulling the Burlington's excursion trains in the mid-1950s.[33] It is currently on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.[34]
3006 (S-4 4-6-4) - It is currently on static display at Colton Park in Galesburg, Illinois.[39]
3007 (S-4 4-6-4) - It is currently on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.[40]
4000Æolus (S-4a 4-6-4) - It was rebuilt as a streamlined locomotive for use as an emergency backup for the Zephyr motor units, and the streamlining was later removed in favor of World War II. It is currently on static display at Copeland Park in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
4960 (O-1a 2-8-2) - It was famous for being used in the Burlington's steam excursion program in the 1960s, and it was eventually used to pull tourist trains for the Bristol and Northwestern Railroad. It has been heavily modified, and it is currently operational while being used to pull the Grand Canyon Railway's steam saturday trains between the Grand CanyonNational Park and Williams, Arizona.
4963 (O-1a 2-8-2) - It was used on the Bevier and Southern Railroad before being used as a spare parts provider for 4960. It has been on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union since 1991.[41][42]
9911A Silver Pilot (EMD E5A) - It is currently operational and occasionally used to pull excursion trains at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.
9976 (EMD E9AM) - It is currently undergoing restoration at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.[51]
9989A (EMD E9A) - It is currently operational as Burlington Northern 3 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.[52]
Innovations
The Burlington was a leader in innovation; among its firsts were use of the printing telegraph (1910), train radio communications (1915), streamlined passenger diesel power (1934) and vista-dome coaches (1945). In 1927, the railroad was one of the first to use Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) and by the end of 1957 had equipped 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of its line.
The railroad had one of the first hump classification yards at its Cicero Avenue Yard in Chicago, allowing an operator in a tower to line switches remotely and allowing around-the-clock classification. The company also tested the twin cylinder car.
Cities platted by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
^"Burlington & M. R. R. Co. in Nebraska v. Burch; Court of Appeals of Colorado, May 12, 1902". The American and English Railroad Cases: A Collection of All Cases Affecting Railroads of Every Kind, Decided by the Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction in the United States, England, and Canada. Vol. 27. E. Thompson. 1903. pp. 21–26. Retrieved September 6, 2015 – via Google Books.
^Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (1917). Corporate History of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company and Affiliated Companies. p. 8. A provision of the Amendment, of date February 28, 1854, which changed the name of this company to "Chicago and Southwestern Railroad Company," was never acted upon or recognized by this company.
Bryant, Keith L. Jr., ed. (1990). Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Twentieth Century. New York: Facts on File. ISBN978-0816013715.
Frey, Robert L., ed. (1988). Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Facts on File. ISBN978-0816020126.
Hidy, Ralph W.; et al. (1988). The Great Northern Railway, A History. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Klein, Maury (2000). The Life and Legend of E.H. Harriman. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN978-0807865538.
Larson, John L. (2001). Bonds of Enterprise: John Murray Forbes and Western Development in America's Railway Age (expanded ed.). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. ISBN978-0877457640.
Martin, Albro (1976). James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0873512619.
Railroads in italics meet the revenue specifications for Class I status, but are not technically Class I railroads due to being passenger-only railroads with no freight component.
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