I was reading through the Trains newswire that Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway has now become BNSF Railway. It appears that the Santa Fe name has now been committed to history, after nearly 140 years.
Here for one last time, in honor of the “Route of the Chiefs:”
The ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY.
Rest in peace AT&SF.
Yes, CSX started the trend toward naming their road after…what? Actually, it stands for "Chessie,Seaboard, X=the multiplier effect of their union. Whew! It sounds like additive for animal feed, not a railroad, and meaningless to the public and potential customers.
So now BNSF is just a letter jumble too. How inventive. I hope they are a bit more original in how they railroad.
Isn’t it funny how these modern mega-railroads tend to run as far as they can away from the historical and sometimes famous old companies that spawned them.
Sad. Very sad.
What C.K. Holliday started has come to a screetching halt[:(].
[What Used to be] BC Rail [Now Part of CN] was originally called “The British Columbia Railway”
But they changed their actual name to “BC Rail” a few decades ago just to simplify things, much like BNSF has done.
A lot of rolling stock out there still says “British Columbia Railway.”
I have to ask if the bill for the paint is any cheaper with all the abbreviating.
They are hardly the first, as we know all too well.
With ATSF and CSX there is some indication of the lineage involved, however cryptic. Norfolk Southern is miles from the truth, especially post Conrail. UP has the distinction of maintaining the same name since day one, thus has stayed truest to the course.
How about Soo Line (Minneapolis, St. Paul &. Sault Ste. Marie) and Monon (Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad)? Soo is an alternative spelling of Sault, but Monon is nowhere in that railroad’s name (although a significant way point on the road).
Similarly we have the Nickle Plate (New York, Chicago & St.Louis) and the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad), neither of which lead one to the railroads’ true names.
What would be the response by railfans if those railroads existed today and announced that they were adopting the shortened monikers?
This trend can reverse itself. Didn’t CP start calling itself CP Rail a few decades ago and then recently went back to calling itself Canadian Pacific Railway? And isn’t the same true for CN. It copied CP and called itself CN Rail but has also gone back to Canadian National Railway?
What’s in a name, or lack thereof-ATSF has been dead for a while now, so has BN, they ceased to exist on the day the two merged together. We lament and move on-in 1964, I am sure people asked the same questions when NKP, WAB and AC & Y vanished forever. Names come and go, initials will too. Logically the BNSF initials make sense. Remember in the beginning there were actually a few locomotives that said “Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway” It’s a mouthful and was shortened to BNSF, we all know what it means and what it stands for. How many times do we refer to the Union Pacific (used without permission) as the UP, the Norfolk Southern as the NS. Time to move those trains, we still know the names.
This is purely economical decision ^^ It costs INK to print Atchinson, Topeka, Burlington, (Great) Northern Pacific & Santa Fe Railroad Railway Route Road ^^ on every document the company issues.
So the logical step is to omit the uncecessary letters hence BNSF. You just wait - two-three years and BNSF will announce.
“To make it more clear and show the leading role in US railroading BNSF railroad will now change its name to Union Pacific” 
A few years ago I saw a news article about the CSX, and the reporter referred to it as the “Chessie Seaboard and Many Times More” Railroad or something like that.[:p]
And before that, it was the “Pacific Great Eastern”. It changed its name to BCR, I think, in the 1970’s. It has simply been too long ago.
I gotta learn to read all the forum before I post new threads!
Moo [:(]
Railroading is pretty late in the change to initials. Corporate name changes to initials only really took off in the mid-1960’s when conglomerate mergers started becoming more common.
You know, this and all the other “I hate the new paint” threads crack me up…
Lets see if I got this right…
ATSF managed to position itself , then merge with BN, which itself was created out of mulitple mergers…
Now, after having taken a lot of smaller, not the most profitable properties, and turning them into one of the most efficent and profitable Class1 railroads in the US, you guys are all upset because they decided to to step away from the old, and try on a newer image?
How in the world do you think they managed to to become one of the best?
These things are tools…they move trains.
The train behind the locomotive is what counts, that pays the rent!
You want to follow the money?
Follow the BNSF arrow!
Look which direction its pointing.
End of a era?
You guys are lucky, you get to watch the beginning of a new one!
Ed
Ed, and everyone. That’s a great statement. We’re watching the evolution of the industry.
If it were the '70s, they’d have called it “B Co.” If it were the '80s, they would have called it
“B-Tech.” So we’re lucky it’s the here and now and they call it exactly what it is, BNSF Railway. they kept a good paint scheme, and up-dated their image. They’re keeping step in a still classy/classic style.
In the '60s us kids heard all the old timers complain that the end of steam was the end of railroading. When the North Shore Line went I thought it was an end to an era. When The Erie and the Lackawanna merged we all held our breath. “What’s next?” we wondered. Then the Norfolk and Western gobbled up the Wabash and the Nickel Plate. We thought that was an unusual circumstance. Rumbling in the backround was the rumor of The Pennsy merging with the NYC. We thought it wouldn’t happen. Would they paint the 20th Century Limited tuscan, or would the Broadway become
Only in your dreams.
I have drawn paychecks from the Atchison, Topeka & Sant Fe Railway, IllinoisCentral Railroad, Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and other companies such as AM International, Desoto, Inc and Old Ben Coal Company.
They are all history, but I’d rather them than me.
Jay
Not really as most of the signals on the transcon are still from the ATSF era. I know for sure there is on on the east side of the diamond with the UPRR Sunset route at Colton that I use as my warning that a E/Ber will shortly be hitting the diamond. I am also sure the crossing gates in Colton on the Cajon line are ATSF as well. Keep the faith their are still some things left from ATSF is you look hard enough!
Santa Fe Railway.
I wi***hat I was still young when the ATSF was still around.[:(].
It is realy hard to believe now that it’s all gone now.
All the wounderful Blue&Yellow & Red&Sylver Diesels,Man what memories!
Hell I even remember my first HO Train set even was a Santa Se.
I even still go realy crazy when I see a set of unpatched Blue&Yellow ATSF SD40-2’s