I am wondering where the Burlington is in Burlington Northern (BN).
Anyone know?
Trevor
from the Burlington route
DRew
I’m pretty sure the Burlington they used in the name was Burlington, Iowa.
Burlington Northern’s immediete ancestors were:
Chicago Burlington & Quincy (Burlington)
Great Northern Railway
Northern Pacific
Spokane Portland & Seattle (included just after the merger).
BN was formed in 1970. A number of BN passenger cars were even painted into the green and white livery. Some stayed in those colors for a while after Amtrak took over in 1971.
Definitely Burlington, Iowa.
The Burlington Northern was formed by a merger of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Spokane Portland & Seattle, and the Chicago Burlington & Quincy railroads. The CB&Q was a fairly large midwestern railroad that connected many cities, including Burlington IA and Quincy IL with Chicago. The CB&Q was owned by both the GN and NP, which were in turn owned by the same interests (the GN and NP also co-owned the SP&S).
When they applied to the ICC for permission to merge in 1961, the applicants sought to capture the names of the main constituent railroads with a “working title” for the new railroad of Great Northern Pacific and Burlington Lines. As merger day approached (March 3, 1970), the name was (thankfully) streamlined to Burlington Northern. Sure, the name told you nothing about where the railroad went, but it rolled off the tongue more easily than the original name. Plus, it was easier to say BN than GNP&BL.
Tom
Tom et al…Many thanks for the history lesson. I love the speed and thoroughness of the replies on this forum.
Trevor[:D]
Don’t forget about the Frisco and the Colorado&Southern RR.
BNSFrailfan.
The C&S(Colorado $ Southern)/FW&D(Fort Worth & Denver) were subsidiaries of the CB&Q, and were included in the 1970 merger, but kept their reporting marks for a few more years(the engines were painted the same as BN). The Frisco was merged much later(1980??) into the BN system(basically a buyout). The Frisco had little choice, either BN or UP would get them in the end. The SP&S was a full merger partner in 1970, it was not merged in later. The SP&S was built with Hill(GN/NP) money to invade Harriman territory(UP). That same Hill money financedthe purchase of the CB&Q and it’s extension to St Paul to make a connection with the GN/NP.
Jim Bernier
Somebody told me that the reason “Burlington” became a principal part of the Corporate name was that both GN and NP (& I suppose SP&S) served communities on their routes with the name of “Burlington”. Any conformation of this?
Today - I refer to it as BN-Santa Fe.[:)]
Burlington Iowa is a Mississippi River town with a really neat bridge over the river. You can get some good shots of trains leaving the bridge (taking sun angle into account of course).
Dave Nelson
The Great Northern served Burlington, Washington on its Seattle-Vancouver BC mainline, and I’m 95% certain that the NP also served Burlington, WA on its branchline to Sumas BC. There may have been Burlingtons in other states served by the NP or GN, but if so they weren’t very big.
The SP&S did not have a Burlington on line (99.5% certain on that one), but I don’t think they worried at all about “capturing” any elements of the SP&S in the corporate image.
Tom
Actually, there was a Burlington (Ore.) on the Keasey Branch of the SP&S. But I’m not so sure NP got to Burlington, WA on its way to Bellingham and Sumas.
The explanation I recall for naming the merged road “Burlington Northern” rather than, say, “Great Northern Pacific” was that a consulting firm took a survey and found that the name “Burlington” had a higher public recognition than “Great Northern” or “Northern Pacific.”
According to information in the press (i.e. Trains Magazine, etc.) at the time the SP&S was LEASED by the newly formed Burlington Northern in 1970 and was later folded into the corporate structure. It was not a “full merger partner in 1970”.
There are many town’s named ‘Burlington’ but the Burlington part of BN came from the Chicago Burlington & Quincy RR nicknamed “The Burlington Route” - even though it went on to Denver and St Paul.
The Northern Pacific and Great Nothern RR’s merged with CB&Q to form th BN.
BN accquired the Southern Pacific-Santa Fe Corporation (which did not include the SP Railway) .
So little Burlington (IA) became famous as the ‘Burlington Route’, and still lives on as 'the Burlington" in ‘Burlington Northern - Santa Fe’.RR.
That’s what I get for spouting off before consulting my so-called reference library at home (or at least spending more time digging on-line for the facts).
Thanks for setting me straight. Never having heard of the SP&S Keasey branch, I can now have some fun finding out about it.
Tom
IOWA.
Alas, BNSF is pulling their facilities out of the town, even though BN had promised to always be there.
Lots of jobs lost and hard feelings about the BNSF in Iowa right now.
That’s sad indeed–Burlington is always great for train-watching when I take the California Zephyr to Chicago. Pretty town, too–lots of great old buildings nestled in the hills. It’s one of those towns that look like everything was ordered out of the Walthers catalog and weathered by George Sellios…
The GN and NP each owned 50% of the “Q”. The “Q” was better known compared to the GN/NP. The BNSF no longer stands for Burlington Norther Santa Fe. The new name is simply BNSF RWY. the new lettering looks like the hardend form of diareha
Ch
Alas the merger march seems never ending. The long predicted end-game of only two major roads may come to pass in my lifetime. I just hope that somehow the last remaining reference to the Norfolk and Western survives, if for no other reason than to further prove the last hold outs for steam were quite a bunch.
Norfolk, Southern, and Northern?
Norfolk Burlington?
Norfolk Southern and Pacific?
Southern Union? Nice ironic effect.
Norfolk and Pacific? Heck, then they could just call it Norfolk and Western it seems. Yes!