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| Burlington Northern Railroad | |
|---|---|
  The Burlington Northern system (shown in green) at the time of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe merger. |
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| Reporting mark | BN |
| 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 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Ft. Worth, Texas |
The Burlington Northern Railroad (reporting mark BN) was a United States-based railroad company operating between 1970 and 1996. Its successor-in-interest is the BNSF Railway, which operates the trackage formerly owned by the Burlington Northern. BNSF was bought by corporate giant Berkshire Hathaway in 2009[1].
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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, Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, whose name was later shortened to BNSF Railway.
Route
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.
Paint Scheme History
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 January 1969, 15 new EMD SD45s received this scheme as well as 9 GE U23Cs in April 1969; however, these 24 new locomotives did not receive the "Speeding B-Shadow N" logo as #629 received.
From 1968 to 1970, the Great Northern Railway painted some of their locomotives, passenger cars, and rolling stock in Cascade Green.
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 1984, Burlington Northern began to test a paint scheme for improved grade crossing visibility. Using orange and black striping on the nose and headlight/numberboard section of the cab, EMD SD40-2 #8002 first received this paint scheme which relocated the number to the cab and enlarged the logo into a "billboard" along the carbody. In 1985, EMD GP50s 3110-3162 and leased EMD SD60s #8300-8302 (with slightly altered lettering) received the experimental paint scheme. By 1989, the SD60s were returned to their lessor and a few GP50s received white stripes instead of black stripes. Considered unsatisfactory and uneconomic, the "Tiger Stripe" scheme, as it was dubbed by railfans, was dropped.
Between July and November 1989, Burlington Northern adopted a new paint scheme that used their Cascade Green, white, and black. Dubbed "Whiteface", the scheme then became standard for repaints and new locomotives, and was first seen on an EMD SD40-2.
In 1990, the frame located below the cab and radiator areas was applied with white and in the front and rear pilots, and in 1991, a two-inch wide white pinstripe was applied between the black and green of the upper hood section.
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, EMD SD70MAC #9401 was the first freight locomotive to receive the "Executive" scheme. From November 1993 to August 1997, the Executive scheme was applied to SD70MACs 9400-9499, 9504-9710, 9713-9716 and in the BNSF years 9711-9712, 9717-9837.
The last locomotives to receive Burlington Northern colors were EMD SD40-2 #7812 and EMD GP50 #3120 on August 8th, 1996, and EMD SD70MAC #9710 on January 8th, 1996.
Throughout its history, the Burlington Northern had various oddities and interesting test demonstrators/paint schemes.
EMD GP9s #1813 and 1863 received "The National Academy of Railroad Sciences" along the carbodies. GP38 #2075 was painted in a "PACIFIC PRIDE" scheme.
EMD GP38-2 #2100 received white striping along the front cab section.
GP50s #3110 and 3112 received an alternative version of "Tiger Stripes", using white instead of black.
MK GP39Es #2911 and 2931 received an experimental Cascade Green BNSF scheme.
MK GP28M #1522 received Operation Lifesaver logos.
EMD SD60M #1991 was painted to honor the employees serving in Desert Storm.
SD40-2 #8174 carried a "TOGETHER AT LAST" BN-Frisco merger slogan.
SD40-2s #7149 and 7890 were modified to run on compressed liquified natural gas (refrigerated liquid methane).
SD70MAC #9647 introduced the proposed Burlington Northern Santa Fe merger 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
References
- BURLINGTON SYSTEM from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 2005-05-26.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Burlington Northern Railroad |
- 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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