BURLINGTON NORTHERN
The BN was created on March 2, 1970 by the merger of the so called "Hill Lines", the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Burlington (CB&Q) and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle. It was the longest railroad in terms of route miles and became even longer with the acquistion of the Frisco in 1980. The company had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time as the Powder River coal fields were developed, and became the largest coal hauling railroad on the continent in spite of the Interstate Commerce Commission's insistence that the C&NW be allowed to participate. The road also developed a significant intermodal business with the development of Tacoma as a major container port for Asian imports. In 1995 the BN merged with the Santa Fe to form todays BNSF.
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A defining shot of the BN in the 1980's: A unit coal train led by 3,000 hp GE or EMD units. Here we have C30-7 #5587 on a loaded coal train on the MP near Osawatomie, KS on May 30, 1985. |
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E9u #9906 powers a outbound evening commuter train at Naperville, IL on June 16, 1986. BN had M-K upgrade these units, including the addition of HEP. |
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E-9u #9905 leads a midday westbound at Cicero, IL on June 17,1986. When rebuilt by M-K the units also lost their side portholes. |
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F45 #6620 and two cabless B30-7A's are on a northbound unit train at Bonita, KS on September 17, 1983. Only GN, BN and Santa Fe bought the F45 but resales have scattered them throughout to other railroads. |
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Lined up at Northtowns Yard in Minneapolis, MN on May 24, 1980 are (l to r) GP9 #1916, SD45 #6471, F7 #796, SD40-2's #6907, 8032, 6741 and 8016. In the background are PNC lease units SD24m's #1849 & 1844. |
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GP30 #2227 and GP35's #2514 & 2528 exit a tunnel on the Columbia River line near Underwood, WA on May 23, 1984. This is a westbound unit grain train. |
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GP50's #3148, 3150 & 3131 have hot westbound intermodal train #3 just minutes out of Cicero Yard in Cicero IL on June 17, 1986. The experimental orange 'tiger stripes' were applied to the new GP50's, and a few SD40's were repainted with these as well. |
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NW5 #990 at Northtown Yards in Minneapolis, MN on September 16, 1982. EMD only built 13 of the NW5's and BN had 10 of them. They were an elongated NW2 switcher with a short hood that contained a steam generator and Blomberg road trucks. |
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The crew of SD9 #6142 chats with the crew on NW2's #547 & 560 at Rice's Point Yard in Duluth, MN on September 15, 1982. |
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SD9's were a common sight in the Twin Cities as seen here with #6110 and a business car switching out an intermodal block at Northtown Yards in Minneapolis on August 20, 1994. Several more SD9's congregate in the background. |
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What appears to be another SD9 powered freight is actually SD24's #6246, 6242 and U28B #5462 at Evansville, IN on July 27, 1980. |
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SD40-2's #7010 & 7844 lead a southbound unit coal train on the Joint Line at Palmer Lake, CO on September 29 (Yes, that is snow) 1985. This is the top of the grade, and the train is momentarily stopped as the rear end pushers are being cut off |
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SD40-2's #7142, 7238 and 6326 power a northbound train of empty ore hoppers near St. Anthony Ave. in Minneapolis, MN on August 20, 1994. The train is headed back to the Missabe Range north of Duluth. |
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SD40-2 #8082 and SD45 #6663 on a westbound freight over the old GN mainline at Index, WA on May 20, 1984. |
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Westbound intermodal T#3 crosses the Wenatchee River at Dryden, WA on May 21, 1984. The train is headed towards Cascade Tunnel with SD40-2's #7040, 8163, B30-7A's #4038, 4097 and F45 #6642. |
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SD40-2 #7141 leads a Santa Fe C44-9W and ex BN SD40-2 now lettered for LMX on an eastbound train nearing East Glacier, MT on September 8, 1997. |
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Whiteface SD60M's #9248 & 9259 have an empty unit coal train headed westbound past the old wooden grain elevators at Spiritwood, ND on August 19, 1994. This is the old Northern Pacific mainline. |
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SD70MAC's #9413, 9610 & 9554 have a loaded southbound coal train on the Joint Line at Academy, CO on September 20, 1996. The MAC's were the only freight units to wear the 'Grinstein Green' of former CEO Gerald Grinstein. |
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SW1000 #386 is switching at Vancouver, WA on May 23, 1984. Though many railroads bought the SW1500, not too many Class 1 roads purchased it's smaller cousin, the SW1000. BN however had a sizeable fleet. |
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U30C #5916 is at the 23rd Street Diesel House in Denver, CO on May 25, 1977. The unit won't be going anywhere soon though, notice that the front coupler is missing. |