Burlington Northern And Its Heritage

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Heritage started in 1849 with the opening of the Aurora Branch Railroad in Illinois from Aurora to Chicago's west side. This grew into the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, which in a 1970 merger with several railroads became the Burlington Northern Railroad. A 1995 merger of the Burlington Northern Railroad with the Santa Fe Railway created the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway, the largest railroad in North America at that time. This book carefully covers the heritage of this very successful railroad.

Lavishly illustrated and a joy to read, this authoritative reference work on the North American continent’s railroads covers the U.S., Canadian, Mexican, Central American, and Cuban systems. The encyclopedia’s over-arching theme is the evolution of the railroad industry and the historical impact of its progress on the North American continent. This thoroughly researched work examines the various aspects of the industry’s development: technology, operations, cultural impact, the evolution of public policy regarding the industry, and the structural functioning of modern railroads. More than 500 alphabetical entries cover a myriad of subjects, including numerous entries profiling the principal companies, suppliers, manufacturers, and individuals influencing the history of the rails. Extensive appendices provide data regarding weight, fuel, statistical trends, and more, as well as a list of 130 vital railroad books. Railfans will treasure this indispensable work.

This richly illustrated encyclopedia of classic and contemporary American railroads features consise histories of 101 U.S. and Canadian railroads past and present. Illustrated with period and modern photography in both color and black and white, evocative print ads, and system maps, each profile is also accompanied by one or more fact boxes offering details on the railroads' geographic scope, hardware, and freight and passenger operations. Spanning more than a century and a half, this giant compendium of “fallen flags,” Class I behemoths, classic regional carriers, and transportation icons is sure to become the go-to compendium for railfans of all stripes.

Alliance has been a railroad center ever since the Burlington Railroad established the city in 1888 while pushing tracks into the vast, open regions of Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. As a hub for trains carrying a variety of agricultural and mining products to market, Alliance became headquarters in 1902 for the large and geographically diverse area of Burlington train operations called the Alliance Division. For 86 years, the Alliance Division controlled much of the region's rail traffic. Despite the loss of its division point status in 1988, Alliance continues to have its fortunes closely tied to the railroad, now known as the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe. Today, the BNSF funnels large numbers of coal trains through the city while transporting Power River Basin coal to power plants across the nation.