The How and Why of the BN merger of 1970
Published 2024-01-21
See the historic 1970 formation of Burlington Northern. See great vintage trains of Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Chicago Burlington & Quincy and the Spokane Portland & Seattle from the 50s into the 70s. We bring the history of the “James Hill Lines” and how he reshaped the northwest. See the steam to early diesel transition of these lines.
Follow the career of Chicago Burlington & Quincy’s, Ralph Budd. His early years as a design engineer made him one of the industry’s greatest innovators. He was the youngest railroad president when earlier he took charge of the GN as he was also a sharp businessman.
Follow the early passenger Ralph Budd-inspired Zephyrs, the California Zephyr plus passenger and freight trains of the CB&Q, GN and NP. Visit Chicago, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and more locations with passenger and freight. We offer a special section of the “Inside Gateway” line jointly operated by the BN & WP.
To quote Model Railroad News, “The story is epic... plan to watch it several times...”.
To quote Railfan & Railroad, “This program, as all others Smiley has done, Contains a wealth of content requiring more than one sitting to digest fully. The maps are excellent, the corporate story-telling first rate.
FILMING CREDITS.... George Barnes, Joe Blackwell, Mark Cooper, Darrel Dewald,
Bob Finan, Bo Golson, Patrick Howat, Theodore Jocelyn
P. Wm. Landgraf, Eugene Lile, Gary McClain, Grant Oakes,
John Petros, Tim Saltzman, Joe Swenson.
All Comments (21)
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I miss that old green BN livery. I am always stoked when I see an old BN car that hasn't been repainted.
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I had this DVD years ago as a kid, it's one of the reasons why I love the Burlington Northern!
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An often overlooked suburb of Chicago, I was so happy to see old footage of my hometown rails in Clarendon Hills, IL at the 29:15 mark.
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He says that "most railroads were in good shape by war's end". That may have been true financially. But they were certainly worn out physically by war traffic added to much deferred maintenance due to the Great Depression.
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Charles Smiley is the Goat of rail videos. My opinion.
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Thanks! I worked two summers in the CB&Q Havelock shops as a Carman's Helper, a"Car Toad" in Q talk., and rode the Zepher from Hastings, NE to New York in 1966, and Hastings to Oakland, CA in 1969. Pullman all the way, and the bar car was great!
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This was a cracking video of a great, majorly influential railroads history! I love this kind of history and as an Australian, it’s a great way to learn about the background of American railroads! Thank you for posting this!
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A fascinating account A thoroughly enjoyable history lesson in a subject about which I previously knew very little.
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When I was younger, CSX was rife with foreign power and leasing units. It seems like a Burlington Northern unit rolled through about once a week, and it was usually an SD40-2. I really miss those days.
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I used to live in Jonesboro, GA, so I model the Central of Georgia railway. But I have an old set of nice HO scale Gilbert coaches from the 1950's in the Northern Pacific livery with an F-3 engine and I love to run those since I've always liked the paint scheme of the NP. Main Street of Northwest. Cheers from eastern TN
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Thanx for the history lesson. I wish that BNSF after the merger had gone with the BN green and black color scheme or one of the Santa Fe schemes rather than the terrible pumpkin color scheme.
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WOW what little video there was On the Western Pacific I whole-heartedly enjoyed it Wish there was more on Carlin & Elko runs shops turntables ❤
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The 5632 was not scrapped. It is on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado.
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I always feel satisfied when I watch and learn more about our Railroad History . I am glad Railroads are still around !
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Amazing historical footage and detailed facts makes this a must-see for any train enthusiast.
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I've always found if peculiar that the SP&S was an Alco holdout despite the fact that its owners were solidly in the EMD camp.
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Great video! Had the DVD.
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Life without YouTube ads. Imagine the possibilities.
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Well done video. Learned a lot.
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