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Twin Cities and Western Railroad

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The Twin Cities and Western Railroad ( reporting mark TCWR ) is a railroad operating in the U.S. state of Minnesota which started operations on July 27, 1991. Trackage includes the former Soo Line Railroad "Ortonville Line", originally built as the first part of the Pacific extension of the Milwaukee Road . This main line extends from Hopkins, Minnesota (a Western suburb of the Twin Cities ),to Appleton, Minnesota . The line was originally built between Hopkins and Cologne, Minnesota , in 1876 by Hastings and Dakota Railroad. In 1913, the Milwaukee Road rerouted it, reducing the curves. The line was eventually extended to the Pacific.

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65-866: As of 1991, the TCWR also has trackage rights over the BNSF Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway . In 2012, the TCWR purchased the Sisseton Milbank Railroad and it now operates as a subsidiary of the Twin Cities and Western Railway. The company is also affiliated with the Red River Valley and Western Railroad in North Dakota , and the Minnesota Prairie Line , which has a junction with

130-675: A bidding war with BN for control of the SF on October 5. The UP gave up on January 31, 1995, paving the way for the BN-ATSF merger. Subsequently, the UP acquired the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (SP) in 1996, and Eastern U.S. systems CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway split Conrail in 1999. On February 7, 1995, BN and ATSF heads Gerald Grinstein and Robert D. Krebs announced that shareholders had approved

195-486: A gold mining subsidiary that ATSF agreed to sell to stockholders. This announcement began the next wave of mergers, as the "Super Seven" were merged down to four in the next five years. The Illinois Central Railroad and Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS), two of the five "small" Class Is, announced on July 19 that the former would buy the latter, but this plan was called off on October 25. The Union Pacific Railroad (UP), another major Western system, started

260-469: A $ 1.5 billion state of the art master planned rail facility in Southern California, the first such facility developed by a Class I railroad . The Barstow International Gateway, encompassing approximately 4,500 acres (1,800 ha, 7.0 sq mi), an integrated rail facility, will be located on the west side of Barstow, California . This new facility, when built, will enable more efficient rail operations from

325-618: A 12-mile railroad that connected Aurora with the Galena & Chicago Union Rail Road. The Aurora Branch eventually grew into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), a major component of successor Burlington Northern . Part of the Pacific Railroad became the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco). The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) was chartered in 1859. It built one of

390-511: A BN hub where it could interchange with SP (which had rights on BN dating from 1990 ). The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approved the BNSF merger on July 20, 1995 (with final approval on August 23), less than a month before UP announced on August 3 that it would acquire SP. Parents Burlington Northern Inc. and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation were acquired on September 22, 1995, by the new Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation . The merger of

455-535: A few short sections of trackage rights over BNSF, mainly connecting the SP at Chemult to the UP at Bend, Oregon , and connecting the SP at Mojave, California with existing UP rights on ATSF at Barstow, California . On April 18, 1996, UP, BNSF, and the Chemical Manufacturers Association entered into an agreement giving BNSF rights over the UP line between Houston and East St. Louis , paralleling

520-593: A number of accidents and incidents have occurred on the railway since its inception. As one of the leading supporters of the Operation Lifesaver program to promote safety at railway crossings and rights-of-way, the BNSF Railway, in 2000, established a grade-crossing closure program. This program, in which BNSF works with communities and landowners to identify unnecessary or redundant crossings, has helped close more than 2,900 of BNSF's railway crossings throughout

585-636: A reduced plan, whereby SP acquired trackage rights on ATSF for intermodal and automotive traffic to Chicago, and other trackage rights on ATSF in Kansas , south to Texas, and between Colorado and Texas. In exchange, SP assigned BNSF trackage rights over the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad between El Paso and Topeka and haulage rights to the Mexican border at Eagle Pass, Texas . Regional Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway also obtained trackage rights over BN from Peoria to Galesburg, Illinois ,

650-514: A safe re-route of freight rail was determined to negatively impact the local community, therefore the local community rejected freight rail reroute plans to the MN&;S Subdivision in 2014. TC&W also rejected any rerouting that took it off the Kenilworth Corridor, pointing out that plans to reroute their trains onto Canadian Pacific's MN&S Spur were unsafe. In 2018, it was agreed to allow

715-498: A section of track in Savage that would allow direct service to Port Cargill and neighboring grain elevators to resume. TC&W has 9 Caterpillar Generation II locomotives (4 EMD GP20s , 3 EMD GP30s , 2 EMD GP15Cs ), 2 ex-KCC EMD GP39-2s , 1 EMD CF7 slug unit, 1 Paducah rebuilt EMD GP10 , 1 EMD SW1200 , and 6 EMD GP38-2s . Due to the CAT units being expensive to maintain, the railroad

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780-565: A small amount of track in Canada, including an approximate 30-mile (48 km) section that runs from the U.S.–Canada border to Vancouver, British Columbia , some tracks and a yard in Winnipeg, Manitoba , approximately 70 miles (110 km) of joint track with the Canadian National Railway , which runs south to the U.S. border at Emerson, Manitoba , and less than a kilometer of trackage at

845-606: A subset of the mechanical division, operates two maintenance-of-way work equipment shops, responsible for performing repairs and preventive maintenance to BNSF's track and equipment, in Brainerd, Minnesota and Galesburg, Illinois . The system mechanical division also operates the Western Fruit Express Company's refrigerated car repair shop in Spokane, Washington . On October 1, 2022, BNSF Railway announced plans to construct

910-599: A total of 33 intermodal hubs and 23 automotive distribution facilities. The BNSF mechanical division operates 13 locomotive maintenance facilities that perform preventive maintenance, repairs and servicing of equipment. The largest of these facilities are located in Alliance, Nebraska and Argentine Yard in Kansas City, Kansas . The mechanical division also controls 46 additional facilities responsible for car maintenance and daily running repairs. The BNSF system mechanical division,

975-569: Is Kathryn Farmer . According to corporate press releases, the BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal freight in North America. It also hauls bulk cargo , including coal . The creation of BNSF started with the formation of a holding company on September 22, 1995. This new holding company purchased the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (often called the "Santa Fe") and Burlington Northern Railroad , and formally merged

1040-702: Is slowly retiring them as they break down. Trains typically run six days per week between the Twin Cities and Renville with two- or three-day-per-week service west of Renville to Milbank, SD. Presidents of the TC&;W have included: BNSF Railway BNSF Railway ( reporting mark BNSF ) is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads , BNSF has 36,000 employees, 33,400 miles (53,800 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between

1105-443: Is the namesake of Burlington in each of Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , Burlington Northern Railroad , and BNSF. On June 30, 1994, BN and ATSF announced plans to merge. They were the largest and smallest (by track mileage) of the "Super Seven", the seven largest of the then-twelve U.S. Class I railroads . The long-rumored announcement was delayed by a disagreement over the disposition of Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation,

1170-552: The Amtrak Cascades , California Zephyr , Carl Sandburg , Coast Starlight , Empire Builder , Heartland Flyer , Illinois Zephyr , Lincoln Service , Pacific Surfliner , San Joaquin , Southwest Chief , Sunset Limited , and Texas Eagle . After the 2015 Oxnard train derailment , BNSF loaned 40 of their AC4400CWs to Metrolink while their Rotem cab cars received upgrades. These 40 units were converted to PTC. The locomotives have since been returned after

1235-615: The Ashley, Drew and Northern Railway . Nine Alaska Railroad GP7s were rebuilt to GP10s by Paducah, and renumbered 1801-1809 (these rebuilds received EMD angled cabs but kept their AAR Type B road trucks from Alco RS-1s). A total of 76 Conrail GP9s were rebuilt to GP10s. The Paducah Shops rebuilt 53 Conrail GP9s to GP10s. The first 16 Conrail GP9s were rebuilt to the equivalent of a GP10 in 1976. In 1978 another 21 Conrail GP9s were rebuilt at Paducah, followed by 16 more GP9s rebuilt to GP10 in 1979. The 1978–79 Conrail GP9 rebuilding program by Paducah

1300-835: The BNSF Railway Line for Metra in Chicago and the Sounder in the Puget Sound Region — using BNSF-supplied crews in addition to running over its rails. The company's network additionally hosts other commuter trains , including: Metrolink in Southern California , and the Northstar Line in Minneapolis . The line used by New Mexico Rail Runner Express was sold to the state of New Mexico, but BNSF retained all freight rights on

1365-533: The Great Northern Railway , the Northern Pacific Railway and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway . It absorbed the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco) in 1980. Its main lines included Chicago- Seattle with branches to Texas (ex-Burlington) and Birmingham, Alabama (ex-Frisco), and access to the low-sulfur coal of Wyoming 's Powder River Basin . The city of Burlington, Iowa

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1430-527: The Houston area: west over UP to San Antonio , with a branch to Waco , and continuing over SP to Eagle Pass (replacing the haulage rights they had just obtained); south over UP to Brownsville ; east over SP to New Orleans (including the purchase of this line east of Lake Charles ); and northeast over SP to Memphis with a branch on UP to Little Rock . Ownership of a short connection between Waxahachie and Dallas also went from UP to BNSF. UP, in return, got

1495-668: The Midwest on former BN lines. Depending on where the markets are, this grain may move in any direction in unit trains or wait in silos for demand to rise. Most commonly, grain may move west on the Northern Transcon to the Pacific Northwest and its export terminals, or south to ports in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico . The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 's main contribution to BNSF

1560-537: The Northern Pacific Railway 's main line across Washington , in 1984, in favor of the ex- Great Northern Railway 's Stevens Pass . BN never abandoned the line and began rehabilitating it in early 1996, and the route reopened in early December, relieving the crowded Stevens Pass. The ex-ATSF main line, now known as the Southern Transcon , has also seen steady work to add tracks, giving BNSF more capacity on this major intermodal route. On December 20, 1999, BNSF and

1625-608: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered BNSF to pay over $ 526,000 to workers who had been terminated in 2010 and 2011 after revealing workplace injuries at the terminal in Havre, Montana , which is in contravention of provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act protecting whistleblowers. In August 2016, a "huge number" of used hypodermic drug needles were found along a BNSF railroad bridge in between

1690-787: The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach to trains for transport through the Alameda Corridor onto the BNSF mainline to the new facility, and then move across the nation on the eastbound BNSF route network. In June 2024, BNSF Railway announced plans to develop the Surprise Intermodal/Logistics Center , a regional rail-served facility near Phoenix, Arizona . The planned site is located in northwest Maricopa County and will cover 4,321 acres (1,749 ha) of land. The facility consists of three distinct, interrelated components: Large freight car hump yards are located throughout

1755-590: The San Francisco Bay Area , with an alternate route through the Feather River Canyon along UP. The ATSF trackage in California's Central Valley was linked to BN's line into Oregon , through trackage rights over UP between Stockton and Keddie and acquisition of UP's section of the "Inside Gateway" to the beginning of BN trackage at Bieber . In Texas, BNSF received rights in several directions from

1820-517: The Surface Transportation Board expressed concern and surprise about the timing, since the merger that produced BNSF had been the only one in the 1990s that did not cause severe deterioration in service. On March 17, 2000, the STB imposed a 15-month moratorium on mergers involving any two Class I railroads , citing widespread opposition not only to the merger but its effects, likely starting

1885-685: The Union Pacific Railroad , have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western , Midwestern and Southern United States and share trackage rights over thousands of miles of track. BNSF's history dates to 1849, when the Aurora Branch Railroad in Illinois and the Pacific Railroad of Missouri were formed by a group of millers who were granted a charter to build

1950-757: The University Park and St. Johns neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon that has become an encampment for homeless individuals. According to a conductor quoted by The Oregonian "Pretty much see people down there at all hours of the night. We report them but nobody does anything." EMD GP10 The EMD GP10 is a diesel-electric locomotive that is the result of rebuilding a GP7 , GP9 or GP18 . The Illinois Central Railroad had three separate rebuild programs to upgrade their old EMD GPs and GPs that they had purchased from equipment dealers such as Precision National Corporation in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The first

2015-500: The 1970s through construction of the Powder River Basin Joint Line with Union Pacific Railroad predecessor Chicago and North Western Transportation Company . Coal goes north in unit trains on the three-to-four-track Joint Line to Gillette or south to Orin , where older BN lines and other railroads take it in all directions to coal-burning power plants . BNSF serves over 1,500 grain elevators , located mostly in

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2080-608: The BNSF system. Location of some intermodal yards: The BNSF system is divided into 13 divisions grouped into three regions. Each division includes numerous subdivisions, normally comprising a single main line and branches. A fourteenth division, Colorado, has been consolidated with the Powder River Division, except for the Casper and Cody Subdivisions, which were transferred to the Montana Division. BNSF directly operates

2145-809: The Houston-Memphis SP line, and allowing BNSF to participate in the UP's plan for directional running , in which each line would serve through trains in only one direction. The Surface Transportation Board , successor to the ICC, approved the UP-SP merger on July 3, and UP control of SP took effect on September 11, 1996. BNSF trackage rights operations began on the Central Corridor on October 10, and soon thereafter on other lines. BNSF continued projects started by its predecessors, most notably BN's work on reopening Stampede Pass . BN had closed Stampede Pass,

2210-703: The Red River Division, and the former Springfield and Nebraska divisions were combined into the Heartland Division, in the spring of 2016. Not including second, third and fourth main-line trackage, yard trackage, and siding trackage, BNSF directly owns and operates over 24,000 miles (39,000 km) of track. When these additional tracks are counted, the length of track which the railway directly controls rises to more than 50,000 miles (80,000 km). Additionally, BNSF Railway has gained trackage rights on more than 8,000 miles (13,000 km) of track throughout

2275-756: The Southern Transcon, has been almost completely double-tracked, and triple-tracking has begun in areas such as Cajon Pass . BNSF transports Boeing 737 fuselages from the Wichita, Kansas plant to Renton, Washington. The BNSF Railway directly owns and operates track in 28 U.S. states : Alabama , Arizona , Arkansas , California , Colorado , Idaho , Illinois , Iowa , Kansas , Louisiana , Minnesota , Mississippi , Missouri , Montana , Nebraska , Nevada , New Mexico , North Dakota , Oklahoma , Oregon , South Dakota , Tennessee , Texas , Utah , Washington , Wisconsin , and Wyoming . The railway also operates

2340-699: The TC&W was re-routed onto the Kenilworth Corridor, HCRRA constructed the Kenilworth Trail adjacent to the railroad track, using railroad right-of-way acquired from the Chicago and North Western Railway by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority . The Kenilworth alignment had first been built as part of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and eventually became part of the Chicago and North Western Railway . The Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority acquired

2405-606: The Twin Cities and Western in Norwood Young America, Minnesota . Until Hiawatha Avenue ( Minnesota State Highway 55 ) was reconstructed in the 1990s and plans for the Hiawatha Line light rail service entered late stages, the Twin Cities and Western operated on Canadian Pacific's Bass Lake Subdivision through the 29th Street railway trench in Minneapolis , now known as the Midtown Greenway . The tracks continued along

2470-524: The United States and Canada. These rights allow the BNSF to operate its own trains with its own crews on competing railroads' main tracks. BNSF locomotives also occasionally show up on competitors' tracks throughout the United States and Canada by way of leases, mileage equalizations, and other contractual arrangements. BNSF operates various facilities all over the United States, plus a yard in Winnipeg, to support its transportation system. Facilities operated by

2535-460: The United States. Due to the program, BNSF has been the industry leader in lowering the number of grade-crossing collisions. BNSF contracts with News Link , a small business in Lincoln, Nebraska , to publish employee newsletters focused on safety for some of the railroad's divisions and shops. These newsletters vary in length from four to 28 pages, published ranging from monthly to quarterly. In 2014,

2600-518: The West. UP and BNSF announced in late September 1995 that, in exchange for BNSF not opposing the merger, it would obtain ownership of 335 miles (539 km) of line and about 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of trackage rights to reach these "two-to-one" shippers. Significant additions included rights over SP's Central Corridor from Denver via the Moffat Tunnel and Salt Lake City , and over Donner Pass , to

2665-637: The assumption of $ 10 billion in Burlington Northern debt, brings the total value to $ 44 billion. Consummated February 12, 2010, it is the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway's history. The deal was structured so that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation would merge with and into R Acquisition Company, LLC, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The deal closed on February 12, 2010, and at

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2730-553: The border in Northgate, Saskatchewan . For administrative purposes, BNSF is divided into two regions and ten operating divisions. The North Region includes the Montana, Northwest, Twin Cities, Heartland and Powder River divisions. The South Region includes the Red River, California, Chicago, Kansas and Southwest divisions. Each division is further divided into subdivisions, which represent segments of track ranging from 300-mile (480 km) mainlines to 10-mile (16 km) branch-lines. The former Texas and Gulf divisions were combined into

2795-417: The cab cars went back into service. Although it does not have a steam program like the Union Pacific, the BNSF has allowed for the Southern Pacific 4449 , St. Louis–San Francisco 1522 , Santa Fe 3751 , Santa Fe 2926 , Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 and Milwaukee Road 261 steam locomotives to operate excursions over their rails. BNSF has received E.H. Harriman Award for safety multiple times. But

2860-580: The final round of mergers into two big systems. BNSF and CN immediately turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals , which on July 14 ruled that the STB's right to regulate mergers allowed a moratorium, and the two railroads called off the merger. The STB released its final rules on June 11, 2001, requiring any new application to merge two Class I railroads, with the exception of smaller Kansas City Southern Railway , to demonstrate that competition would be preserved and address effects of defensive moves by other carriers. No further Class I mergers would take place until

2925-431: The first transcontinental railroads in North America, linking Chicago and Southern California ; major branches led to Texas , Denver , and San Francisco . The Interstate Commerce Commission denied a proposed merger with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in the 1980s. The Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) was created in 1970 through the consolidation of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad ,

2990-461: The former Milwaukee Road Short Line into Saint Paul , where TC&W would access rail yards operated by Canadian Pacific, the Minnesota Commercial Railway , and others. As part of the Hiawatha project, the railroad's route to St Paul was moved from the 29th Street Corridor to the Kenilworth Corridor (former M&STL/C&NW track) to Cedar Lake Junction onto the BNSF just west of downtown Minneapolis. The re-route occurred in August of 1998. After

3055-421: The land (1984?) prior to when C&NW abandoned the line (1993?) . The existing freight operation shares the corridor with the Kenilworth Trail . The temporary alignment was only expected to last five years and was proposed as a way to preserve the route for future transit. By 2009, the connection was reaching the end of its lifespan and required rehabilitation. A rerouting of the line was re-examined in 2009 for

3120-443: The line and operates freight trains as needed. Metra's cars that were originally purchased by BNSF predecessor Chicago Burlington & Quincy have letterboards above the doors. In about 2011, about 15 of the remaining cars had the original "BURLINGTON" lettering restored, while the rest now read "BNSF RAILWAY". Other Metra cars assigned to BNSF have the current BNSF "swoosh" logo next to the door. Many Amtrak routes use BNSF rails:

3185-446: The merger between Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific in April 2023, creating the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway . The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation was incorporated in 1993 to facilitate the merger of Burlington Northern, Incorporated , parent of the Burlington Northern Railroad , and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation , which owned the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe). The corporate merger

3250-420: The merger. UP was satisfied with a single segment of trackage rights from Abilene, Kansas , to Superior, Nebraska , which BN and ATSF had both served. KCS gained haulage rights to several Midwest locations, including Omaha , East St. Louis , and Memphis , in exchange for BNSF getting similar access to New Orleans . SP, initially requesting far-reaching trackage rights throughout the West, soon agreed to

3315-429: The operating companies was held up by issues with unions ; ATSF merged on December 31, 1996, into BN, which was renamed the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company. Union Pacific's merger with Southern Pacific further enlarged the combined BNSF network. Unlike BN and ATSF, UP and SP had significant overlap, where the end of competition between the two risked creating a monopoly for freight carriage in much of

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3380-399: The plan, which would save overhead costs and combine BN's coal and ATSF's intermodal strengths. Although the two systems complemented each other with little overlap, in contrast to the Santa Fe-Southern Pacific merger, which failed because it would have eliminated competition in many areas of the Southwest , BN and ATSF came to agreements with most other Class Is to keep them from opposing

3445-404: The planned Southwest Corridor light-rail line. Building the connection to the MN&S Subdivision was expected to cost about $ 48 million. A more detailed analysis was expected to be completed by the end of 2010. Because there was no freight rail engineering study done on the planned re-route of the freight rail route, and once the freight rail engineering study was completed in 2013, the impact of

3510-412: The railroad to continue using the Kenilworth line, and plans for co-locating freight rail and light rail were made. In order to protect a potentially important shipping route, TC&W purchased the Dan Patch Line Bridge over the Minnesota River in Savage . TC&W has trackage rights over CP's MN&S Subdivision to reach Savage, and as of the fall of 2022, was seeking state funding to rehabilitate

3575-502: The railway include yards and terminals throughout its rail network, system locomotive shops to perform locomotive service and maintenance, a centralized operations center for train dispatching and network operations monitoring in Fort Worth , and regional dispatching centers. BNSF Railway also operates numerous transfer facilities throughout the western United States to facilitate the transfer of intermodal containers , trailers, and other freight traffic. BNSF Railway has direct control over

3640-402: The railways into the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996. On January 24, 2005, the railroad's name was officially changed to BNSF Railway Company using the initials of its original name. Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway acquired BNSF Railway in February 2010, obtaining all of its shares and taking the company private. BNSF and its chief competitor,

3705-562: The recently privatized Canadian National Railway announced plans to combine as subsidiaries of a new holding company , North American Railways, which would control about 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of railroad. With CN's lines primarily in Canada and, through subsidiary Illinois Central Railroad , on a north–south corridor near BNSF's eastern edge, the two systems had little overlap. The combination would have benefited both companies by expanding available cash for capacity improvements and allowing for longer single-system movements. Shippers and

3770-400: The same time, the now merged company changed its name to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. It remains an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. In January 2022, BNSF agreed to purchase Montana Rail Link , a private company, for $ 2 billion, through an "early lease termination". The return to BNSF control required the approval of the Surface Transportation Board , which

3835-457: The western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles (272 million kilometers) in 2010, more than any other North American railroad. The BNSF Railway Company is the principal operating subsidiary of parent company Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas , the railroad's parent company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway , Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska . The current CEO

3900-675: Was approved on March 8, 2023. The railroad had over 900 miles (1,400 km) of track, and served 100 stations. The main classification yard was in Laurel, Montana, with smaller yards in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and Helena. BNSF took over MRL operations on January 1, 2024. This absorbed the MRL into BNSF, integrating MRL operations, technology and personnel. All 1,200 employees were offered employment with BNSF. With BNSF's large system, it hauls many different commodities, most notably coal and grain , as well as intermodal freight . Predecessor Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) entered Wyoming 's low-sulfur coal -rich Powder River Basin in

3965-399: Was consummated on September 22, 1995, at which point shareholders of the previous companies became shareholders of BNSF and the two companies became wholly owned subsidiaries of BNSF. In December 1996, the two holding companies and two railroads were formally merged, and in January 1998 the remaining intermediate holding company was folded into the railroad. Robert Krebs of Santa Fe Pacific

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4030-412: Was engine and electrical gear only with no carbody modification (the high short hoods were kept). The Precision National Corporation Shops at Mount Vernon, Illinois rebuilt six Conrail GP9s to GP10s in 1978. The Morrison-Knudsen Boise Shops rebuilt 17 Conrail GP9s to GP10s in 1978–1979. Six units were rebuilt by Boise in 1978, with an additional 11 units completed in 1979. The GP9 rebuilding program by Boise

4095-447: Was president of BNSF from the merger until 1999, chief executive from the merger until 2000, and chairman from 1997 until 2002. He was succeeded in all three positions by Matthew K. Rose . On November 3, 2009, Berkshire Hathaway made a $ 26 billion offer to buy the remaining 77.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation it did not already own, valuing the purchase at $ 34 billion. The deal, including Berkshire's previous investment and

4160-507: Was the GP8 , second the GP10 and third the GP11 . All were rebuilt at IC/ICG's Paducah Shops in Kentucky. Core units for the GP10 program were from IC/ICG GP7, GP8, GP9 and GP18, B&M GP9, B&O GP9, CRR GP9, C&O GP7 and GP9, D&RGW GP9, DT&I GP7 and GP9, FEC GP9, GTW GP18, P&LE GP7, Potlach Forests Inc. GP7, QNS&L GP9, RDG GP7, St.J&LC GP9, SLSF GP7, SP GP9, SSW GP7, and UP GP9B. Two IC GP9s were rebuilt to GP10s and sold directly to

4225-448: Was the Southern Transcon , a fast intermodal corridor connecting Southern California and Chicago . Most traffic is either trailers of trucking companies such as intermodal partner J. B. Hunt , or containers from the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles . The latter begins its trip on the triple-track Alameda Corridor , shared with the Union Pacific Railroad , and then follows BNSF rails from downtown Los Angeles . Its route,

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