Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Burlington Northern Railroad formed in 1970 with the merger of The Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The railroad briefly operated inter-city passenger trains before Amtrak took over in May of 1971. BN merged 25 years later with the Aitchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF.
Our Photo Charter took place on former Soo Line tracks in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota, now operated by Canadian National. CN no longer runs trains here, but Canadian Pacific has trackage rights to run trains to the Dresser Rock quarry, which produces track ballast used on its system. The Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway runs trains here on weekends and special occasions.
Two surviving BN diesels were used for our Photo Charter. SD9 #839 was built in 1959 for Burlington Route subsidiary, Colorado & Southern, by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. BN 6399 is an SD-P40 constructed by GM’s Electro-Motive Division for the Great Northern in 1966 as #325.
This is a preview of the 25-minute DVD. Other than a few raindrops in the early evening, it turned out to be a fine springtime day to remember the Burlington Northern!
The Burlington Northern Railroad formed in 1970 with the merger of The Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The railroad briefly operated inter-city passenger trains before Amtrak took over in May of 1971. BN merged 25 years later with the Aitchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF.
Our Photo Charter took place on former Soo Line tracks in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota, now operated by Canadian National. CN no longer runs trains here, but Canadian Pacific has trackage rights to run trains to the Dresser Rock quarry, which produces track ballast used on its system. The Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway runs trains here on weekends and special occasions.
Two surviving BN diesels were used for our Photo Charter. SD9 #839 was built in 1959 for Burlington Route subsidiary, Colorado & Southern, by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. BN 6399 is an SD-P40 constructed by GM’s Electro-Motive Division for the Great Northern in 1966 as #325.
This is a preview of the 25-minute DVD. Other than a few raindrops in the early evening, it turned out to be a fine springtime day to remember the Burlington Northern!
