Burlington Route A History of the Burlington Lines By Richard Overton w/DustJac

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Burlington Route A History of the Burlington Lines By Richard Overton

Hard Cover with dust jacket Dust jacket has damage

660 pages Indexed

CONTENTS

Note on Documentationxxi

Chronologyxxv

PART I/ Forging a System [1849-75]

1 Modest Beginnings 1849-523

2 Grass Roots 1849-5215

3 Eastern Dollars 1851-5325

4 Building a System 1852-6039

5 The Impact of War 1861-6563

6 Expansion Westward 1865-7386

7 The New Postwar World 1865-75105

8 The Complexities of Expansion 1865-75116

PART II / Growth and Integration [1875-1901]

9 Reappraisal and Revival 1875-78143

10 Regaining Initiative 1878-81163

11 Perkins and Expansion 1881-88176

12 Machines and Men, Laws and Dollars 1881-88199

13 Regulation, Stringency, Strategy, and Personnel 1889-1901218

14 Integration and Sale: the End of an Era 1899-1901244

PART III / Steady Development [1901 -29]

15 Integration into the Hill Empire 1901-15267

16 World War 1 and the New Dispensation 1916-20293

17 Grand Strategy in the Twenties 1920-29319

18 Internal Development 1920-29337

PART IV / New Challenges [1929 -49]

19 Depression 1929-33363

20 Novel Ideas and Gradual Recovery in Granger Country 1933-40383

21 The Revolution in Passenger Service 1933-41393

22 Competition 1933-40407

23 Revamping the Regulatory Structure 1933-41426

24 Trouble in the West 1932-41446

25 The Financial Challenge 1931-41463

26 World War II 1940-45476

27 The Burlington at War 1941-45489

28 The Postwar Period: Plant and Operations 1945-49511

29 Performance and Promise 1945-49536

PART V / Since 1949

Prologue to the Epilogue555

Epilogue 1949-64557

Around the Circle583

Chapter Bibliographical Notes589

Selected Bibliography601

Indexfollows page 623

ILLUSTRATIONS

FOLLOWS PAGE 36

PLATE

I Stephen F. Gale, President of the Aurora Branch (1849-51),

of the Aurora Branch-Chicago and Aurora (1852-53)

COURTESY CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Elisha S. Wadsworth, President of the Aurora Branch

(1851-52) COURTESY CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

James F. Joy, President of the Chicago and Aurora-C. B. & Q. (1853-57; 1865-71)

John Van Nortwick, President of the C. B. & Q. (1857-65)

II James M. Walker, President of the C. B. & Q. (1871-76) Robert Harris, President of the C. B. & Q. (1876-78)

John Murray Forbes, President of the C. B. & Q. (1878-81) Charles E. Perkins, President of the C. B. & Q. (1881-1901)

III George B. Harris, President of the C. B. & Q. (1901-10)

Darius Miller, President of the C. B. & Q. (1910-14)

Hale Holden, President of the C. B. & Q. (1914-18; 1920-28) Charles E. Perkins, Jr., President of the C. B. & Q. (1918-20)

IV Frederick E. Williamson, President of the C. B. & Q. (1929-31)

MOFFETT-RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPH

Ralph Budd, President of the C. B. & Q. (1932-49)

Harry C. Murphy, President of the C. B. & Q. (1949- )

FABIAN BACHRACH

V First general C. B. & Q. office building (shared with Michigan Central), 2 South Water Street, Chicago, about 1862

COURTESY CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

VI Inspection Engine No. 1370, built by Lancaster in 1870, at Galesburg, Illinois, about 1900

VII Opening of Hannibal Bridge, first over the Missouri, Kansas City, July 4, 1869

Kilpatrick's construction outfit, grading the B. & M., Custer County, Nebraska, in the 1880's

VIII Aurora (Illinois) Shops, late 186o's

FROM AURORA HISTORICAL MUSEUM, AURORA, ILLINOIS

Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad packet Colorado, 1869

FOLLOWS PAGE 164

IX Chicago-Downers Grove suburban train, about 1880

Passenger station, Burlington, Iowa, built 1882, burned January 1943

X The Denver Flyer at Downers Grove, August 26, 1899

FROM ALLEN GREEN COLLECTION, KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG, ILLINOIS

XI Diner of "Old Eli," Chicago-Kansas City Flyer, 1899

FROM ALLEN GREEN COLLECTION, KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG, ILLINOIS

Conductor doing "book work," 1900

FROM ALLEN GREEN COLLECTION, KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG, ILLINOIS

XII Express from Savanna at Galesburg, Illinois, 1905, with Class K-3 locomotive

Chicago Union Station, 1905

COURTESY CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

XIII Locomotive No. 5621 in West Burlington Shops, 1940

XIV Pioneer Zephyr at Aurora, Illinois, on its 785-minute, nonstop run from Denver to Chicago (1,015 miles), May 26, 1934

Locomotives No. 6168 and 6161 hauling train 80-3,185 tons -at Sheridan Hill, Wyoming, March 9, 1938

PHOTOGRAPH FROM OTIS HALL, GILLETTE, WYOMING

XV Two steam locomotives hauling oil tank cars, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming, 1944

Locomotive No. 5622 hauling a freight along the Mississippi, Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, 1948

FOLLOWS PAGE 356

XVI Locomotive No. 903 lifting a freight over Crawford Hill, Nebraska, 1945

Vista-Dome Twin Cities Zephyr along the Mississippi

XVII Station at Burlington, Iowa

Station at Quincy, Illinois

XVIII Call board listing assignability of crews, Ottumwa, Iowa Collector checking tickets, double-deck commuters' gallery car

XIX 146-seat, double-deck Chicago suburban-service commuter car Vista-Dome chair car "Silver Brand," 1956 Denver Zephyr

XX 56-seat chair car "Silver Halter," 1956 Denver Zephyr

Budd Slumbercoach "Silver Slumber," introduced on 1956 Denver Zephyr

XXI Railway postal car "Silver Post"

Dome-observation car "Silver Chateau," 1956 Denver Zephyr

XXII 48-seat dining car "Silver Manor"

10-roomette, 6-double-bedroom sleeper "Silver Bay," 1949 California Zephyr

XXIII Double-deck commuters' gallery car at suburban station, as introduced in 1950

The Nebraska Zephyr pausing at Aurora, Illinois, 1961

FOLLOWS PAGE 516

XXIV Grain elevator along the C. B. & O.

Containers to be transloaded to and from ships, carrying Hawaiian pineapples

XXV All-welded double-door 50-foot boxcar No. 47790, built February 1964

B.R.M.X. mechanical refrigerator car No. 5100, built July-August 1963

XXVI Double-door, 50-foot boxcar No. 47100, built April 1963 Conventional covered hopper car No. 8544, built June 1963

XXVII Center-flow covered hopper car No. 85407, built May 1963 Double-deck stock car No. 50596, built December 1962.

XXVIII Jumbo-size open-top hopper car No. 160006, built July-August 1963

Steel caboose No. 13595, built February-March 1964

XXIX Burlington's two remaining steam locomotives (coal-burning No. 496o, built 1923; oil-burning No. 5632, out-shopped 1940), at Galesburg, Illinois, 1963

Postal clerks aboard the Fast Mail, operated since March 11, 1884, between Chicago and Council Bluffs-Omaha

XXX Automatic classification yard, Cicero, Illinois, completed 1958

XXXI A century of locomotive evolution on the Burlington: diamond stack No. 35, wood-and-coal-burner of the type used from 1850 well into the twentieth century; mikado-type coal-burner No. 1960, built 1923; Diesel-powered Zephyr locomotive, introduced 1934; E-9 passenger unit built for Zephyrs by General Motors; turbo-charged GP-30 locomotive No. 974 for fast freight, built December 1963 by General Motors

MAPS

Aurora Branch Railroad, 18509

Midwestern Railroads, 185010

Illinois Railroads, built and projected, 185112

Evolution of the C. B. 6 Q. in Illinois, 1850-5617

Michigan Central and Michigan Southern, May 185229

Construction Progress: the Hannibal and St. Joseph, 1851-59; the Quincy and Palmyra, 1858-60; the Burlington and Missouri River, 1854-59, with Projected Line to the Missouri River54

The C. B.6Q.asof July 3o,186571

Missouri and Iowa, mid-186588

Eastern Nebraska, 1869-72101

Missouri and Iowa, 1870109

The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, 1872111

Illinois, 1865-75117

The "River Roads," 1869-75124

Growth of the C. B. 6 Q. in Illinois and Iowa, 1875-80150

West of the Missouri River, 1881, with Extensions to 1886185

Competition between Chicago and Kansas City, 1889189

Chicago, Burlington 6 Northern Railroad, 1886191

The Burlington and the Far West, 1901227

Missouri, 1901-15270

Texas Lines, 1901-15272

Colorado, Wyoming, and vicinity, 1901-15275

Southern Illinois, 1901-17277

Texas Lines, 1925-35356

Zephyr Routes, December 1941424

Northern Missouri and vicinity, 1945-52515

Kansas City Cut-off, 1953518

Growth of the Burlington System, 1849-63520-521

Main Line Abandonments, 1917-63528-529

Burlington Route, 1963551

CHARTS

Average Operating Expenses, C. B. & Q., 1850-1963251

Revenues-Expenses-Income, C. B. & Q., 1855-1901252

Freight-Passenger-Miles, 1888-1963, C. B. & Q.374

Revenues-Expenses-Income, 1901-63, C. B. & Q.375

Revenue Ton-Miles-Revenue Passenger-Miles, C. & S.-Texas Lines, 1908-63376

Average Number of Employees, 1888-1963, C. B. & Q.377

Dividends, 1855-1963, C. B. & Q.378

Colorado and Southern: Revenue Ton-Miles-Passenger-Miles, 1921-63, C. & S.-Texas Lines454

Colorado and Southern: Operating Revenues-Net Income, 1921-63, C. & S.-Texas Lines455

Texas Lines: Revenue Ton-Miles-Passenger-Miles, 1921-63,C. & S. Texas Lines456

Texas Lines: Revenue Ton-Miles-Passenger-Miles, 1921-63, C. & S. Texas Lines457

Operating Revenues, Net Income, Interest on Funded Debt, C. & S.-Texas Lines, 1908-63462

Trend of Wage Costs, Material Prices, and Revenues, 1949-63, C. B. & Q.564

Colorado and Southern-Texas Lines, Interest on Funded Debt, 1921-63, C. & S.-Texas Lines577

Dividends, 1850-63, C. B. & Q.578

THIS VOLUME IS A DISTILLATION of a 2,375-page, fully documented, typed manuscript covering the first century of the Burlington's existence. I use the word "distillation" advisedly; the present book is not simply a cut or edited version of the long draft, but rather a freshly written account based on the ideas, information, and perspectives of the parent work. It is designed for the general reader, and because it is, specialists such as economists, financial experts, labor and agrarian historians, lawyers, railway and locomotive fans, and the like may feel that more space should be devoted to their particular fields. I can assure them all, however, that they will find selected examples of their special interests.

If this book is written from any particular vantage point, I suppose it is from that of the decision-makers. Always throughout its long life the Burlington has been guided by an entrepreneurial group: during its first half century by John Murray Forbes and such associates as James F. Joy, John M. Brooks, and Charles E. Perkins. From 1901 to the end of the company's first century in 1949, James J. Hill and those working with and after him, such as Howard Elliott, Daniel Willard, Arthur Curtiss James, and Ralph Budd-to mention only a few-guided the destiny of the system. Thus I have felt it obligatory to depict the context in which these men worked in order to search out, so far as I could, their motives and techniques, and to describe their achievements as well as their failures. This does not mean that I have neglected the men and women on the line or the oft-overlooked "middle management" so essential to the smooth functioning of a massive, far-flung corporation. All these people were and are essential for making a railroad run. Yet in long-run terms it has been the entrepreneurs, usually working as a team rather than as a succession of "one-man shows," who have determined policy. That is why they occupy such a prominent part in this book.

A word should be said about the emphasis in the various chapters. This account follows, as closely as possible, a chronological pattern. But I have deliberately emphasized, by the use of detail, various functional aspects at the times when, to the men in charge of the system, they seemed of primary importance. In the early days, for example, the foremost concern was where to build the railroad and how to 'say for it. During both the Civil War and the two world wars, the principal problem was how to carry an inflated traffic load despite a shortage of men and materials. In the post-Civil War years, expansion, colonization, competition from other railways, and administrative procedure were at the top of the agenda; in times of depression, financial management was necessarily the most pressing matter. Government regulation, labor relations, and personnel problems moved into the spotlight on various occasions, while at certain times improvement of equipment and service seemed of special importance. In the 1945-49 Period particularly, attention was riveted on the attempt to keep mounting costs under control in an increasingly competitive transportation market. Of course, all or most of these functional factors were present in varying degree throughout the company's history, but to treat each in detail in every period would obviously be impossible within the limits of a single volume. My emphasis, I repeat, has been guided by what the men at the time believed to be most important.

To avoid cumbersome circumlocutions, I have used some "shorthand phrases." When I refer to "Burlington," I mean all roads that were at the moment of reference part of or controlled by the parent Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. I include also the two direct predecessors, the Aurora Branch and the Chicago and Aurora, as part of the Burlington. Obviously, therefore, "Burlington" means different things at different times. Similarly, in respect to the period after loin 1 refer to the Burlington, Great Northern, and Northern Pacific collectively as the "Hill Lines," as does, for example, John Moody in The Railroad Builders. This is not to imply that Hill personally controlled any or all of these roads at any particular time; it is simply a well-understood and current phrase which is far more convenient than spelling out all three titles.

To the best of my ability, I have let men and events speak for themselves; although I have drawn conclusions where it seemed appropriate to do so, in no case have I consciously expressed anything resembling a moral judgment on any person or policy. The mere task, however, of selecting what seemed to me the most pertinent data from eighteen or twenty tons of source material has inevitably involved a degree of subjective judgment and, since no one can read everything in several tons of manuscript material in one brief lifetime, of calculated risk. Furthermore, on occasions my genuine enthusiasm for what has struck me as a job well done, or my disappointment over opportunities missed, may be visible. I do not honestly know whether even a professional historian, fully mindful of his obligation to be impartial, can be intimately concerned with one central subject for thirty years and still avoid some identification with it. Certainly I have felt, from the beginning of my labors, that the story of the Burlington was and is significant (which is not the same thing as saying it was either "good" or "had"); else I would never have stuck to this task as long as I have.

No undertaking of this sort am be the product of a single person's effort. Had it not been for the vision and faith of Ralph Budd, I would never have undertaken this history or-more to the point-have carried it to completion. He saw to it at the outset that I should have unrestricted access to the necessary records, freedom to tell the truth as I saw it, and support, when necessary, for the research and writing; his successor, Harry C. Murphy, confirmed and carried on these policies so essential to an undertaking of this sort. Ralph Budd's thoughtful and knowledgeable comments on the long draft, all of which he read with great care, saved me from countless errors. Yet never once did he even suggest that I alter my independent conclusions.

Scores of other cooperative and informed persons-academic colleagues, writers, graduate students, librarians, members of the Burlington family, and assorted friends-have helped me find elusive material, sent me nuggets from their own research, or read critically parts or all of the various manuscripts; to all of them my hearty thanks and the assurance that I alone am responsible for all the facts and interpretations in this book as well as for whatever shortcomings it may have. I am indebted to many others for their having labored long and hard in the actual preparation of guides to the material and of the many successive drafts and final copy. Finally, I owe much to my family, who have unfailingly buoyed me up with their patience and confidence. The specific contributions of these good people are summarized in "Around the Circle," on pages 583-8.

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