Precourser to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

The locomotive on the front of this post card is pulling freight near Minneapolis, Minnesota on the Great Northern Railway. The Great Northern Railway was built from several other railroads and has morphed

over the years by being combined with several other railroads. That is why the title of this post says what it says. The information about the Great Northern Railway is taken from this website: https://www.gnrhs.org/gn_history.php The Great Northern Railway was created in September 1889 from several predecessor railroads in Minnesota and eventually stretched from Lake Superior at Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul west through North Dakota, Montana and Northern Idaho to Washington State at Everett and Seattle. Headquarters for the line were located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The line was the culmination of one man's dream, James Jerome Hill, the "Empire Builder" so-called because of his ability to create prosperous business where none previously existed. On March 23rd of this year, I wrote about Mr. Hill’s corporate battle with E. H. Harriman and his control over the Oregon territory through the Union and Southern Pacific Railroads. In 1951 the railway’s system was 8,316 miles in length, its trains carry freight, passengers, mail and express in the area between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. The railway operates in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California, and in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia. The following four railroads merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on March 2, 1970: • Great Northern Railway • Northern Pacific Railway • Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad • Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway In 1996 the Burlington Northern Railroad merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

The picture of the train was taken by Bob Fremming out of Dallas, Wisconsin. In the blog post of August 20, 2020 I mention another Fremming that also likes post cards and trains. And, before that, in the November 16, 2011 post I gave reasons why I think these two people are related. This the back of the post card. Bob Fremming's name and location are what form the line between the address and the correspondence. There is a "5-56" At the top-center of the post card's back. I wonder if that means that this was published in May of 1956???