The Great Northern Railroad

Just one block north of where we live is the Burlington North Santa Fe Railway. It is the second largest railroad company currently in the United States. This is the rail line that was the Great Northern Railway, one of the largest and most influential lines in US history, connecting the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest from St Paul to Seattle. It became the Burlington Northern Railroad when the Northern Pacific Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and a few others merged. It then became the Burlington North Santa Fe when it merged with the Santa Fe Railroad 13 years ago.

The largest railroad company in the United States is Union Pacific, which has a railroad line just a few blocks south. This line close to our home was originally the famous Chicago and North Western Railway, which was purchased by Union Pacific 13 years ago.

Just a few blocks to the West is the Soo Line, which is the United States branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway to serve Chicago.

Trains are an essential part of the development and history of our country. I believe that they should also be considered as a more dependable and energy efficient method of transcontinental transportation as gas prices continue to rise. Europe uses a very efficient train system with trains that travel at speeds of 186 mph, and you don't loose all of the time on take off, landing, taxiing, travelling to 1 or 2 cities completely out of the way of the final destination, weather delays, and a multitude of other standard airplane delays. Just consider it.