Burlington Northern (BN) formed from the merger of four railways. Success required complex planning and implementation programs. Then the electric-power industry summoned BN to transport immense amounts of low-sulfur coal, and railroading as an adventure began for thousands hired to improve or increase the railroad's capacity, lines, tracks, and fleet size. Soon, BN's lines handled the highest tonnages of any railroad line in the world, past or present. This, the first in a two-volume series, covers this important decade.

With nearly 2,000 diesel locomotives on 29,000 miles of merged lines, until recently the Burlington Northern was the largest U.S. railroad. Photos and descriptions show how four railroads became one, and what happened to their diesel locomotives.