Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, 1882

The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad (B&MR) or sometimes (B&M) was an American railroad company incorporated in

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Iowa

in 1852, with

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. It was developed to build a railroad across the state of Iowa and began operations in 1856. It was acquired by the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colora ...

in 1872, and kept serving as its subsidiary.

History

Burlington and Missouri River Railroad locomotive (1886)

Burlington Missouri River Railroad Burlington stock certificate

Burlington Missouri River Railroad Burlington world

The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was incorporated in Burlington,

in 1852. It commenced operations on January 1, 1856 with only a few miles of track. In 1857 it connected to Ottumwa, followed by

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in 1868. It finally reached the

Missouri River The Missouri River is the longest river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its ...

in November 1859. It used wood-burning locomotives and wooden passenger cars. After the

(CB&Q) finished a bridge crossing the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and b ...

at Burlington, it connected to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. By 1868 the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad operated 13 locomotives and 429 cars, mostly freight, with net earnings of $299,850 in 1867. After the interest on loans, this meant a total

net profit In business Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). Simply put, it is "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a busin ...

of $6,749. A sub-branch of the railroad was founded in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * The State (newspaper), ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper ...

in 1869, with rails first entering the state in 1870 via

Plattsmouth Plattsmouth is a city and county seat of Cass County, Nebraska, Cass County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,502 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed the mouth of the Platte R ...

. That summer, the railroad reached

Lincoln

, the recently designated state capital. It later continued to lay rails westward and eventually joining with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. state In the , a state is a , of which there are curre ...

on September 3, 1872 at Kearney; this had the effect of linking traffic from southern Nebraska to the rest of the continent. That same year it began advertising "millions of acres of cheap land" as an incentive to prospective settlers to Iowa and Nebraska. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was acquired by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1872. At the time, it had begun laying tracks to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital Capital most commonly refers to: * Capital letter Letter case (or just case) is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more forma ...

Denver

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; this line was finished by the CB&Q ten years later. After being acquired by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad served as its subsidiary, operating several lines in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is a small and isolated mountain range A mountain range is a series of mountains ranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or ...

, including those acquired when Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad took over the Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad in 1901.

History

See also

References

Further reading