Answering the Call: BNSF’s 2020 Annual Review

BNSF’s 2020 Annual Review is now available online. This year’s report is fully digital and details how BNSF answered the call to operate safely, serve its customers, protect the environment and value people and communities. In a year of pandemic and crisis, people continued to rely on the delivery of essential goods, perhaps even more

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BNSF Predecessors Played a Key Role in Shaping America’s National Parks

U.S. National Parks are home to some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world, but the history these protected lands share with U.S. railroads may be surprising. As railroads expanded passenger service westward in the 19th and 20th centuries, they enticed visitors to travel to these then unknown destinations. Expeditions had already revealed the

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Environmental Protection on Track with BNSF Railway

Rail is the most sustainable way to move goods long distances over land, and BNSF is a recognized leader. Here are just a few ways BNSF makes sure its railroad is part of the solution for a cleaner, healthier planet: Cleaner, Smarter Machines: No other form of land freight transportation is more fuel- and resource-efficient

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BNSF’s Geo Cars Make Tracks Even Safer

BNSF takes every precaution to make sure that all track components including rail, crossties, spikes, bolts and plates and even the roadbed underlying the track are stable and dependable. One of the technologies used for inspecting tracks is its fleet of geometry cars, better known as “geo cars.” There are two types: the traditional geometry

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BNSF Employee Spotlight: Israel Salazar

Across its network, BNSF is grappling with an overwhelming increase in homeless encampments along the tracks and on railroad property. In response, BNSF created a community liaison position focused solely on addressing system-wide homeless encampments on BNSF tracks. Israel Salazar, a 26-year employee and BNSF Deputy Police Chief, has been the community liaison since 2017.

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New Bridge Work Continues in Sandpoint, Idaho

Work continues on pile installation for the new bridge over Lake Pend Oreille. In the coming two months, expect to see continued pile installation, permanent pile bracing installation, and the first pier caps set. The new Bridge Street rail bridge is completed, and no more road closures are planned for this access to City Beach. Steel

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Rail Fan Highlight: Andrea Capiola Captures the Glory of Trains

Andrea Capiola, an archaeologist in Coupeville, WA, credits her passion for trains with getting her through a very difficult period in her life. She has loved trains since she was a child watching her brother build his model railroad. As an adult, Capiola started photographing trains during a trip through western Washington. Then a year

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BNSF Employee Spotlight: Anna Delheimer

When communities want to deliver infrastructure projects that cross, intersect or parallel BNSF’s network in some way, BNSF’s Public Projects team is the point of contact. Manager of Public Projects Anna Delheimer acts as a liaison between public agencies and the railroad for projects in Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Delheimer plays a key role in

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Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Ensuring Access to Art, Wildlife, and History BNSF Railway Foundation contributes an annual grant to the High Desert Museum in Bend, OR. The museum’s 135 acres and more

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Sandpoint Junction Connector Update – April 2021

As we move into spring, construction continues on the Sandpoint Junction Connector and the project remains on schedule. Approximately 75% of the piles in Lake Pend Oreille have been installed. Work for this spring includes continued piling installation across Lake Pend Oreille and pile installation at the new Sand Creek Bridge. The new Bridge Street

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Recognizing the Contributions of Women in the Rail Industry

Women’s History Month, observed in the United States each March since 1987, provides the opportunity to reflect on the contributions of women to our world. Women have been involved in railroading since the 1800s. Some of the first railroad jobs they held were as registered nurses and what was referred to at the time as

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When Temperatures Drop, We Don’t Stop

Mid-February’s arctic outbreak brought a deep freeze to much of the nation. Worse, it was not just one event, but back-to-back winter blasts, including Winter Storm Uri, which delivered blinding white snow driven by high winds, coupled with icy precipitation. Temperatures dropped below zero. Power and water outages across the Midwest and South crushed communities,

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Rehabilitating a Critical Transportation Link: Salmon Bay Rail Bridge

Since the early 1900s, the BNSF Salmon Bay Rail Bridge has enabled freight and passenger trains to cross the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. On average, 30 to 40 trains cross the bridge each day, including Sounder and Amtrak passenger trains and shipments to and from major ports in Washington. BNSF is required by

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Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Providing Virtual Camp for Children with Type 1 Diabetes Each year, the American Diabetes Association hosts in-person summer camps across the country for children with type 1 diabetes.

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BNSF Employee Spotlight: Roger Hsieh

Rail continues to be the most efficient land-based way to move agricultural products and BNSF has partnered with American producers for over 170 years. We met with BNSF’s Agriculture Ombudsman for the Pacific Northwest, Roger Hsieh, to learn more about him and what it takes to make the U.S. farming supply chain one of the

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