Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records - Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, 1850-1918

Deposit of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Company, 1943, with subsequent additions, 1948-onward. Ownership transferred to Newberry Library by Burlington Northern Company, 1975.

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Martha Briggs, Alison Hinderliter, Lisa Janssen, Kelly Kress, Emma Martin, Andrew Olofsson, and Pamela Olson, 2014.

The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska (B&MRR-Neb), was the main line of the CB&Q across Nebraska. The road was incorporated in 1869, taking over all Nebraska property of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Iowa, as well as the Nebraksa land grant given to the B&MRR-Iowa in 1864. Construction to Plattsmouth begun by the B&MRR-Iowa was continued to Lincoln and other points in eastern Nebraska in the early 1870s. In 1972, the B&MRR-Nebraska completed construction to Kearney Junction to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad providing a link to the west coast. The company consolidated with CB&Q in 1880, though operated until the B&MRR-Nebraska name as a subsidiary for a number of years after.

Correspondence, contracts, financial records, and other materials related to the incorporation and operation of the B&MRR-Nebraska, and its consolidation with CB&Q. Also includes a Decade Subject File subgroup, organized similarly to the Decade Subject Files in Record Group 33, but containing materials specific to the B&MRR-Nebraska.

The two Correspondence subgroups contain incoming and outgoing letters between officials of the B&MRR-Nebraska, including J. W. Brooks, C. E. Perkins, G. W. Holdredge, George Tyson, and others.Content includes finances, expansion, personnel, consolidation, and other railroad operations and general business. The Records and Contracts subgroup contains Annual Reports, corporate records, contracts for construction, agreements with other roads, and circulars. The Decade File subgroup contains three series containing materials from the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s, orgainized in a similar way as Record Group 33, including Statements, Equipement, Personnel, Legal, Contracts, New Lines, and Miscellanous. There is extensive documentation of the connection at Kearney Junction with Union Pacific in the Decade Files. The Auditor's Office subgroup contains ledgers, journals, cash books, statements, and other materials from the auditor's office, primarily related to construction but also car service, freight, and personel. The final two Securities subgroups are ledgers and papers related to stocks and bonds.

Land Department papers for the B&MRR-Nebraska are found in Record Group 7, Subgroup 76.

Forms part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records.

This finding aid supersedes the Guide to the Burlington Archives in the Newberry Library, 1851-1901 (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1949), and incorporates subsequent additions to the company records. Certain materials have been deaccessioned and donated to the Burlington Route Historical Society; see curator for details.

Papers are organized in the following subgroups:

Title Box Subgroup 6: Correspondence by individuals, 1855-1901 Boxes 1-44, Volumes +1-+10 Subgroup 61: General Correspondence, 1873-1902 Boxes 44-56 Subgroup 62: Records, Contracts, 1850-1918 Boxes 57-68, Volumes +1-+7 Subgroup 63: Decade Subject File, 1869-1911 Boxes 69-91, Volumes +1-+49 Subgroup 66: Auditor's Office, 1863-1907 Boxes 92-120, Volumes +1-+51 Subgroup 67: Securities: Bonds, 1864-1918 Boxes 121-124, Volumes +1-+2 Subgroup 68: Securities: Stocks, 1869-1912 Boxes 124, Volumes +1-+2

• Names
  • Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
  • Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.
• Subject
  • Chicago
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
  • Railroads
  • Railroads -- Illinois
  • Railroads -- Management
  • Railroads -- Nebraska
• Geographic CoverageNebraska