Countdown to Merger

Santa Fe's Marceline Subdivision

With just six days remaining before Santa Fe was to be merged with the Burlington Northern, Pentrex set out to do something special to mark the occasion. It was decided to document these last few days of Santa Fe's independence by capturing the action along the Marceline Subdivision. Starting at Fort Madison, Iowa, we began a trek that took us across the isolated Missouri hills and river valleys toward Kansas City. Experiencing all types of weather, we had our share of both sunshine and rain as we relentlessly sought out photo locations along the double-tracked line. Step by step, and day by day, we made our way toward Kansas City, arriving there on the afternoon of Santa Fe's last full day, September 21, 1995.

The Marceline Sub traverses some of the most isolated, backwoods territory imaginable for this part of the country. The tracks climb and twist through the scenic rolling hills of northeastern Missouri. Overhead bridges offer excellent views of Santa Fe's hottest trains. The thirty miles of joint operations with Norfolk Southern are viewed as trains from both railroads race across the tangent speedway. On our final day we view the single-tracked Missouri River bridge and head on to Kansas City to reach the end of the Marceline Sub.

Join us as we say good-bye to an old friend and pay tribute to one of America's favorite railroads. The days clicked off one by one and when the trek was complete we'd reached the end of an era on this Countdown to Merger.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• merger
• pentrex
• santa
• fe
• burlington
• northern
• bnsf
• railroad
• train

[OakViewFilms]

I wish Santa FE never merged with Burlington Northern. I miss seeing WarBonnets

[undertakerpitt]

Maybe they should switch back to their old names, and use thier old engines, but still be together

[lotsoftrains123]

back then the way things were going the two companies (AT&SF and BN) probably would have gone bankrupt if they hadn't merged together

[BNSF9250]

@undertakerpitt that would be nice . but they are a buissness for hauling freight, not putting on a show. we were just lucky , that trains looked nicer and sounding better back then.

[CptnHardcore09]

@AVtrainz1998 so thats what the AT in ATSF is...

[southern4501isawesom]

bn and at&sf should have never merged war bonnets were bad ass

[AVtrainz1998]

Hats off to the lost but never forgotten railroad; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe

[wackymac28]

i loved atsf but i love bnsf too, sure atsf was a largely popular railroad way back when but the bnsf is doing very well today,

[amp8852089]

bn an atsf are my favorite railroad of all time but i would have like them to not merge because the bnsf is destroing the legacy of these legends of the railsbeing repainted or scraped atsf will forever be the most beloved railroad of all time.

[jgtrh62]

@SeniorMinch229018 Yes, the memory of Warbonnets and Bluebonnets will likely be around for many years to come, if not for ever. Maybe BNSF will do some Heritage Schemes for both the BN and AT&SF?