page_title: Burlington and Northwestern Railway
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Burlington and Northwestern Railway / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: Burlington and Western Railway Locomotive #5 on the dual-gauge mainline of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern pulling a northbound train headed by 2 standard-gauge cars, a Minneapols and St. Louis box car and a Burlington and Western stock car. Both cars are mounted on narrow-gauge trucks. Locomotive #5 is a 2-6-0 built by Grant Locomotive Works and renumbered 55 around the time of this photo. The track at this point is on a timber trestle over Dry Branch Creek, with new stone abutments for a 110 foot two-span bridge under construction and new fill behind the abutments. The next bridge up the line is very similar and dated 1898; this photo was probably taken that summer. Note: This image has been edited to remove numerous speckles from the sky and a few scratches.
context_page_description: The Burlington and Northwestern Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad system in Iowa that operated during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It connected Burlington, Iowa with branches to Washington and Oskaloosa, Iowa. Incorporated in 1875 as the Burlington and Northwestern Narrow Gauge Railway Company, it began carrying traffic in 1876, when it also dropped 'narrow gauge' from its corporate name. The line reached Washington in 1880, operating over 52.5 miles of track. In 1881, the Burlington and Western Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was formed to connect the line to Oskaloosa, completed in 1883. For two decades, both lines were operated as a single system, until on June 20, 1902, the system was widened to standard gauge and the B&NW was adsorbed by the B&W. Later that year, the system was leased to the CB&Q, and in 1903, the entire system was deeded to the CB&Q.
  The B&NW-B&W system was one of only two narrow-gauge lines in Iowa to survive into the 20th Century. Only the Bellevue and Cascade lasted longer.
context_section_description: The Burlington and North Western had a small roster.  Mixed trains were the rule; in 1881, the average train had 7 freight cars and 2 passenger cars.  As of 1880, the B&NW owned 3 locomotives (one newly purchased), 3 passenger cars, 2 mail/baggage combines, 39 boxcars and 11 flatcars.  The heaviest locomotive weighed only 20.35 tons, and the heaviest passenger car weighed 10.25 tons.  By 1884, the count of boxcars (including stock cars) had increased to 52 and the number of flatcars (including coal cars) had increased to 21.  The line also had 2 cabooses, a necessity because none of the equipment was equipped with automatic brakes.  All passenger equipment was equipped with Miller Platforms and couplers.  By 1892, the line had 2 passenger, 2 freight, and 1 switch engine, 3 first-class passenger cars, 3 combines, 1 baggage/express car, 101 box cars, 6 stock cars, and 8 flat cars.  Link and pin coupleres were still in use, but air brakes were in use.
  The Burlington and Western's roster was equally modest.  In 1884, it had 3 locomotives, the heaviest weighing 22 tons, 2 passenger cars, 2 baggage cars (including mail cars), 70 boxcars, 20 stock cars, 15 flatcars and 15 coal cars.  As with the B&NW, no automatic brakes were in use, and passenger equipment used Miller Platforms.  By 1892, the line had 2 passenger and 2 freight locomotives, 2 first-class passenger cars, 2 combines, 2 baggage/express cars, 115 boxcars, 22 stock cars, 74 flat cars and 55 coal cars.  Coupling and braking systems matched those of the B&NW.
  In February 1885, the B&NW engine house burned, destroying engine number 1.  The B&NW purchased a replacement from the Denver, Utah and Pacific, a 2-8-6T Mason Bogie built in 1882.  This became the new number 1 on the line, renumbered 11 in 1889.  This was the largest locomotive used on these lines.
  The problem of interchanging freight across the break of gauge to standard gauge lines was eventually solved by truck exchange.  Incoming standard gauge cars were lifted off of their trucks using hydraulic jacks so that narrow gauge trucks could be rolled in.  The reverse procedure was used for outgoing freight, so long as it was on cars that were compatible with standard gauge requirements.  Truck exchange was not confined to freight cars; for example, the general manager's business car was transferred to standard gauge trucks for his return home after the gauge was widened.
caption: A northbound B&W train crossing Dry Branch Creek on the BCR&N mainline circa 1898.  Two standard-gauge cars riding on narrow-gauge trucks head the train.
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