10/21/2025
175 YEARS AGO TODAY - OCTOBER 21, 1850
The Aurora Branch Railroad (later the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy) inaugurates service between Aurora and Chicago, via Batavia and Turner Junction (West Chicago). The 12-mile branch railroad connected Aurora to the tracks of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (later Chicago & Northwestern), where it used those tracks and right of way to complete the journey into Chicago. There were two round trips each day.
By 1855, the railroad expanded to become the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (CB & Q). By the 1920s, the railroad had 12,000 miles of track over 14 states, and the Burlington Route adopted the slogan, “Everywhere West.” Today, the railroad is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).
Map – Overton, Richard C., Burlington Route – A History of the Burlington Lines. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 1965