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Here one will be able to view the roster series for Burlington Northern's colorful City trailers and containers, along with the reporting marks of other colorful Burlington Northern rolling stock. More information on Burlington Northern's City Trailers can be found here.
The "3B Trailer" was one of Burlington Northern Intermodal's first attempts
to incorporate and develop the Innovative Intermodal Service theme into its
trailer graphics package. The image that BN tried to create was that of an
innovative group that was interested in new ideas and approaches to working
with customers. The trailer carried the familiar Innovative, Intermodal
Service decal but also included a BN logo with a more modern and progressive
image. The group began to use trailer graphics as a way to convey a message
which was very different than the traditional railroad approach to marking
equipment.
BN and ATSF started a joint separate company in the early 1990's to promote
domestic container service primarily between California and the Southeast
United States. The company was called "America's Transportation Group"
(ATG). A small number of 48' containers were marked as shown to introduce
and promote the program.
Here are two pictures of the Atlanta container that was the feature of
BN's exhibit at the Atlanta Expo in 1991.
Burlington Northern's BN America program generated some interesting
photographs. An industry first was the use of reflective decals on the BN
America containers. In addition, BN was the first railroad to use reflective
decals on its railcars.
Below is great picture of the what came to be known as the "Birthday
Box". These containers celebrated the first anniversary of the BN America
program. This container was part of BN's Atlanta Expo exhibit in the early
1990's and was a very popular image presentation. BN had a lot of fun with
the "Birthday Box".
The appreciation Burlington Northern received from govenors, mayors, city officials, trucking
companies, and railfans regarding the City View Trailers was outstanding.
Attached is a photo which shows just how far reaching the City View Trailer Program went.
The Burlington Northern City View Trailers went remarking from BNZ to Redon (REDZ) and to the Kankakee,
Beaverville, and Southern (KBSZ).
When Burlington Northern acquired the City View Trailers in the mid-1980's and early 1990's, they were leased
from the Greenbrier Capital Corporation, which was a part of the Greenbrier Companies in Portland, Oregon.
Here are photos of the Montana Cityview Trailers that were
completed in December of 1989. The pictures were taken in front of the state
capital in Helena, Montana on December 22, 1989. Burlington Northern had a
lunch with many of the Montana State Government officials including the
Governor at that time, Mr. Stan Stephens. Montana officials were pleased
their "flag" would be seen around the United States and were pleased
with all the free publicity.
Arrangements were made to take one of the Montana trailers to New York for
a picture session. The picture with the World Trade Center in the
background is a favorite and an enlarged picture like this was
placed in the capital building in Helena. In order to do the pictures,
Burlington Northern had to get a permit for Liberty Island and rented a
crane for the cameraman. Everything had to be set up in the afternoon of the
prior day that the picture session. However, the day was so clear and calm
that BN decided to go ahead with the pictures a day early. It was a good
thing BN did because the next day was overcast and the New York skyline
could not be seen. BN got a great picture!
The ten Montana Cityview trailers were controlled for several months by the
Burlington Northern Hub Manager at Billings. His name was John Ackerman and
he decided to allow the trailers to be used only within the state for
Montana. The reaction from the truckers that pulled the trailers and the
public was very positive.
This graphics package was one of the first attempts to increase trailer
utilization during the severe trailer shortage period in the late 1980s.
Railroads across the nation were short of trailers. In addition to adding
several thousand trailers to its fleet, BN tried to promote good equipment
utilization by reminding its customers that they could help the situation by
improving their handling of equipment . The "wise old owl" had a lot of
things to say about the equipment shortage. In addition to sign in this
picture, another sign said "Equipment shortage causing a disaster? Why not
help by loading it faster". These graphics were put on random BN trailers
at the BN Hub Center in Irving, Texas.
BN Intermodal started a program that included the Power Pac equipment which
produced electricity to operate nine refrigerator containers in a 5 unit
well car. The Power Pac was placed in the bottom of the middle car of a 5
car unit car and "cords" were extended to the refrigerator units of the
other containers. The Power Pac was a converted 40 ft ocean container and
contained two diesel engines. One engine was used as the primary power
source and the other engine was used as a back up in case of an engine
failure. Refrigerated container service was offered from Seattle to Chicago.
The program was discontinued shortly after the BN/ATSF merger in 1995.
Burlington Northern's BN America Program generated some interesting photographs. An industry first
was the use of reflective decals on the BN America containers. In addition, BN was the first railroad
to use reflective decals on its railcars.
Attached is a photo which shows the reflective effect.
The railroad industry and intermodal departments in the mid-1980's were really getting a black eye because of
chronic trailer shortages and inconsistent service. Burlington Northern took a bold step in acquiring a substantial
number of new trailers.
A major partner in this effort was Transamerica Transportation Services. Not only did BN want to acquire the
trailer, but BN also wanted its customers to know it was trying to solve industry problems jointly with a major
capital supplier, found within Transamerica Transportation Services.
Burlington Northern acquired 1,000 of the state of the art trailers from Transamerica. The addition of the trailers
received a lot of attention in the trade publications and represented a substantial commitment by Burlington Northern. The
joint advertising was a first in the industry, and not duplicated since.
The Burlington Northern Intermodal Department thought the graphics were great and contained the message that BN was
jointly addressing our customer base. The trailer graphics contained the famous Transamerica Tower in San Francisco, CA,
and confirms their status as a major supplier of capital to the industry. Burlington Northern was sending a message
that it was customer-oriented, and intended to be Number #1 in the Intermodal Industry.
The third photo shows the President of Transamerica and the Group Vice President of posing in front of one of
these trailers in downtown Ft. Worth, TX.
In addition to the City View Trailers, there were a number of other decal
programs that took advantage of the public exposure railroad containers and
trailers have through-out North America. One such program was the "We Care
for Kids" program which put a public service message for teens on the side
of a container along with a "hot line" for teens to call for help. The
container was also a feature in the Burlington Northern's exhibit at the
Atlanta Expo and received a lot of favorable comments. Below are pictures of the
container and the BN Announcement about the program.
The story behind this container is that it was a
last minute promotion. BN could not get the schedules of the Battle Creek
Business Leaders, City Leaders, and its own executives to match for a promotion.
However, at the last minute, BN Intermodal Vice President Bob Ingram came to
Roger Simon, bringing news the meeting was on, and was to happen in three
days time. There was much discussion on the ideas for the graphics for
the container, however Mr. Simon had formulated an idea, and the meeting
ended.
The Burlington Northern executives went to Battle Creek, MI for the Monday
morning meeting, and over breakfast at the Kellogg Arena, told city leaders
that it was impossible to obtain a container with graphics for the promotion
show.
However, before the breakfast was over, the "Welcome Aboard" container was
safely delivered into the Arena parking lot, and the container and its
rail overtones graphics were well received, as they portrayed the welcoming of
the Battle Creek, MI area to the BN America network.
Mr. Simon and his team worked all weekend on the container, and formulated the
plan which delivered the container from Chicago, IL to Battle Creek, Mi for
the Monday morning meeting - on time!
Roger Simon was the gentleman responsible for creating, as well as arranging the
installation, of the colorful graphics found on Burlington Northern's City View Trailers.
The graphics were a highlight within the rail industry, however the other graphic
trailers and containers have won national awards.
Burlington Northern also used the program to mark special occasions. An example was
the Welcome Aboard container which was used at Battle Creek, MI, when the
location became part of the BN America Network.
QStation would like to thank Mr. Simon for his help in the creation of this
website, as if it were not for his aid, this site would not be possible.
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