Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Building Strong Communities Throughout the World and Close to Home United Way advances the common good in communities across the world. The organization focuses on education, income and health—the

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BNSF Employee Spotlight

BNSF operates a vast network of 32,500 miles of track in 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Moving goods safely means keeping all of those miles of track and other rail structures like bridges in working order, even in the face of wildfires. To do this, BNSF regularly conducts extensive inspections across its network.

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BNSF’s Testing Lab Helps Railroad Choose the Right Materials for the Job

We all remember the beginning of COVID shutdowns and empty store shelves last year. Cleaning and disinfecting products were some of the hardest to find. Like most Americans, team BNSF had to change course quickly to secure an adequate supply of those elusive items. Central to BNSF’s pivot was the Technical Research & Development (TR&D)

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Sounding the Horn for Grade-Crossing Safety

Thanks to a focus on education, enforcement and engineering, the number of train/motor vehicle collisions in the U.S. has fallen 84 percent – from a 1972 high of about 12,000 annual incidents to approximately 1,900 in 2020. But there are still too many incidents. In the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a

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Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Protecting Montana Lands for Agriculture, Wildlife, and Open The Montana Land Reliance partners with private landowners to permanently protect agricultural lands, fish and wildlife habitat and open space.

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PNWER Summit Returns for 2021

BNSF is proud to be a sponsor of Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s (PNWER) 2021 Annual Summit which will take place August 15-19 in Big Sky, Montana. Postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, the PNWER Annual Summit returns in 2021 as the leading forum where people in the policy and business come together to solve

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Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Giving the Gift of Music to Southeast Wyoming The Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra that has been serving the city of Cheyenne and southeast Wyoming for

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BNSF Firefighting Trains Help Stop Wildfires

BNSF trains operate across much of the West, including areas where high winds and drought conditions can result in wildfires on or near tracks. BNSF takes steps to prevent fires but they often occur from other sources like lightning strikes, trespassers, etc., and the sooner they’re put out, the sooner train service can get back

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A is for Articulated: Learn the Railroad ABCs

Did you know the term “beans” on the railroad means it’s time to eat? Ever heard of a gandy dancer? What’s a mother and slug? Did you know that a shoo-fly is a railroad term for a by-pass track? The rail industry has its own unique vernacular that has developed over nearly 200 years and

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BNSF Identifies Two New Rail-served Sites for Development

One way BNSF works to ensure the right solution is offered to each customer is by scouting out potential sites for development in advance of customer inquiries. BNSF’s Site Certification Program identifies optimal rail-served sites and conducts in-depth reviews of ten economic development criteria to determine if the site meets BNSF’s stringent readiness standards. BNSF

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Glacier Rail Park Dream Has Come to Fruition

The last of Glacier Rail Park’s 44 acres have been sold to Northern Plastics. The industrial park with rail service is now full just three years after the first tenants began moving in. Located on the perimeter of Kalispell’s northeastern city limits, the Glacier Rail Park is located in BNSF’s Great Northern Corridor, has immediate

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Supporting Our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include: Protecting Big Game Migration Corridors The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is dedicated to sustaining, restoring and enhancing the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats for current

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Detectors Help BNSF Respond to Rock and Mud Slides, Avalanches and Floods

As a western railroad, BNSF operates trains in rough and remote terrain, including mountains, canyons and deserts. Rocks—some as big as a small car—can occasionally roll onto the tracks. And while BNSF monitors weather conditions and regularly conducts inspections to ensure the integrity of its network, track-condition detectors provide another layer of safety. Trackside detectors

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