Book excerpt: Burlington Northern (BN) formed from the merger of four railways. Success required complex planning and implementation programs. Then the electric-power industry summoned BN to transport immense amounts of low-sulfur coal, and railroading as an adventure began for thousands hired to improve or increase the railroad's capacity, lines, tracks, and fleet size. Soon, BN's lines handled the highest tonnages of any railroad line in the world, past or present. This, the first in a two-volume series, covers this important decade.