Most series include a volume of corporate records detailing articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, resolutions, and notice of acquisition or dissolution. Other materials include annual reports, financial statements, correspondence, journals, ledgers, legal papers, contracts, construction statements, equipment reports, and memos. Many series contain materials concerning relations with other roads, and correspondence on the company’s acquisition by CB&Q. Also included are a few non-railroad entities, such as bridge, coal, and construction companies. This record group contains some of the earliest materials in the CB&Q collection, and offers a unique look at the rapid expansion of the railroad, as well as the interconnected relationships between the major players– including James F. Joy, J. M. Forbes, C. E. Perkins, and J. W. Brooks.

Forms part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records.

This finding aid supersedes the Guide to the Burlington Archives in the Newberry Library, 1851-1901 (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1949), and incorporates subsequent additions to the company records. Certain materials have been deaccessioned and donated to the Burlington Route Historical Society; see curator for details.