Hill purchased an interest in the Northern Pacific in 1896 as the railway endured a period of financial turmoil.

That same year, came the next attempt to merge the railroads with the establishment of the Northern Securities Company, a trust that controlled all three, with Hill serving as president.

The company was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Antitrust Act and in 1904 the Justice Department won in the Supreme Court ruling Northern Securities Co. v. United States.

[5] To further expand the Burlington Northern, a single track was constructed in 1972 into the Powder River Basin to serve various coal mines.

The BN also operated a commuter line inherited from the CB&Q from Aurora, Illinois to Chicago Union Station.

In the 19th century, the United States government distributed land to railroads as a way to open up the American West and the 9,677-foot (2,950 m) peak was granted to the Northern Pacific.

The Burlington Northern traversed the most northerly routes of any railroad in the western United States.

From here the routes continued northwest through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Grand Forks, North Dakota.

From Grand Forks the routes ran west through North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho to Spokane, Washington.

The former Northern Pacific turned southwest towards the Tri-Cities, then northwest to Yakima, Washington, and crossed under the Cascade Range at Stampede Tunnel, descending to the Green River Valley at Auburn, Washington where it connected with existing NP lines from British Columbia to Portland, Oregon.

The Spokane, Portland and Seattle ran southwest to the Tri-Cities, then followed the north bank of the Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington.With the acquisition of the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway the route was extended into the South Central and Southeastern United States.