The Cameron connector is a section of track built in 1995–1996 near Cameron, Illinois, that connects the former Burlington Northern Railroad and the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway tracks, both which are now part of the BNSF Railway.
In 1854, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) arrived in the town of Galesburg, Illinois,[1] nine miles northeast of Cameron, followed by the Santa Fe Railway in the second half of the 1880s.
The two railroads had two separate stations in Galesburg, with the Burlington station, which serviced trains such as the Nebraska Zephyr, Denver Zephyr and California Zephyr, being located on Seminary St. and the Santa Fe station, which serviced trains including the Super Chief and El Capitan, being located a few blocks northwest on North Broad Street.
With the anticipated Burlington Northern and Santa Fe merger, it became necessary to connect the BN's Ottumwa Subdivision to the Santa Fe's Chillicothe Subdivision, the latter of which became part of the BNSF's Southern Transcon Route.
The connector has resulted in a direct connection between the BNSF rail yard in Galesburg to the Southern Transcon.