Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

In 1996, the Burlington Northern Railroad (BNR) merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF).  After the merger, the new railroad was known as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Corporation, which changed its name to BNSF Railway in 2005. 

BNSF currently operates track formerly owned by the BNR and AT&SF, which is located throughout the Pacific Northwest, and portions of the Midwestern, Southern and Southwestern United States.  The BNSF owns and operates railroad yards in California including a major rail yard in Barstow, California.

Until approximately the mid-1950s, the BNR (as the successor via merger of the Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway), and the AT&SF utilized steam engines to haul their train cars.  Steam engines contained various asbestos-containing materials such as boiler lagging, pipe insulation, cloth, gaskets and brakes.  Most of these products were handled by railroad workers, including boiler makers, laggers, machinists and mechanics during maintenance and repair work performed on the engines in the roundhouse and other repair shops on the railroad premises. 

During the mid to late 1950s, steam engines were replaced by diesel locomotives.  Diesel locomotives contained various asbestos-containing products including pipe insulation, gaskets and brakes.  These products were handled by railroad workers, including machinists, insulators and mechanics during maintenance and repair work performed on the locomotives in the roundhouse and other repair shops on the railroad premises. 

The handling, removal and installation of these asbestos-containing products on steam engines and diesel locomotives caused the release of hazardous levels of airborne asbestos, thereby exposing workers to unsafe levels of asbestos.  Exposure to asbestos can cause serious asbestos-related illnesses, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.  The rights of railroad workers who have sustained injuries caused by asbestos exposure, and other causes, are set forth in the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, codified in 45 U.S.C. section 51.