Burlington Route Historical Society Meetings

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The Registration for the
2026 Spring Meeting is now open.

BRHS 2026 Spring Meet

May 2, 2026
At Ottawa, Illiinois

The Meet Flyer is here.

The meet hotel will be will be:
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
2850 Columbus Street
Ottawa, IL 61350

The Meet will be held at the
Kinghts of Columbus Banquet Hall
401 W Main Street
Ottawa, IL 61350

Attention: There will not be an online registration option this year. If you'd prefer to pay by debit or credit card (or even PayPal), do this, complete the registration form mailed to you (or download and complete the one here), then send an email to  registration@burlingtonroute.org stating you wish to pay in that manner and include the total amount from your completed form. When the registrars receive your email, they will then email the invoice. Once you receive the invoice in your inbox, proceed to pay.


BRHS 2026 Annual Meet
and Business Meeting

Burlington, Iowa
September 10-12, 2026

The meet hotel will be will be:
Hampton Inn & Suites
 3001 Winegard Dr
Burlington, IA 52601

Phone: (319) 237-0700
The block name is “ BRHS Meet”
The online link for reservations:
https://tinyurl.com/Hampton-2026-Meet

We have blocked 40 rooms – 14 King rooms and
14 double Queen rooms at $125 per night,
• Free hot breakfast offered daily
• Free high-speed and Wireless Internet access
in the lobby and all guestrooms
• Guests have the option to earn both
Hilton Honors points & airline miles.

The Meet will be held at the
Catfish Bend Convention & Event Center
Attached to the Hampton Inn and the
Catfixh Bend Casino



Friday we’re planning a bus tour of the depots in southeast Iowa, a possible model railroad club open house Friday night, and the usual Saturday activities.
Amtrak’s California Zephyr serves Burlington twice a day, the eastbound from points west presently scheduled at 10:28 a.m., and the westbound from Chicago at 5:34 p.m. Plans are to have a shuttle to meet those arriving and departing via the Zephyr.
Specific details of the Friday trip will be shared here once things are finalized.

Meet Model and Photo Display Rules & Forms
The BRHS Board of Directors have elected to no longer hold modeling and photography contests due to the issues that have occured surrounding them.

Instead, they have changed them to displays, with only a popular vote for Best of Show, one for models and the other for photographs. View the rules using the links on the right.


Model Display Rules

Photo Display Rules

(Both are PFD files)


# # #

FOBN Herald
Click here for the FOBNR Convention web site

Each year the FOBNR holds a convention and membership meeting at some location on the BN/BNSF system. The convention includes tours of local BN/BNSF facilities (if there are any in the area), a display of BN historical information and items, HO and N-scale operating layouts, tours of local layouts, railfanning opportunities, a banquet with a speaker (usually a local BNSF official), and a board meeting.

Fort Worth, Texas

Date: Wednesday June 18th
through Saturday 21st

Planning is underway.
Stay tuned for more information.

# # #

Previous BRHS Meetings and Locations

Year Spring Meet Location Attendance Annual Meet Location Attendance
1980     Hillside, IL 23
1981     Galesburg, IL 37
1982     Hillside, IL  
1983 Red Oak, IA 50 Burlington, IA 103
1984     Lincoln, NE 76
1985     Aurora, IL 102
1986     Denver, CO 69
1987     Quincy, IL  
1988 Aurora, IL 40 La Crosse, WI 107
1989 Aurora, IL 108 Omaha, NE 106
1990 Aurora, IL 107 St. Paul, MN 110
1991 Aurora, IL 132 St. Louis, MO 152
1992 Aurora, IL 141 Willowbrook, IL 189
1993 Aurora, IL 115 Galesburg, IL 172
1994 Aurora, IL 100 Kansas City, MO 131
1995 Des Moines, IA 430 Rockford, IL 180
1996 La Grange, IL 152 Denver, CO 148
1997 La Grange, IL 190 Lincoln, NE 155
1998 La Grange, IL 182 Deadwood, SD 124
1999 Burlington, IA   Aurora, IL 230
2000 Rochelle, IL 157 Ft. Worth, TX 227(Q 107)
2001 Mendota, IL 220 Paducah, KY 80
2002 Streator, IL 225 St. Louis, MO 135
2003 Mendota, IL 180 St. Paul, MN 95
2004 Oregon, IL 181 Galesburg, IL 130
2005 Moline, IL 195 Dubuque, IA 205 (Q 143)
2006 Streator, IL 210 Grand Island, NE 76
2007 Creston, IA 70 Kansas City, KS 85
2008 Oregon, IL 115 Macomb, IL 58
2009 West Chicago,IL 80 Rockford, IL 100
2010 Streator, IL 144 Geneva, IL 58
2011 Batavia, IL 110 Galesburg, IL 90
2012 Batavia, IL 100 St. Paul, MN 65
2013 Batavia, IL 120 Mendota, IL 97
2013 Billings, MT --> Joint Meet with the NP Railway Historical Assn. 17
2014 Batavia, IL 105 Rock Island, IL 95
2015 Batavia, IL 125 North Platte, NE 61
2016 Batavia, IL 135 La Crosse, WI 118
2017 Batavia, IL 128 Rochelle, IL 98
2018 Batavia, IL 132 Quincy, IL 114
2019 Yorkville, IL 111 Sandwich, IL 95
2020 Golden, CO Postponed Duluth, MN Postponed to 2022
2021 Yorkville, IL Canceled St. Louis, MO 198
2022 Sheridan, IL 85 Duluth, MN 83
2023 Peoria, IL (Morton, IL) 90 Omaha, NE 79
2024 Savanna, IL 101 Mendota, IL 109
2025 Batavia, IL 85 Marion, IL 113
2026 Ottawa, IL   Burlington, IA  
2027        

 

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