Mr. Buffett, tear down this wall!

BNSF Railway has an identity problem. If you ask, as I did, a dozen strangers on the sidewalks of Washington, D.C., what BNSF Railway means, you will get just quizzical stares. You see, one thing a professional writer learns early on is that words, and names, have meaning. They inspire (“rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air!”), they repel (“serpent”), they tickle your taste buds (See’s Candies), they inspire you to dreams of great wealth (Apple Computer and Berkshire Hathaway), and they leave you clueless (Ameritas). Bingo if you can imagine, without consulting Google, what Ameritas does. Until 1988, Ameritas was insurance company Bankers Life of Nebraska. The name conjures oak-paneled board rooms and rock-solid finances. Then I suppose a consulting company made the company ashamed of itself, and you got Ameritas. I would buy a hamburger from an Ameritas but never life insurance.

You and I could name a hundred companies that threw away their heritages for meaningless names or collections of capital letters: KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), 3M (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing), Exxon (Standard Oil), IHOP (International House of Pancakes), Altria (Philip Morris), UAL (United Air Lines and later Allegis), CN (Canadian National).

I question what they got for it. At the very least, a name should tell you what a company does or suggest a reason why you should trust it. I cannot imagine Union Pacific adopting the name UP or Americarail. Its name stands for a proud heritage that goes back 151 years. You may know what CSX stands for (Chessie System + Seaboard System, merged in 1986, plus an X suggesting diversification beyond railroads). It makes sense only to insiders and railroad historians.

As a name, BNSF Railway (until January 2005, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) is so far removed from the reality of America’s day to day life that it really stands for nothing. And therein lies the identity problem confronting this company, a problem that one day it will have to confront.

I spent last week alongside the BNSF Railway, between Carrollton, Mo., and Vaughn, N.M. Until 1995 this was the Santa Fe Railway, and nobody had to explain what that name meant. It was the railroad founded by Cyrus K. Holliday, nurtured by William Barstow Strong and Edward Ripley, and brought to greatness in my lifetime by Fred Gurley, John Shedd Reed, and Robert Krebs. Every hamlet I drove through seemed to have a Santa Fe Street. It was the railroad of Harvey Houses, Super Chiefs and the Super C. The brand of the Santa Fe Railway (or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, if you will) was emblazoned across the American West.

I can understand why Burlington Northern plus Santa Fe became Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway in 1995. It was a mouthful, but politically necessary to get a merger of the two railroads launched without blue-versus-red internal warfare. What I cannot understand is the bastardization of that name to simply BNSF Railway.

Here is the official explanation, given by Matt Rose, the chief executive officer, in a press release in 2005: “During the 10 years since the merger that created BNSF, much has changed in the railroad landscape. BNSF has identified itself as progressive, vital, approachable, and resourceful — a strong part of the global transportation network. As we look to the future, we believe that our identity should reflect those core values. We are excited about this new identity as we believe it reflects our future as a leader in transportation service and innovation . . .”

Forgive me if I don’t finish the quote, because it just gets worse. Matt, what were you thinking? By this way of reasoning, Rose should be telling his boss, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, that to be modern and hip, the parent company should become BH or maybe BH Holdings. By the same way of thinking that got us BNSF Railway, Berkshire subsidiary See’s Candies would become SC Sweets and its retailer Nebraska Furniture Mart simply NFM Home Store. Stupid, right? Yes, of course. So why are we in the ninth year of a corporate name like BNSF Railway? Even as he was buying that part of the railroad Berkshire Hathaway didn’t already own, Buffett expressed to Rose confusion over what to call it.

I am always being asked the biggest challenge facing railroads during the next decade. There is only one challenge: continuing to be financially successful while keeping the government’s camel out of their tents. There is a huge political assault being made on railroads today by certain shippers. They scream about confiscatory freight rates and demand reregulation.

The point I’m coming to is that railroads need all the public support they can get, and you don’t foster such support when you make yourself as remote as you possibly can from the public. BNSF Railway=remote.

I have a simple suggestion: Give BNSF Railway a real name again. Berkshire’s vice chairman, Charles Munger, referred to it at the holding company’s annual meeting this spring as “Burlington Northern.”  I have no problem with that. Unlike BNSF Railway, Burlington Northern stands for something. Burlington Route works, too. Better yet, rechristen the property the Santa Fe Railway. This is a name that still creates goose bumps. For 136 years it built the best brand in the history of American railroading. Why just throw it away? Mr. Buffett, tear down this wall of injustice and give your railroad back its identity.