The Atchison, Lincoln and Columbus Railroad was initially authorized to build from the terminus point of the Atchison and Nebraska Railroad

Atchison and Nebraska Railroad

The Atchison and Nebraska Railroad was a railroad company in the State of Kansas, United States.It was initially chartered on December 8, 1865, as the Atchison and Nebraska City Railroad but "City" was dropped from the name when it was formally organized in 1869...

, which was at the Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 and Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 border North of White Cloud, Kansas

White Cloud, Kansas

White Cloud is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, United States. It was named for James White Cloud, son of Chief White Cloud of the Iowa Tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 176. White Cloud is the seat of government for the Iowa Reservation of Kansas and Nebraska...

, to Columbus, Nebraska

Columbus, Nebraska

Columbus is a city in east central Nebraska, United States. Its population was 22,111 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Platte County.-Pre-settlement history:...

 by way of Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska

The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

. Work began in 1871 and the Atchison and Nebraska Railroad

Atchison and Nebraska Railroad

The Atchison and Nebraska Railroad was a railroad company in the State of Kansas, United States.It was initially chartered on December 8, 1865, as the Atchison and Nebraska City Railroad but "City" was dropped from the name when it was formally organized in 1869...

 absorbed the Atchison, Lincoln and Columbus Railroad on November 3, 1871. The railroad reached Lincoln by 1872. In January 1880, the railroad was purchased by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad

Burlington and Missouri River Railroad

The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was an American railroad company incorporated in Iowa in 1852, with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. It was developed to build a railroad across the state of Iowa and began operations in 1856...

 which was itself had been purchased Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...

in 1872.