Livingston Anti-Merger Committee

The Livingston Anti-Merger Committee was formed on 4 Dec. 1960 to fight the proposed Burlington Northern merger that included the Northern Pacific Railroad, a primary employer in Livingston, Mont. Among many, hearings were held in Minnesota in 1961 and Montana in 1962 by the Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC). In 1966, the ICC denied authorization of the merger, but in 1967, the ICC reversed that decision and authorized the merger. In 1968, the Justice Dept. the ICC and Burlington Railroad, et al. in District Court. The Supreme Court eventually heard the case and Chief Justice Burger wrote the opinion in Feb. 1970 that finally affirmed the merger. Warren R. McGee (a conductor), as Chairman and Wilbur I. (Webb) Sullivan (an engineer), as Publicity Chairman were the driving forces behind the Livingston Anti-Merger Committee's campaign to thwart the merger.

Warren McGee was a conductor for the Northern Pacific Railroad, a student of railroad history and devoted to his Livingston, Montana community. During the early 1960s, the Interstate Commerce Commission announced plans to grant a merger request by the Northern Pacific Railway Company; the Great Northern Railway Company; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company; Pacific Coast Railroad Company; Portland and Seattle Railway Company and several smaller rail companies to form the Great Northern Pacific and Burlington Lines, Inc. From 1960 through 1970, Warren McGee was Chairman of the Livingston Anti-Merger Committee. The committee was one of many groups formed in the United States in opposition to the merger. The merger was formally applied for in February, 1961 and finally approved in February, 1970. Warren McGee still lives in Livingston, Montana.