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Chicago and North Western Railway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   Chicago and North Western Railway
   logo
   System map
   Map of the Chicago and North Western Railway. Black lines are trackage
   now owned by Union Pacific; green lines are trackage now owned by
   Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad; blue lines are now owned by
   other railroads; dotted lines are abandoned.
   Reporting marks CNW, CNWS, CNWZ
   Locale Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,
   North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
   Dates of operation 1865 – 1995
   Successor line Union Pacific
   Track gauge 4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
   Headquarters Chicago, Illinois

   The Chicago and North Western Railway ( AAR reporting marks: CNW, CNWS,
   CNWZ; unofficial abbreviation: C&NW) was a Class I railroad in the
   United States. It was also known as the North Western.

History

   The Chicago and North Western Railway was chartered on June 7, 1859. It
   had purchased the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du
   Lac Railroad five days earlier. On February 15, 1865, it officially
   merged with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, which had been
   chartered on January 16, 1836. Since the Galena & Chicago Union started
   operating in December, 1848, and the Fond du Lac railroad started in
   March, 1855, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad is considered to be
   the origin of the North Western railroad system.

   The North Western had owned a majority of the stock of the Chicago, St.
   Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (Omaha Road) since 1882. On January
   1, 1957, it officially leased the company, and merged it into the North
   Western in 1972. The Omaha Road's main line ran from an interchange
   with the North Western at Elroy, Wisconsin, to the Twin Cities, down to
   Sioux City, Iowa, and then finally to Omaha, Nebraska. The North
   Western picked up several important short railroads during its later
   years. It finalized acquisition of the Litchfield and Madison railroad
   on January 1, 1958. The Litchfield and Madison railroad was a 44-mile
   bridge road from East St. Louis to Litchfield, Illinois. On July 30,
   1968, the North Western acquired two former interurbans – the 36-mile
   Des Moines and Central Iowa Railway (DM&CI), and the 110-mile Fort
   Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway (FDDM&S). The DM&CI gave access
   to the Firestone plant in Des Moines, Iowa, and the FDDM&S provided
   access to gypsum mills in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

   On November 1, 1960, the North Western acquired the rail properties of
   the 1,500-mile Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. In spite of its name,
   it ran only from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Peoria, Illinois. This
   acquisition provided traffic and modern rolling stock, and eliminated
   competition.

   On July 1, 1968, the 1,500 mile (2,400 km) Chicago Great Western
   Railway was merged into the North Western. This railroad went from
   Chicago to Oelwein, Iowa. From there, separate lines went to the Twin
   Cities, Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. A connection from
   Hayfield, Minnesota, to Clarion, Iowa, provided a Twin Cities to Omaha
   main line. The Chicago Great Western duplicated the North Western's
   routes from Chicago to the Twin Cities and Omaha, but went the long
   way. This merger provided access to Kansas City, Missouri, and
   eliminated competition. After abandoning a plan to merge with the
   Milwaukee Road in 1970, Benjamin W. Heineman, who had headed the CNW
   and parent Northwest Industries since 1956, arranged the sale of the
   railroad to its employees in 1972. The words " Employee Owned" were
   part of the company logo in the ensuing period.
   C&NW #8540 at Shawnee, Wyoming.
   Enlarge
   C&NW #8540 at Shawnee, Wyoming.

   After the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (Rock Island) stopped
   operating on March 31, 1980, the North Western won a bidding war with
   the Soo Line for purchase of the roughly 800-mile "Spine Line" from the
   Twin Cities to Kansas City, Missouri, via Des Moines, Iowa. The North
   Western's bid of $93 million was approved on June 20, 1983, by the ICC.
   The line was well-engineered, but because of deferred maintenance on
   the part of the bankrupt Rock Island, a major rehabilitation was
   undertaken in 1984. The North Western then began to abandon the Oelwein
   to Kansas City section of its former Chicago Great Western trackage,
   which duplicated Spine Line service.

   In April, 1995, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
   was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad.

   Chicago and North Western locomotives continued to operate in their
   paint schemes for several years after the merger. As of June 22, 2006,
   only two engines were left in full C&NW paint (C&NW 8646 and 8701), but
   many others were wearing "patch" Union Pacific numbers over their C&NW
   scheme.

   Union Pacific continues to follow its new tradition of releasing
   "Heritage" units to represent the paint schemes of companies absorbed
   by UP. After completion of painting at the Wisconsin & Southern
   Railroad's Horicon, Wisconsin shop, Union Pacific 1995, an EMD SD70ACe
   locomotive painted in a "Heritage" Chicago & North Western paint
   scheme, was unveiled on July 15, 2006, at Ogilvie Transportation Centre
   in Chicago, IL. OTC is the former North Western Station now serving as
   UP's Metra terminus. The unit was then placed in dedicated service on
   the former C&NW main line, paired with the C&NW 8646 and 8701.

Passenger train service

   Chicago and Northwestern operated some notable passenger trains,
   including the City of Los Angeles, City of Denver, and the Challenger.
   All three lines were jointly operated by CNW and the Union Pacific
   Railroad from 1936 until 1955, when poor track conditions on the CNW
   forced UP to switch to the Milwaukee Road for service to Chicago.
   Train No. 107, the Challenger, is led by a Chicago and North Western
   Railway EMD E8 locomotive as it passes east of Ames, Iowa on November
   23, 1954.
   Enlarge
   Train No. 107, the Challenger, is led by a Chicago and North Western
   Railway EMD E8 locomotive as it passes east of Ames, Iowa on November
   23, 1954.

   The CNW's most famous train, the Chicago-Twin Cities 400 was introduced
   in 1935 to compete with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's Zephyrs
   and the Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas. This train was named because it
   traveled the 400 miles between the cities in 400 minutes. CNW was the
   first system to start a high-speed Chicago-Twin Cities schedule because
   it used refurbished instead of new equipment, but in 1939, modernized
   the 400 with new E3A diesel locomotive pairs and streamlined cars.

   CNW eventually renamed the first 400 to the Twin Cities 400 as the CNW
   stuck almost all of its passenger trains with the 400 moniker,
   including the Flambeau 400, Rochester 400, and the Kate Shelley 400.
   CNW ceased running the Twin Cities 400 in 1963, and all intercity
   passenger service on CNW ended with the formation of Amtrak in 1971.

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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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