Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P RR) , was a Class I railroad
that operated in the Midwest and Northwest
of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad
on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names and faced bankruptcy several times in that period. While the railroad does not exist as a separate entity anymore, it is still commemorated in buildings like the historic Milwaukee Road Depot
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
and in railroad hardware still maintained by railfans, such as the Milwaukee Road 261
steam
locomotive
.
to Wauwatosa
, Wisconsin
, and the first passenger train ran on February 25, 1851. As a result of the financial panic of 1857, the M&M went into receivership in 1859, and was purchased by the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien in 1861. In 1867, Alexander Mitchell
combined the M&PdC with the Milwaukee and St. Paul (formerly the LaCrosse and Milwaukee) under the name Milwaukee and St. Paul. Critical to the development and financing of the railroad was the acquisition of significant land grants. Prominent individual investors in the line included Alexander Mitchell, Russell Sage
, Jeremiah Milbank
and William Rockefeller
. In 1874, the name was changed to Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. By 1887, the railroad had lines running through Wisconsin
, Minnesota
, Iowa
, South Dakota
, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
. The corporate headquarters were moved from Milwaukee to the Rand McNally Building
in Chicago
, America's first all-steel framed skyscraper, in 1889 and 1890, with the car and locomotive shops staying in Milwaukee. The company General Offices were later located in Chicago's Railway Exchange building
(built 1904) until 1924, at which time they moved to Chicago Union Station.
of Seattle. Construction began in 1906 and was completed in 1909. The route chosen was to be 18 miles shorter than the shortest competitor's, as well as better grades than some. It was an expensive route, however, since the Milwaukee, receiving few land grants, had to buy most of the land or acquire smaller railroads. In addition, the two main mountain ranges that had to be crossed (the Rockies
and the Cascades) required major civil engineering works and the use of additional locomotive power. The completion of 2,300 miles of railroad through some of the most varied topography in the nation in only three years was a major feat. (It should be noted that original company maps denote five mountain crossings: Belts, Rockies, Bitterroots
, Saddles and Cascades. These are slight misnomers as the 'Belt Mountains' and Bitterroots are part of the Rocky Mountains. In fact, the route did not cross over the Little Belts
or Big Belts
but over the Lenep-Loweth Ridge between the Castle Mountains
and the Crazy Mountains
.)
Some historians question the choice of route, however, since it bypassed some population centers and passed through areas with limited local traffic potential. Much of the line paralleled the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was primarily a long-haul route.
seemed to be the answer, especially with abundant hydroelectric power in the mountains and a ready source of copper
on-line at Anaconda
, Montana. In 1914, electrification began between Harlowton
, Montana and Avery
, Idaho. The first electric train ran in 1915 between Three Forks
and Deer Lodge
, Montana. The system used a 3,000 volt direct-current (DC) overhead line.
In 1917, the board approved the construction of a separate electrified district between Othello
and Tacoma, Washington, extended to Seattle in 1927. The two electrified districts were never connected, but a total of 656 route-miles (1,056 km) of railroad were electrified, making it the largest electrified railroad in the US.
The electrification was successful from an engineering and operational standpoint, but the cost of building the Puget Sound Extension and electrification had cost $257 million (equal to $ today), not the $45 million the road had originally budgeted for reaching the Pacific. The debt load and reduced revenues brought the road to bankruptcy in 1925.
In 1927, the road launched its second edition of the Olympian
as a premier luxury limited passenger train and opened its first railroad-owned tourist hotel, The Gallatin Gateway Inn
in Montana. The railroad was re-organized as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company in January 1928 and officially adopted the familiar trade name The Milwaukee Road.
The company had hardly a chance to make anything of its fresh start before the Great Depression
hit. Despite innovations such as the famous Hiawatha
high-speed trains that reached speeds of over 100 mile per hour, the road again filed for bankruptcy in 1935. The Milwaukee operated under trusteeship until December 1, 1945.
in the mid-1950s, replacing most steam locomotives by 1955 and retiring the last in 1957. Other modernizations included modern freight yards. In association with Union Pacific Railroad
, the Milwaukee took over operations of the "Cities" – the City of Los Angeles
, the City of San Francisco
, the City of Denver
, the City of Portland
, as well as the all-coach Challenger
from the Chicago and North Western Railway
.
, despite the innovative scenic observation cars, was cancelled in 1961, becoming the first visible casualty. The resignation of President John P. Kiley in 1957 and his replacement with the fairly inexperienced William John Quinn
was a pivotal moment; from that point onward, the road's management was fixated on merger with another railroad as the solution to the Milwaukee's problems.
Railroad mergers had to be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission
, however, and in 1969 the ICC effectively blocked the merger with the Chicago and North Western Railway
(C&NW) that the Milwaukee Road had counted on and had been planning for since 1964. The ICC asked for terms that the C&NW was not willing to agree to. The merger of the "Hill Lines"—the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Burlington Route, as well as the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway was approved at around the same time, and the merged Burlington Northern came into being on March 3, 1970, completely surrounding the Milwaukee Road.
. Nothing came of this, nor other attempts to force the Milwaukee into other mergers against the desires of the other participants.
Fortunately for the Milwaukee, the BN merger required opening more markets to competitors, and in 1971-73, the MILW's traffic on its Pacific Extension increased substantially, although the reverse was true on its Midwest lines. The railroad's foothold on transcontinental traffic leaving the Port of Seattle increased so exponentially that the Milwaukee Road held a staggering advantage over BN carrying nearly 80% of the originating traffic along with 50% of the total container traffic leaving the Puget Sound (prior to severe service declines after roughly 1974). The deferred maintenance on the railroad's physical plant, however, which had been building up all through the 1960s as the road attempted to polish its financial appearance for merger, was beginning to cause problems. The road's financial problems were exacerbated by their practice of improving its earnings during that period by selling off its wholly owned cars to financial institutions and leasing them back. The lease charges became steeper and steeper, and more and more cars needed to be sold off in order to pay for the lease payments. The railroad's fleet of cars was becoming older and older because more money was being spent on finance payments for the old cars than on buying new ones. This, in turn, contributed to car shortages that turned away business.
The surveys had found that an investment of $39 million (equal to $ today) could have closed the "gap" between the two electrified districts, bought new locomotives, and upgraded the electrical equipment all along the line. Furthermore, the displaced diesel locomotives could have been used elsewhere and thus reduced the requirement to purchase new, reducing the true cost of the plan to only $18 million. General Electric
even proposed underwriting the financing because of the railroad's financial position.
Rejecting this, the railroad dismantled its electrification just as the 1973 oil crisis
took hold. By 1974, when the electrification was shut down, the electric locomotives operated at half the cost of the diesels that replaced them. Worse, the railroad had to spend $39 million, as much as the GE-sponsored revitalization plan, to buy more diesel locomotives to replace the electrics, and only received $5 million for the copper scrap since prices had fallen.
The badly-maintained track, which was the part of the system most in need of renewal, was never touched.
Circumstances did not get much better after the electrification was dismantled. By 1977, much of the Pacific Extension was under slow orders due to the condition of the track, and transit times had almost tripled. Cars needing repair were being sidelined for lack of money, and locomotives needing major service were being parked. The road filed for bankruptcy for the third time on December 19, 1977.
The bankruptcy resulted in the Milwaukee abandoning the Pacific Extension completely in 1980 and restructuring as a small regional line, which was eventually taken over by the Soo Line Railroad
in 1985. However, the ICC's auditors discovered (too late, as it were) that for some reason the Pacific Extension's expenses had been double-entered during most of the 1970s. Far from the unprofitable boat-anchor the railroad and the bankruptcy trustees said it was, the ICC found that the Pacific Extension had been returning a profit to the railroad even through 1977 and 1978, at which time traffic was severely down due to the road's problems.
In Washington State, the Milwaukee Road right-of-way was acquired by the state, through a quitclaim deed
, and is used as a non-motorized recreational trail called the John Wayne Pioneer Trail
. It is currently managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The corridor is effectively "railbanked" under state legislation that allows for the potential reversion to rail usage in the future along with the creation of an alternative route for a cross-state non-motorized recreational trail.
In the Bitterroot Mountains
between Loop Creek, Idaho and East Portal, Montana, a 14.5-mile (23.3-km) section of the right-of-way was purchased by the USDA Forest Service (see Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company Historic District
). It was made into a bike trail, known as the Route of the Hiawatha Trail.
. , a few locomotives transferred as part of the sale to the Soo Line remain in the Milwaukee's paint scheme, sans Milwaukee Road logos with all lettering painted over. On some of these locomotives, weathering has caused Milwaukee Road lettering to once again become visible.
The Milwaukee Road's Pioneer Limited was one of the first named trains and its colorful Hiawatha trains were among the nation's finest streamliners. The post-World War II Hiawatha trains remain a high water mark for passenger train industrial design.
Starting in November, 1955 the Milwaukee Road assumed joint operation of the Union Pacific's City of Los Angeles
, City of Portland
, City of Denver
, and Challenger
trains as well as the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific City of San Francisco
.
After assuming operation of the UP's services, the Milwaukee Road gradually dropped its orange and maroon paint scheme in favor of UP's Armour yellow, grey, and red, finding the latter easier to keep clean.
The Milwaukee Road's streamlined passenger services are unique in that most of its equipment was built by the railroad at its Milwaukee Menomonee Valley shops including the four generations of Hiawatha equipment introduced in 1933-34, 1935, 1937–38, and 1947-48. Most striking were the "beavertail" observation cars of the 1930s and the "Skytop Lounge" observation cars by industrial designer Brooks Stevens
in the 1940s. Extended "Skytop Lounge" cars were also ordered from Pullman for Olympian Hiawatha service in 1951. The Olympian Hiawatha set was later sold to the Canadian National Railway
.
commemorative stamps featuring five celebrated American passenger trains from the 1930s and 1940s. One of the five stamps featured an image of the Hiawatha
, known as "Fastest Train in America", as it traveled over 100 miles per hour (44.7 m/s) on its daily run connecting Chicago
, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Twin Cities.
was filmed in the Milwaukee Road's yard and shop at Miles City, Montana and on the main line running through the state.
The former Milwaukee Road depot in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin
, was used as the logo of Employers Insurance of Wausau, later known as Wausau Insurance Companies which was later sold to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The logo itself was a combination of the downtown depot, with a backdrop of the community's skyline. The depot still stands to this day, although it's not used as a depot anymore. A replica of the original downtown depot was built at the former Wausau Insurance Companies campus on Wausau's west side.
:Category:Milwaukee Road locomotives
Class I railroad
A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
that operated in the Midwest and Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad
Soo Line Railroad
The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names and faced bankruptcy several times in that period. While the railroad does not exist as a separate entity anymore, it is still commemorated in buildings like the historic Milwaukee Road Depot
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed , now officially named The Depot, is a historic railroad depot in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and in railroad hardware still maintained by railfans, such as the Milwaukee Road 261
Milwaukee Road 261
The Milwaukee Road 261 is a 4-8-4, steam-powered locomotive owned and maintained by a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization known as the Friends of the 261, which runs seasonal train excursions...
steam
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
.
History
The Milwaukee Road appeared as the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad when incorporated in 1847, but soon changed its name to Milwaukee and Mississippi. After three years, the first train ran from MilwaukeeMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
to Wauwatosa
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Wauwatosa is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and was incorporated on May 27, 1897. As of the 2006 census estimate, the city's population was 44,798. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and the first passenger train ran on February 25, 1851. As a result of the financial panic of 1857, the M&M went into receivership in 1859, and was purchased by the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien in 1861. In 1867, Alexander Mitchell
Alexander Mitchell
Alexander Mitchell or Alex Mitchell may refer to:* Alexander Mitchell , blind Irish engineer* Alexander Mitchell , MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1865–1868...
combined the M&PdC with the Milwaukee and St. Paul (formerly the LaCrosse and Milwaukee) under the name Milwaukee and St. Paul. Critical to the development and financing of the railroad was the acquisition of significant land grants. Prominent individual investors in the line included Alexander Mitchell, Russell Sage
Russell Sage
Russell Sage was a financier, railroad executive and Whig politician from New York, United States. As a frequent partner of Jay Gould in various transactions, he amassed a fortune, which passed to his second wife, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, when he died...
, Jeremiah Milbank
Jeremiah Milbank
Jeremiah Milbank American businessman, was a successful dry goods commission merchant, speculator in Texas territorial bonds, manufacturer, and railroad investor. His most successful business efforts were the New York Condensed Milk Company which he co-founded with inventor Gail Borden and the...
and William Rockefeller
William Rockefeller
William Avery Rockefeller, Jr. , American financier, was a co-founder with his older brother John D. Rockefeller of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. He was the son of William Avery Rockefeller, Sr. and Eliza Rockefeller.-Youth, education:Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York,...
. In 1874, the name was changed to Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. By 1887, the railroad had lines running through Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The corporate headquarters were moved from Milwaukee to the Rand McNally Building
Rand McNally Building
The Rand McNally Building , in Chicago, was designed by Burnham and Root and was the world's first all-steel framed skyscraper.The building was located at 160-174 Adams Street and also fronted #105-#119 on the backside . It was erected in 1889 at a cost of $1 million...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, America's first all-steel framed skyscraper, in 1889 and 1890, with the car and locomotive shops staying in Milwaukee. The company General Offices were later located in Chicago's Railway Exchange building
Santa Fe Building (Chicago)
The Santa Fe Building, also known as Railway Exchange Building, is a 17-story office building in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was designed by Frederick P. Dinkelberg of D. H. Burnham & Company in the...
(built 1904) until 1924, at which time they moved to Chicago Union Station.
Expansion
In the 1890s, the Milwaukee's directors increasingly felt that they had to extend the railroad to the Pacific in order to remain competitive with other roads. A survey in 1901 estimated costs to build to the Pacific Northwest as $45 million (equal to $ today). In 1905, the board approved the Pacific Extension, now estimated at $60 million, equal to $ today. The contract for the westernmost part of the route was awarded to Horace Chapin HenryHorace Chapin Henry
Horace Chapin Henry was an early Seattle businessman and founder of the Henry Art Gallery.-Biography:He was born at the Henry House in Bennington, Vermont in October, 1844....
of Seattle. Construction began in 1906 and was completed in 1909. The route chosen was to be 18 miles shorter than the shortest competitor's, as well as better grades than some. It was an expensive route, however, since the Milwaukee, receiving few land grants, had to buy most of the land or acquire smaller railroads. In addition, the two main mountain ranges that had to be crossed (the Rockies
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and the Cascades) required major civil engineering works and the use of additional locomotive power. The completion of 2,300 miles of railroad through some of the most varied topography in the nation in only three years was a major feat. (It should be noted that original company maps denote five mountain crossings: Belts, Rockies, Bitterroots
Bitterroot Mountains
The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains, is the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in the panhandle of Idaho and westernmost Montana in the Western United States...
, Saddles and Cascades. These are slight misnomers as the 'Belt Mountains' and Bitterroots are part of the Rocky Mountains. In fact, the route did not cross over the Little Belts
Little Belt Mountains
The Little Belt Mountains are a section of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana. Situated mainly in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, the mountains are used for logging and recreation for the residents of Great Falls, Montana...
or Big Belts
Big Belt Mountains
The Big Belt Mountains are a section of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana. Situated mainly in the Helena National Forest, the mountains are used for logging and recreation for the surrounding residents. Nearby is Helena, Montana, Canyon Ferry Lake, the Missouri River, Townsend,...
but over the Lenep-Loweth Ridge between the Castle Mountains
Castle Mountains
for the continuation of the range in NevadaThe Castle Mountains are located south and east of the New York Mountains in California and west of Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada, USA....
and the Crazy Mountains
Crazy Mountains
The Crazy Mountains, often called the Crazies, are a mountain range in the northern Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana.-Geography:...
.)
Some historians question the choice of route, however, since it bypassed some population centers and passed through areas with limited local traffic potential. Much of the line paralleled the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was primarily a long-haul route.
Electrification
The Milwaukee soon found that operation of steam locomotives over the mountain passes was difficult, with winter temperatures that reached −40 °F. ElectrificationRailway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
seemed to be the answer, especially with abundant hydroelectric power in the mountains and a ready source of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
on-line at Anaconda
Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda, county seat of Anaconda City/Deer Lodge County, is located in mountainous southwestern Montana. The Continental Divide passes within 8 miles of the community with the local Pintler Mountain range reaching 10,379 feet...
, Montana. In 1914, electrification began between Harlowton
Harlowton, Montana
Harlowton is a city in and the county seat of Wheatland County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,062 at the 2000 census. The city was once the eastern terminus of electric operations of the Milwaukee Road railroad's "Pacific Extension" route, which went all the way to Avery, Idaho. ...
, Montana and Avery
Avery, Idaho
Avery is a small unincorporated town nestled in the St. Joe River Valley in Shoshone County, Idaho, United States. Avery is located in the middle of the St. Joe District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest...
, Idaho. The first electric train ran in 1915 between Three Forks
Three Forks, Montana
Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the Missouri River. The population was 1,728 at the 2000 census...
and Deer Lodge
Deer Lodge, Montana
Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 3,421 at the 2000 census. The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Montana State Prison, a major local employer...
, Montana. The system used a 3,000 volt direct-current (DC) overhead line.
In 1917, the board approved the construction of a separate electrified district between Othello
Othello, Washington
Othello is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 5,847 at the 2000 census and grew 25.9% over the next decade to 7,364 at the 2010 census. Othello refers to the city as being in the "Heart" of the Columbia Basin Project...
and Tacoma, Washington, extended to Seattle in 1927. The two electrified districts were never connected, but a total of 656 route-miles (1,056 km) of railroad were electrified, making it the largest electrified railroad in the US.
In 1927, the road launched its second edition of the Olympian
Olympian Hiawatha
The Olympian and its successor, Olympian Hiawatha, was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as train Nos. 15 and 16 from 1911 to 1961...
as a premier luxury limited passenger train and opened its first railroad-owned tourist hotel, The Gallatin Gateway Inn
Gallatin Gateway Inn
The Gallatin Gateway Inn is a Spanish-stucco style railroad hotel at Gallatin Gateway, Montana. The hotel is one of the "Historic Inns of America." The Gallatin Gateway Inn was opened on June 18, 1927. Constructed and operated by The Milwaukee Road The Gallatin Gateway Inn is a Spanish-stucco style...
in Montana. The railroad was re-organized as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company in January 1928 and officially adopted the familiar trade name The Milwaukee Road.
The company had hardly a chance to make anything of its fresh start before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hit. Despite innovations such as the famous Hiawatha
Hiawatha (passenger train)
The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
high-speed trains that reached speeds of over 100 mile per hour, the road again filed for bankruptcy in 1935. The Milwaukee operated under trusteeship until December 1, 1945.
Postwar
Relative success followed the war. The railroad dieselizedDieselisation
Dieselisation or dieselization is a term generally used for the increasingly common use of diesel fuel in vehicles, as opposed to gasoline or steam engines.-Water Transport:...
in the mid-1950s, replacing most steam locomotives by 1955 and retiring the last in 1957. Other modernizations included modern freight yards. In association with Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
, the Milwaukee took over operations of the "Cities" – the City of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...
, the City of San Francisco
City of San Francisco
The City of San Francisco was a streamlined passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad...
, the City of Denver
City of Denver
The City of Denver was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western and Union Pacific railroads. The train operated on both railroads' rights of way between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado...
, the City of Portland
City of Portland
The City of Portland was a named passenger train operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon. It started in June 1935, using the refurbished M-10001 streamliner trainset; with only one set of equipment the train left...
, as well as the all-coach Challenger
Challenger (passenger train)
The Challenger was a named passenger train fleet jointly operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Chicago and North Western Railway . The economy service ran between Chicago, Illinois and several major cities located along the West Coast of the United States...
from the Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
.
1960s
The whole railroad industry found itself in decline in the late 1950s and the 1960s, but the Milwaukee was hit particularly hard. The Midwest was overbuilt with too many competing roads, while the competition on the transcontinental routes to the Pacific was extremely tough as well. The premier transcontinental streamliner, the Olympian HiawathaOlympian Hiawatha
The Olympian and its successor, Olympian Hiawatha, was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as train Nos. 15 and 16 from 1911 to 1961...
, despite the innovative scenic observation cars, was cancelled in 1961, becoming the first visible casualty. The resignation of President John P. Kiley in 1957 and his replacement with the fairly inexperienced William John Quinn
William John Quinn
William John Quinn was a 20th century American railroad executive. He was an attorney for the Soo Line before joining the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1954 and later from 1957 to 1966, served as President. In 1966, he became president of the Burlington Railroad...
was a pivotal moment; from that point onward, the road's management was fixated on merger with another railroad as the solution to the Milwaukee's problems.
Railroad mergers had to be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
, however, and in 1969 the ICC effectively blocked the merger with the Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
(C&NW) that the Milwaukee Road had counted on and had been planning for since 1964. The ICC asked for terms that the C&NW was not willing to agree to. The merger of the "Hill Lines"—the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Burlington Route, as well as the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway was approved at around the same time, and the merged Burlington Northern came into being on March 3, 1970, completely surrounding the Milwaukee Road.
Early 1970s
Almost immediately after the BN merger, the owners of the C&NW offered to sell the railroad to the Milwaukee outright. The Milwaukee board rejected the offer, even though it would have given them what they had wanted throughout most of the previous decade, stating that they now believed only merger with a larger system — not a slightly smaller one — could save the railroad. Almost immediately, the road filed with the ICC to be included in the Union Pacific merger with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific RailroadChicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
. Nothing came of this, nor other attempts to force the Milwaukee into other mergers against the desires of the other participants.
Fortunately for the Milwaukee, the BN merger required opening more markets to competitors, and in 1971-73, the MILW's traffic on its Pacific Extension increased substantially, although the reverse was true on its Midwest lines. The railroad's foothold on transcontinental traffic leaving the Port of Seattle increased so exponentially that the Milwaukee Road held a staggering advantage over BN carrying nearly 80% of the originating traffic along with 50% of the total container traffic leaving the Puget Sound (prior to severe service declines after roughly 1974). The deferred maintenance on the railroad's physical plant, however, which had been building up all through the 1960s as the road attempted to polish its financial appearance for merger, was beginning to cause problems. The road's financial problems were exacerbated by their practice of improving its earnings during that period by selling off its wholly owned cars to financial institutions and leasing them back. The lease charges became steeper and steeper, and more and more cars needed to be sold off in order to pay for the lease payments. The railroad's fleet of cars was becoming older and older because more money was being spent on finance payments for the old cars than on buying new ones. This, in turn, contributed to car shortages that turned away business.
De-electrification
In February 1973, and against the advice of studies conducted by both the railroad and independent groups, the Milwaukee decided to scrap its electrification scheme. The board of directors considered the electrification scheme an impediment to its merger and consolidation plans, and that the money required to maintain it would be better spent elsewhere. The high copper prices of time, and the $10 million the railroad estimated it would get for selling off the copper overhead wire (equal to $ today), contributed to the decision.The surveys had found that an investment of $39 million (equal to $ today) could have closed the "gap" between the two electrified districts, bought new locomotives, and upgraded the electrical equipment all along the line. Furthermore, the displaced diesel locomotives could have been used elsewhere and thus reduced the requirement to purchase new, reducing the true cost of the plan to only $18 million. General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
even proposed underwriting the financing because of the railroad's financial position.
Rejecting this, the railroad dismantled its electrification just as the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
took hold. By 1974, when the electrification was shut down, the electric locomotives operated at half the cost of the diesels that replaced them. Worse, the railroad had to spend $39 million, as much as the GE-sponsored revitalization plan, to buy more diesel locomotives to replace the electrics, and only received $5 million for the copper scrap since prices had fallen.
The badly-maintained track, which was the part of the system most in need of renewal, was never touched.
Decline to (another) bankruptcy
The bankruptcy resulted in the Milwaukee abandoning the Pacific Extension completely in 1980 and restructuring as a small regional line, which was eventually taken over by the Soo Line Railroad
Soo Line Railroad
The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
in 1985. However, the ICC's auditors discovered (too late, as it were) that for some reason the Pacific Extension's expenses had been double-entered during most of the 1970s. Far from the unprofitable boat-anchor the railroad and the bankruptcy trustees said it was, the ICC found that the Pacific Extension had been returning a profit to the railroad even through 1977 and 1978, at which time traffic was severely down due to the road's problems.
In Washington State, the Milwaukee Road right-of-way was acquired by the state, through a quitclaim deed
Quitclaim deed
A quitclaim deed is a legal instrument by which the owner of a piece of real property, called the grantor, transfers his interest to a recipient, called the grantee. The owner/grantor terminates his right and claim to the property, thereby allowing claim to transfer to the...
, and is used as a non-motorized recreational trail called the John Wayne Pioneer Trail
John Wayne Pioneer Trail
The John Wayne Pioneer Trail follows the former roadbed of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad for across two-thirds of Washington from the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho border. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St...
. It is currently managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The corridor is effectively "railbanked" under state legislation that allows for the potential reversion to rail usage in the future along with the creation of an alternative route for a cross-state non-motorized recreational trail.
In the Bitterroot Mountains
Bitterroot Mountains
The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains, is the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in the panhandle of Idaho and westernmost Montana in the Western United States...
between Loop Creek, Idaho and East Portal, Montana, a 14.5-mile (23.3-km) section of the right-of-way was purchased by the USDA Forest Service (see Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company Historic District
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company Historic District
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company Historic District consists of the historic right-of-way of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in the Bitterroot Mountains from East Portal, Montana , to the mouth of Loop Creek, Idaho , a distance of...
). It was made into a bike trail, known as the Route of the Hiawatha Trail.
Regional railroad, 1981–85
The restructured Milwaukee Road proved no more profitable than the previous, losing money every year. Competition by other, larger railroads for control of the Great Lakes area attracted a bidding war for purchase of the railroad in 1984, with the C&NW and the Soo bidding up the prices. On February 21, 1985, railroad operations were sold to the Soo Line Corporation, which reorganized the property as The Milwaukee Road, Inc., and on January 1, 1986, the company was merged into the Soo Line RailroadSoo Line Railroad
The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
. , a few locomotives transferred as part of the sale to the Soo Line remain in the Milwaukee's paint scheme, sans Milwaukee Road logos with all lettering painted over. On some of these locomotives, weathering has caused Milwaukee Road lettering to once again become visible.
Epilogue
The successor-in-interest to what remained of the Milwaukee Road after the Soo Line sale was its holding company, the Chicago Milwaukee Corporation (CMC). This Corporation's primary function was now to dispose of Milwaukee Road rolling stock and real estate not sold to the Soo Line, primarily former urban rail yard locations in cities such as Milwaukee and Minneapolis. These properties were developed into big-box retail or industrial sites. The CMC itself was beset with legal and financial woes, filing for bankruptcy (under its new name CMC Heartland Partners) as a result of environmental cleanup costs and liabilities at former Milwaukee Road sites.Passenger train service
The Milwaukee Road aggressively marketed passenger service through much of its history, maintaining a high quality of service until the end of private intercity passenger operations in 1971. The Milwaukee prided itself on its passenger operations, providing the nation with some of its most innovative and colorful trains. The railroad's home-built equipment was among some of the best passenger equipment ever run on any American railroad. The Milwaukee's reputation for high quality service was the principal reason that the Union Pacific shifted its service to the Milwaukee Road for its "City" streamliners in 1955.The Milwaukee Road's Pioneer Limited was one of the first named trains and its colorful Hiawatha trains were among the nation's finest streamliners. The post-World War II Hiawatha trains remain a high water mark for passenger train industrial design.
- Afternoon HiawathaHiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- The ArrowArrow (passenger train)The Arrow offered the Milwaukee Road's overnight service between Chicago, Cedar Rapids, and Omaha, Nebraska. The train ran with coaches, a tap-diner and sleeping cars. A separate section of the train including a parlor and tap diner continued on to Sioux City and Sioux Falls. The train was split at...
- Chippewa-Hiawatha
- The ColumbianColumbian (passenger train)The Columbian was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle/Tacoma, Washington...
- Copper Country Limited
- Fast Mail
- Midwest HiawathaHiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- Morning HiawathaHiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- North Woods HiawathaHiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- OlympianOlympian HiawathaThe Olympian and its successor, Olympian Hiawatha, was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as train Nos. 15 and 16 from 1911 to 1961...
- Olympian HiawathaOlympian HiawathaThe Olympian and its successor, Olympian Hiawatha, was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as train Nos. 15 and 16 from 1911 to 1961...
- The Pioneer LimitedPioneer Limited (passenger train)The Pioneer Limited was a United States named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad on an overnight schedule between Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. The westbound train was Milwaukee Road train No. 1, and the eastbound train was...
- The SiouxSioux (passenger train)The Sioux was a named passenger train of the Milwaukee Road that operated between Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Rapid City, South Dakota, via Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and northern Iowa...
- Southwest LimitedSouthwest Limited (MILW)The Southwest Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad on an overnight schedule between Chicago, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri. The westbound train was Milwaukee Road train No. 25, and the eastbound train was train No. 26...
- Tomahawk
- Twin Cities HiawathaTwin Cities HiawathaThe Twin Cities Hiawatha was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- The Varsity
Starting in November, 1955 the Milwaukee Road assumed joint operation of the Union Pacific's City of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...
, City of Portland
City of Portland
The City of Portland was a named passenger train operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon. It started in June 1935, using the refurbished M-10001 streamliner trainset; with only one set of equipment the train left...
, City of Denver
City of Denver
The City of Denver was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western and Union Pacific railroads. The train operated on both railroads' rights of way between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado...
, and Challenger
Challenger (passenger train)
The Challenger was a named passenger train fleet jointly operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Chicago and North Western Railway . The economy service ran between Chicago, Illinois and several major cities located along the West Coast of the United States...
trains as well as the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific City of San Francisco
City of San Francisco
The City of San Francisco was a streamlined passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad...
.
After assuming operation of the UP's services, the Milwaukee Road gradually dropped its orange and maroon paint scheme in favor of UP's Armour yellow, grey, and red, finding the latter easier to keep clean.
The Milwaukee Road's streamlined passenger services are unique in that most of its equipment was built by the railroad at its Milwaukee Menomonee Valley shops including the four generations of Hiawatha equipment introduced in 1933-34, 1935, 1937–38, and 1947-48. Most striking were the "beavertail" observation cars of the 1930s and the "Skytop Lounge" observation cars by industrial designer Brooks Stevens
Brooks Stevens
Clifford Brooks Stevens was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles and motorcycles — as well as a graphic designer and stylist....
in the 1940s. Extended "Skytop Lounge" cars were also ordered from Pullman for Olympian Hiawatha service in 1951. The Olympian Hiawatha set was later sold to the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
.
Postage stamp
On August 26, 1999, the United States Postal Service issued the 33-cent All Aboard! 20th Century American TrainsAll Aboard! 20th Century American Trains
In August 1999, the United States Postal Service issued a set of 33¢ postage stamps entitled All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains to "pay tribute to American industry and design, and specifically to the heritage of our railroads." Artist Ted Rose created five watercolor images depicting the...
commemorative stamps featuring five celebrated American passenger trains from the 1930s and 1940s. One of the five stamps featured an image of the Hiawatha
Hiawatha (passenger train)
The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
, known as "Fastest Train in America", as it traveled over 100 miles per hour (44.7 m/s) on its daily run connecting Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Twin Cities.
In popular culture
The 1930 motion picture Danger LightsDanger Lights
Danger Lights is a 1930 film starring Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong, and Jean Arthur.The plot concerns railroading on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, and the movie was largely filmed along that railroad's lines in Montana...
was filmed in the Milwaukee Road's yard and shop at Miles City, Montana and on the main line running through the state.
The former Milwaukee Road depot in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
, was used as the logo of Employers Insurance of Wausau, later known as Wausau Insurance Companies which was later sold to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The logo itself was a combination of the downtown depot, with a backdrop of the community's skyline. The depot still stands to this day, although it's not used as a depot anymore. A replica of the original downtown depot was built at the former Wausau Insurance Companies campus on Wausau's west side.
See also
- Hiawatha (Amtrak)Hiawatha (Amtrak)Hiawatha Service, or Hiawatha, is the name of an train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan, although the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and out to the Pacific Ocean...
- Iron Horse State ParkIron Horse State ParkIron Horse State Park, part of the Washington State Park System, is a state park located in the Cascade Mountains and Yakima River Valley, between Cedar Falls on the west and the Columbia River on the east....
- Montana RailroadMontana RailroadThe Montana Railroad, now defunct, was an American railroad built and operated between the towns of Lombard and Lewistown, Montana, a distance of approximately 157 miles. The railroad connected with the national railway network via a connection with the Northern Pacific Railway at Lombard...
- List of Milwaukee Road locomotives
:Category:Milwaukee Road locomotives
External links
- Milwaukee Road Historical Association
- The Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 #261
- Milwaukee Road History at Milwaukee Public Library
- Milwaukee Road Ski area and ski train history
- Milwaukee Road history (Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers)
- All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains 1999 USPS Stamp Program
- Milwaukee Road online
- The Milwaukee Road
- The Gene H. Lawson collection: The Milwaukee Road, a Museum of Pictures - fascinating picture collection along the Pacific Extension 1910-1980 approx.
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Transportation Photographs An ongoing digital collection of photographs depicting various modes of transportation in the Pacific Northwest region and Western United States during the first half of the 20th century. Includes images of the Milwaukee Road.
- Washington State Iron Horse State Park web site http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Iron+Horse