Chicago Great Western Railway
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad
that linked Chicago
, Minneapolis, Omaha
, and Kansas City
. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney
in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul
and the Iowa
state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.
Nicknamed the Corn Belt Route because of its operating area in the midwestern United States
, the railroad was sometimes called the Lucky Strike Road, due to the similarity in design between the herald of the CGW and the logo used for Lucky Strike cigarettes
.
It was merged with the Chicago and North Western Railway
(CNW) in 1968, which abandoned most of the CGW's trackage.
In 1854, the Legislature of the Territory of Minnesota
had chartered the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad (M&NW) to be built between Lake Superior
, Minneapolis and Dubuque, Iowa
. However, it stayed dormant until purchased by Stickney and another investor in 1883. Immediately, the railroad began building, and by 1886 had constructed a line between St. Paul, Minnesota and Dubuque.
By 1889, not only had the railroad changed its name to the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railroad (CStP&KC), it had finished a continuous line all the way across Illinois to Forest Park, Illinois
, except for trackage rights with the Illinois Central
across the Mississippi River
. At Forest Park, the railroad made a connection with the ancestor of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal
for the last nine miles (14 km) into Chicago's Grand Central Station
. The new construction included Illinois' longest railway bore, the Winston Tunnel
, south of Galena
.
Through merger and construction, the CStP&KC then added lines between Oelwein, Iowa
, on the Chicago-to-St. Paul mainline, and Kansas City, Missouri
, by 1891, and between Oelwein and Omaha, Nebraska
by 1903. Thus, Oelwein became the hub of the railroad, and its main locomotive repair shops were soon located there. The mammoth facility was said to have inspired Walter Chrysler
, who worked as the supervisor of the shops between 1904 and 1910.
The Great Western also expanded its assortment of feeder branch lines in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, but plans to continue expanding the railroad north to Duluth, Minnesota
, west to Sioux City, Iowa
or Denver, Colorado
, or south into Mexico
, never came to fruition.
to become the Chicago Great Western, and with Stickney at the helm soon developed a reputation for being an innovative and progressive competitor for traffic between the terminals it served. However, the Panic of 1907
forced it into bankruptcy
, and the road was purchased by financial interests connected to J. P. Morgan
. One of the first casualties of the buyout was Stickney, who was forced out and replaced by Samuel Morse Felton, Jr.
in 1909. Felton realized that the railroad could not survive in the fiercely competitive markets it served without an ambitious and sustained effort to innovate and modernize. New rails, new locomotives including several Mallet locomotive
s (which set a precedent for the railroad acquiring large steam locomotives with substantial horsepower) pulled ever-longer freight trains over the system, and gasoline-powered motorcars to replace steam power on the lightly used passenger trains, were hallmarks of this rehabilitation.
During this time period the CGW purchased an innovative 'Breach' Battery powered motorcar, equipped with 220 type A8H Edison nickel-steel batteries for power and 10 type A8H cells for light. This battery powered motorcar arrived from Breach, in 1912 and during trial run speeds of 40mph were obtained on level track, 28.6mph on a 1 percent grade.
had purchased a controlling interest in the Great Western from J. P. Morgan and had placed him in charge of the Great Western. The Wall Street Crash of 1929
threatened these financial interests, so Joyce and his friends, along with the Van Sweringen brothers
, embarked on a stock-manipulation scheme to keep the price of CGW stock high. The inevitable happened in 1935, when the railroad declared bankruptcy once again. It was reorganized and re-emerged in 1941.
Even as the CGW was being mismanaged, Joyce continued the modernization and innovation of his predecessors. The Great Western trimmed passenger service, which was never particularly profitable on the lightly populated lines, abandoned branch lines and refurbished main lines, and continued acquisition of huge locomotives, this time 2-10-4
Texas-types, which pulled enormous trains, sometimes one-hundred cars long and longer. However, a highly important innovation was the so-called "Piggyback Service", the forerunner of modern intermodal freight transport
, which the Great Western introduced in 1936 by moving several hundred truck trailers on specially modified flat cars. The Great Western was also an early proponent of dieselization. It purchased its first diesel-electric locomotive, an 800 hp yard switcher from Westinghouse
, in 1934 The CGW was completely dieselized by 1950.
, president of the Kansas City Southern
, had been purchasing up a controlling share of Great Western stock, and by 1949, this group appointed Deramus' son, William N. Deramus III
, to head the railroad. He continued, even more aggressively than his predecessors, the modernization and cost-trimming that had become the hallmarks of the corporate culture of the CGW. Under Deramus, passenger service was almost entirely eliminated, and the railroad's offices, spread out in Chicago and throughout the system, were consolidated in Oelwein. Even longer trains than before, pulled by sets of five or more EMD F-unit
s, became standard operating procedure, which slowed service but increased efficiency.
In 1946, the first proposal was advanced to merge the Great Western with other railroads, this time with the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. Investors balked and the CGW stayed independent, but even as the Great Western survived and thrived during the 1950s, it was becoming increasingly clear that the American railroad climate was changing. Railroads were merging, changing traffic patterns and threatening the delicate economic balance in which railroads of similar size and stability to the CGW could exist. By the time Deramus stepped down from the CGW in 1957 to take the presidency at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the decade of the railroad super-mergers was just around the corner.
Chicago - Rochester - St.Paul - Minneapolis
Rochester - St.Paul - Minneapolis
Chicago - St.Paul - Minneapolis
Kansas City - St.Paul - Minneapolis
Des Moines - Chicago
Omaha - St.Paul - Minneapolis
. As before, innovations continued to keep the company profitable. Second-generation diesel locomotives such as the EMD GP30
and EMD SD40
, the largest and most powerful diesel locomotive the CGW ever owned, found their way into the system, and the Oelwein Shops stayed busy repairing and maintaining the now-aged F-units long after many other railroads had replaced theirs with newer models. The Oelwein Shops also was busy maintaining the entire diesel switcher fleet of models from ALCO, Baldwin and EMD. Passenger service, reduced to two St. Paul to Omaha trains, was gone by 1962. Labor costs were trimmed, branch lines abandoned, as the Great Western was fiscally viable enough to be a suitable merger partner.
Upon the failure of a merger opportunity with the Soo Line Railroad
in 1963, the board of the Great Western grew increasingly anxious about its continued viability in a consolidating railroad market. Testifying before the Interstate Commerce Commission in Chicago, President Reidy claimed, "The simple fact is that there is just too much transportation available between the principal cities we serve. The Great Western cannot long survive as an independent carrier under these conditions."
The CGW, therefore, was open to a merger with the Chicago and North Western Railway
(CNW), first proposed in 1964. After a 4-year period of opposition by other competing railroads, on July 1, 1968, the Chicago Great Western merged with Chicago and North Western. Within two decades of the 1968 merger, most of the CGW right-of-way had been abandoned by the C&NW. The C&NW maintained the "Oelwein Shops" facilities at Oelwein until 1993 and after many clean up projects the shops were closed on May 13, 1994.
Almost forty years after merger and piecemeal abandonment, some Chicago Great Western trackage and infrastructure remains in service. In Minnesota, the CGW branchline from Northfield
to Cannon Falls
is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad
and operated by Progressive Rail
. The CGW mainline from the Flint Hills refinery in Rosemount
to Inver Grove Heights, MN is UP's "Roseport Industrial Lead" to the refinery. The CGW main from Inver Grove Heights to downtown St Paul is an extension of UP's Albert Lea subdivision. In Iowa, the largest remaining section of the CGW is located between Waterloo and Oelwein Iowa. A portion of this section is the 23-mile line of railroad now owned by D&W Railroad between Dewar and Oelwein. In Illinois, there is a small spur east of the former crossing of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern serving a construction-materials business in West Chicago. A length of the former mainline from the DuPage Airport
through St. Charles
, including a large bridge over the Fox River
, was operated by the UP as an industrial lead for several shippers including a lumber yard. UP filed to abandon the St. Charles industrial lead on 06/24/2010, and awaits the final decision. (STB docket #: AB_33_284_X). Also in Byron, a small section of trackage is used for car storage and the bridge over the Rock River is used to service the Byron Nuclear Generating Station
.
Long sections of former CGW rights-of-way have been preserved as rail trail
s, such as the Great Western Trail
between Villa Park
and Sycamore, Illinois
, the Cannon Valley Trail
between Red Wing
and Cannon Falls, Minnesota
, the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail
between Faribault
and Mankato, Minnesota
, and the Heritage Trail between Dubuque
and Dyersville, Iowa
. Another trail between Cannon Falls
and Faribault
is being proposed by the Mill Towns Trail group from Northfield
with the hope of being completed in the coming years. Several CGW depots also remain along abandoned rights-of-way, some converted to better serve their new, non-railroad owners, and others restored to their former appearance.
Additionally, the Elmhurst Depot (located off of York Street in Elmhurst
) still stands, along with other depots in Villa Park
and Elizabeth
.
A handful of CGW locomotives remain operational, including one of the former CGW EMD GP7
, two of the EMD F7B
s and three of the nine SD40s, but all have long since been repainted and scattered nationwide. An EMD FP7-A
, CGW 116-A, has been cosmetically restored and repainted, and is located at the former "Hub City" of the railroad at the Hub City Heritage Corporation museum in Oelwein (http://www.cgwo.org). Rare TR2B "Calf" 65B is unrestored, at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad
as Chicago & North Western
1103. Sometimes an observant train watcher will notice an old hopper or tank car still painted in CGW colors, but even they are now quite rare.
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 linked 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...
, Minneapolis, Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, and Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney
Alpheus Beede Stickney
Alpheus Beede "A.B." Stickney was the first president of Chicago Great Western Railway, serving in that position from 1884 to 1909.- Youth and education :...
in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
and the 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...
state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.
Nicknamed the Corn Belt Route because of its operating area in the midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, the railroad was sometimes called the Lucky Strike Road, due to the similarity in design between the herald of the CGW and the logo used for Lucky Strike cigarettes
Lucky Strike
Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarette owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as "Luckies", Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s.- History :...
.
It was merged 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...
(CNW) in 1968, which abandoned most of the CGW's trackage.
The Stickney Years
Alpheus Beede Stickney was a lawyer-turned-railroad magnate who had found work in management of several railroads before striking out on his own.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...
had chartered the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad (M&NW) to be built between Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
, Minneapolis and Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
. However, it stayed dormant until purchased by Stickney and another investor in 1883. Immediately, the railroad began building, and by 1886 had constructed a line between St. Paul, Minnesota and Dubuque.
By 1889, not only had the railroad changed its name to the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railroad (CStP&KC), it had finished a continuous line all the way across Illinois to Forest Park, Illinois
Forest Park, Illinois
Forest Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census...
, except for trackage rights with the Illinois Central
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
across the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. At Forest Park, the railroad made a connection with the ancestor of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal
Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to Grand Central Station...
for the last nine miles (14 km) into Chicago's Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station (Chicago)
Grand Central Station was a passenger railroad terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1969. It was located at 201 W. Harrison Street in the south-western part of the Chicago Loop, the block bounded by Harrison Street, Wells Street, Polk Street and the Chicago River...
. The new construction included Illinois' longest railway bore, the Winston Tunnel
Winston Tunnel
The Winston Tunnel is a railroad tunnel located 9 miles west of Elizabeth, Illinois.The tunnel was completed in 1888 for the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad, a predecessor to the Chicago Great Western Railway...
, south of Galena
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
.
Through merger and construction, the CStP&KC then added lines between Oelwein, Iowa
Oelwein, Iowa
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,692 people, 2,808 households, and 1,819 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,395.8 people per square mile . There were 3,040 housing units at an average density of 634.1 per square mile...
, on the Chicago-to-St. Paul mainline, and Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, by 1891, and between Oelwein and Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
by 1903. Thus, Oelwein became the hub of the railroad, and its main locomotive repair shops were soon located there. The mammoth facility was said to have inspired Walter Chrysler
Walter Chrysler
Walter Percy Chrysler was an American machinist, railroad mechanic and manager, automotive industry executive, Freemason, and founder of the Chrysler Corporation.- Railroad career :...
, who worked as the supervisor of the shops between 1904 and 1910.
The Great Western also expanded its assortment of feeder branch lines in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, but plans to continue expanding the railroad north to Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, west to Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
or Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, or south into Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, never came to fruition.
The Felton Years
The railroad survived the Panic of 1893Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
to become the Chicago Great Western, and with Stickney at the helm soon developed a reputation for being an innovative and progressive competitor for traffic between the terminals it served. However, the Panic of 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...
forced it into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, and the road was purchased by financial interests connected to J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
. One of the first casualties of the buyout was Stickney, who was forced out and replaced by Samuel Morse Felton, Jr.
Samuel Morse Felton, Jr.
Samuel Morse Felton, Jr. was an American railroad executive. He was a 1873 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity.-Railroad career:...
in 1909. Felton realized that the railroad could not survive in the fiercely competitive markets it served without an ambitious and sustained effort to innovate and modernize. New rails, new locomotives including several Mallet locomotive
Mallet locomotive
The Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatole Mallet ....
s (which set a precedent for the railroad acquiring large steam locomotives with substantial horsepower) pulled ever-longer freight trains over the system, and gasoline-powered motorcars to replace steam power on the lightly used passenger trains, were hallmarks of this rehabilitation.
During this time period the CGW purchased an innovative 'Breach' Battery powered motorcar, equipped with 220 type A8H Edison nickel-steel batteries for power and 10 type A8H cells for light. This battery powered motorcar arrived from Breach, in 1912 and during trial run speeds of 40mph were obtained on level track, 28.6mph on a 1 percent grade.
The Joyce Years
Felton retired in 1929 due to failing health. At the time he stepped down, investors friendly with Patrick H. JoycePatrick H. Joyce
Patrick H. "Pat" Joyce was an American railroad executive. He acted as chairman, president and trustee of the Chicago Great Western Railway between 1931 and 1946.-Notes:# Chicago Daily Tribune November 11, 1946....
had purchased a controlling interest in the Great Western from J. P. Morgan and had placed him in charge of the Great Western. The Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
threatened these financial interests, so Joyce and his friends, along with the Van Sweringen brothers
Van Sweringen brothers
Oris Paxton Van Sweringen and Mantis James Van Sweringen were brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better known as O.P. Van Sweringen and M.J. Van Sweringen, or by their collective nickname, the Vans...
, embarked on a stock-manipulation scheme to keep the price of CGW stock high. The inevitable happened in 1935, when the railroad declared bankruptcy once again. It was reorganized and re-emerged in 1941.
Even as the CGW was being mismanaged, Joyce continued the modernization and innovation of his predecessors. The Great Western trimmed passenger service, which was never particularly profitable on the lightly populated lines, abandoned branch lines and refurbished main lines, and continued acquisition of huge locomotives, this time 2-10-4
2-10-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, ten driving wheels , and four trailing wheels...
Texas-types, which pulled enormous trains, sometimes one-hundred cars long and longer. However, a highly important innovation was the so-called "Piggyback Service", the forerunner of modern intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
, which the Great Western introduced in 1936 by moving several hundred truck trailers on specially modified flat cars. The Great Western was also an early proponent of dieselization. It purchased its first diesel-electric locomotive, an 800 hp yard switcher from Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
, in 1934 The CGW was completely dieselized by 1950.
The Deramus Years
As it had happened in 1929, a group of businessmen friendly to William N. Deramus, Jr.William N. Deramus, Jr.
William Neal Deramus, Jr. was an American railroad executive; He served as the longest running president of the Kansas City Southern Railway from 1941 to 1961. Deramus led the Kansas City Southern Railway through the depression by encouraging industry to locate on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana...
, president of the Kansas City Southern
Kansas City Southern Railway
The Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
, had been purchasing up a controlling share of Great Western stock, and by 1949, this group appointed Deramus' son, William N. Deramus III
William N. Deramus III
William Neal Deramus III was an American railroad executive; he led the Chicago Great Western Railway , the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, and the Kansas City Southern Railway through periods of great change in the railroad industry.Deramus graduated from the University of Michigan in 1936 and...
, to head the railroad. He continued, even more aggressively than his predecessors, the modernization and cost-trimming that had become the hallmarks of the corporate culture of the CGW. Under Deramus, passenger service was almost entirely eliminated, and the railroad's offices, spread out in Chicago and throughout the system, were consolidated in Oelwein. Even longer trains than before, pulled by sets of five or more EMD F-unit
EMD F-unit
EMD F-units were a line of Diesel-electric locomotives produced between November 1939 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors-Diesel Division. Final assembly for all F-units was at the GM-EMD plant at La Grange, Illinois and the GMDD plant in London, Ontario...
s, became standard operating procedure, which slowed service but increased efficiency.
In 1946, the first proposal was advanced to merge the Great Western with other railroads, this time with the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific...
and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. Investors balked and the CGW stayed independent, but even as the Great Western survived and thrived during the 1950s, it was becoming increasingly clear that the American railroad climate was changing. Railroads were merging, changing traffic patterns and threatening the delicate economic balance in which railroads of similar size and stability to the CGW could exist. By the time Deramus stepped down from the CGW in 1957 to take the presidency at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the decade of the railroad super-mergers was just around the corner.
Passenger Operations
The Chicago Great Western was not known for its passenger trains, although it did fleet several named trains, mostly running between Chicago and the Twin Cities. Regardless of the railroad's small size and meager passenger fleet it looked for ways to more efficiently move passengers, such as employing all electric(battery powered) and gas-electric motorcars on light branch lines, which was much cheaper to operate than traditional steam or diesel-powered trains. The CGW's most notable passenger trains from its major terminal cities included:Chicago - Rochester - St.Paul - Minneapolis
- The Minnesotan
Rochester - St.Paul - Minneapolis
- Rochester Special
- Red Bird
- Blue Bird
Chicago - St.Paul - Minneapolis
- Great Western Limited
- Legionnaire
Kansas City - St.Paul - Minneapolis
- Tri-State Limited
- Mills Cities Limited
Des Moines - Chicago
- Chicago Special
- Southwestern Limited
Omaha - St.Paul - Minneapolis
- Nebraska Limited
- Omaha Express
- Twin Cities Limited
- Twin Cities Express
The Merger Decade
Upon his resignation, Deramus was replaced by Edward T. ReidyEdward T. Reidy
Edward T. Reidy was an American railroad executive; he led the Chicago Great Western Railway between 1957 and its merger with the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1968...
. As before, innovations continued to keep the company profitable. Second-generation diesel locomotives such as the EMD GP30
EMD GP30
The EMD GP30 was a 2,250 hp four-axle B-B diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July, 1961 and November, 1963...
and EMD SD40
EMD SD40
The EMD SD40 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972.-Design:Like its predecessor in EMD's catalog, the SD35, the SD40 is a high-horsepower, six-motor freight locomotive....
, the largest and most powerful diesel locomotive the CGW ever owned, found their way into the system, and the Oelwein Shops stayed busy repairing and maintaining the now-aged F-units long after many other railroads had replaced theirs with newer models. The Oelwein Shops also was busy maintaining the entire diesel switcher fleet of models from ALCO, Baldwin and EMD. Passenger service, reduced to two St. Paul to Omaha trains, was gone by 1962. Labor costs were trimmed, branch lines abandoned, as the Great Western was fiscally viable enough to be a suitable merger partner.
Upon the failure of a merger opportunity with 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 1963, the board of the Great Western grew increasingly anxious about its continued viability in a consolidating railroad market. Testifying before the Interstate Commerce Commission in Chicago, President Reidy claimed, "The simple fact is that there is just too much transportation available between the principal cities we serve. The Great Western cannot long survive as an independent carrier under these conditions."
The CGW, therefore, was open to a 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...
(CNW), first proposed in 1964. After a 4-year period of opposition by other competing railroads, on July 1, 1968, the Chicago Great Western merged with Chicago and North Western. Within two decades of the 1968 merger, most of the CGW right-of-way had been abandoned by the C&NW. The C&NW maintained the "Oelwein Shops" facilities at Oelwein until 1993 and after many clean up projects the shops were closed on May 13, 1994.
Current day
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
to Cannon Falls
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,795 people, 1,550 households, and 996 families residing in the city. The population density was 946.4 people per square mile . There were 1,611 housing units at an average density of 401.8 per square mile...
is owned by the 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....
and operated by Progressive Rail
Progressive Rail
Progressive Rail Inc. , headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota , is a short line railroad operating several branches including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Not all segments physically connect...
. The CGW mainline from the Flint Hills refinery in Rosemount
Rosemount, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,619 people, 4,742 households, and 3,931 families residing in the city. The population density was 434.2 people per square mile . There were 4,845 housing units at an average density of 143.9 per square mile...
to Inver Grove Heights, MN is UP's "Roseport Industrial Lead" to the refinery. The CGW main from Inver Grove Heights to downtown St Paul is an extension of UP's Albert Lea subdivision. In Iowa, the largest remaining section of the CGW is located between Waterloo and Oelwein Iowa. A portion of this section is the 23-mile line of railroad now owned by D&W Railroad between Dewar and Oelwein. In Illinois, there is a small spur east of the former crossing of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern serving a construction-materials business in West Chicago. A length of the former mainline from the DuPage Airport
DuPage Airport
DuPage Airport is a general aviation airport located west of downtown Chicago in West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois. It is owned and operated by the DuPage Airport Authority, which is an independent government body established by law by the State of Illinois...
through St. Charles
St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles is a Chicago suburb in Kane and DuPage counties of Illinois, United States, and is roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. According to a 2004 census estimate, the city has a total population of 32,134. The official city slogan is Pride of the Fox, after the Fox River that runs...
, including a large bridge over the Fox River
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
, was operated by the UP as an industrial lead for several shippers including a lumber yard. UP filed to abandon the St. Charles industrial lead on 06/24/2010, and awaits the final decision. (STB docket #: AB_33_284_X). Also in Byron, a small section of trackage is used for car storage and the bridge over the Rock River is used to service the Byron Nuclear Generating Station
Byron Nuclear Generating Station
The Byron Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located in Ogle County, Illinois, east of the Rock River. The reactor buildings were constructed by Babcock and Wilcox and house two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, Unit 1 and Unit 2, which first began operation in...
.
Long sections of former CGW rights-of-way have been preserved as rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
s, such as the Great Western Trail
Great Western Trail (Illinois)
The Great Western Trail is a rail trail in Illinois and Iowa.It occupies three non-contiguous sections of an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway corridor in suburban Chicago and a section in Iowa that have been converted into biking and hiking trails....
between Villa Park
Villa Park, Illinois
Villa Park is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 22,075 at the 2000 census. A special census in 2003 set the population at 22,517...
and Sycamore, Illinois
Sycamore, Illinois
Sycamore is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. It has a commercial district based and centered on Illinois Route 64. The population was 17,519 at the 2010 census, up from 12,020 at the 2000 census.-Early settlement:...
, the Cannon Valley Trail
Cannon Valley Trail
The Cannon Valley Trail is a paved, multiple-use trail that follows the Cannon River in southeast Minnesota.The trail follows an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway corridor for between Cannon Falls, Minnesota and Red Wing, Minnesota. In the spring, summer, and fall months, the trail is open...
between Red Wing
Red Wing, Minnesota
Red Wing is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mississippi River. The population was 16,459 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Goodhue County....
and Cannon Falls, Minnesota
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,795 people, 1,550 households, and 996 families residing in the city. The population density was 946.4 people per square mile . There were 1,611 housing units at an average density of 401.8 per square mile...
, the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail
Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail
Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail is a paved multi-use rail trail connecting Faribault and Mankato, Minnesota, USA.It is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which converted it from a railroad line. The name comes from the Dakota people who lived in the region; "Sakatah"...
between Faribault
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
and Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
, and the Heritage Trail between Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
and Dyersville, Iowa
Dyersville, Iowa
Dyersville is a city in eastern Delaware and western Dubuque Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,035 at the 2000 census and was estimated to be 4,167 in 2006....
. Another trail between Cannon Falls
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,795 people, 1,550 households, and 996 families residing in the city. The population density was 946.4 people per square mile . There were 1,611 housing units at an average density of 401.8 per square mile...
and Faribault
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
is being proposed by the Mill Towns Trail group from Northfield
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
with the hope of being completed in the coming years. Several CGW depots also remain along abandoned rights-of-way, some converted to better serve their new, non-railroad owners, and others restored to their former appearance.
Additionally, the Elmhurst Depot (located off of York Street in Elmhurst
Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois. The population is 46,013 as of the 2008 US Census population estimate.-History:...
) still stands, along with other depots in Villa Park
Villa Park, Illinois
Villa Park is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 22,075 at the 2000 census. A special census in 2003 set the population at 22,517...
and Elizabeth
Elizabeth, Illinois
Elizabeth is a village in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. The population was 761 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Elizabeth is located at ....
.
A handful of CGW locomotives remain operational, including one of the former CGW EMD GP7
EMD GP7
The EMD GP7 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October, 1949 and May, 1954. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine which generated . The GP7 was offered both with and without control cabs, and...
, two of the EMD F7B
EMD F7
The EMD F7 was a Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel . It succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La...
s and three of the nine SD40s, but all have long since been repainted and scattered nationwide. An EMD FP7-A
EMD FP7
The EMD FP7 was a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for...
, CGW 116-A, has been cosmetically restored and repainted, and is located at the former "Hub City" of the railroad at the Hub City Heritage Corporation museum in Oelwein (http://www.cgwo.org). Rare TR2B "Calf" 65B is unrestored, at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad
Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad
The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad in Boone County, Iowa.-History:The railroad was started in 1983 by a group of volunteers primarily to preserve a scenic section of the former Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad. The original track was built in the 1890s and...
as Chicago & North Western
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...
1103. Sometimes an observant train watcher will notice an old hopper or tank car still painted in CGW colors, but even they are now quite rare.
External links
- Hub City Heritage Corporation Oelwein Railroad Museum
- There are two sites named the Unofficial Chicago Great Western page:
- Chicago & North Western Historical Society (includes predecessor roads)