Green Bay and Western Railroad

Last updated
Green Bay and Western Railroad
Green bay route logo.png
GBW 2407 at IRM.jpg
Ex-LS&I #2407 at the Illinois Railway Museum
Overview
Headquarters Green Bay, Wisconsin
Reporting mark GBW
Locale Wisconsin
Dates of operation18961993
Successor Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
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213.9 mi
344.2 km
Winona
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211.9 mi
341 km
Bluff Siding
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209.3 mi
336.8 km
Marshland
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204.6 mi
329.3 km
Dodge
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192.2 mi
309.3 km
Arcadia
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183.7 mi
295.6 km
Independence
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177.7 mi
286 km
Whitehall
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170.8 mi
274.9 km
Blair
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164.9 mi
265.4 km
Taylor
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157.9 mi
254.1 km
Hixton
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151.9 mi
244.5 km
Alma Center
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148.1 mi
238.3 km
Merrillan
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141.8 mi
228.2 km
Hatfield
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135 mi
217 km
Waterbury
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130 mi
209 km
Tremont
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121 mi
195 km
City Point
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110.2 mi
177.3 km
Dexterville
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104.8 mi
168.7 km
Elm Lake
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95.5 mi
153.7 km
Grand Rapids
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86.6 mi
139.4 km
Meehan
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81.4 mi
131 km
Plover
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69.8 mi
112.3 km
Amherst Junction
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61 mi
98 km
Scandinavia
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55.3 mi
89 km
Ogdensburg
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50.2 mi
80.8 km
Manawa
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45.8 mi
73.7 km
Royalton
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42.4 mi
68.2 km
Northport
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39.3 mi
63.2 km
New London
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38.6 mi
62.1 km
New London Junction
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30.6 mi
49.2 km
Shiocton
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23.5 mi
37.8 km
Black Creek
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17 mi
27 km
Seymour
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10.2 mi
16.4 km
Oneida
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6.3 mi
10.1 km
Duck Creek
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0 mi
0 km
Green Bay

The Green Bay and Western Railroad( reporting mark GBW) served central Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its history the railroad was also known as the Green Bay Route. At the end of 1970 it operated 255 miles of road on 322 miles of track; that year it reported 317 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

Contents

History

A Green Bay and Western Railroad train, 1964 (Kewaunee) Green Bay and Western Railroad Power (27559892621).jpg
A Green Bay and Western Railroad train, 1964
Share of the Green Bay and Western Railroad Company, issued 10. February 1920 Green Bay and Western RR 1920.jpg
Share of the Green Bay and Western Railroad Company, issued 10. February 1920

The Green Bay and Western Railroad was formed in 1896 from the bankruptcy proceedings of the Green Bay, Winona & St Paul and the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western. The existing route, originally built by the Green Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad, linking Green Bay, Wisconsin, and East Winona, Wisconsin, formed the bulk of the new railroad. The Green Bay and Western acquired on August 1, 1906 a majority of shares/interest in the Ahnapee and Western Railway. The GBW established in 1929 the Western Refrigerator Line Company (WRX) to operate a 500-car fleet of reefers. Passenger traffic ceased in April 1949. The Line had carried 50,000 passengers yearly in the 1870s, 310,000 in 1915 but only 1,000 in 1947 having reverted to mixed trains. The Green Bay and Western sold off the Ahnapee and Western Railway to Vernon M. Bushman and a group of private investors on May 31, 1947. The Itel Corporation purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978. The Green Bay & Western and the Fox River Valley Railroad were merged into a new Wisconsin Central subsidiary, the Fox Valley and Western Railroad August 27, 1993. Wisconsin Central was, in turn, purchased by Canadian National railway in 2001.

Main line

Green Bay & Western Railway yards in Black Creek. OriginalGB&WRRYardsBlackCreekWi.jpg
Green Bay & Western Railway yards in Black Creek.

Branch lines

Lake Michigan ferry connections

The GBW prospered from 1892 when a train ferry was introduced across Lake Michigan from Kewaunee eliminating transhipment and bypassing the congested Chicago area. Ferries ran to Frankfort, Michigan, operated by the Ann Arbor Railroad and Ludington, Michigan, operated by the Chesapeake & Ohio.

Frankfort services ended around 1980 and those to Ludington in 1990. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Home". Green Bay & Western Lines.
  2. "Winona Bridge Railway". John A. Weeks III.
  3. Specht, Ray; Specht, Ellen; Cutlip, Scott M.; Fisher, Charles E. (October 1966). "The Green Bay Route". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin . 115 (115): 1–92. JSTOR   43518194.