Wisconsin Central Railway
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There have been two Wisconsin Central railroads that ran through Wisconsin and neighboring states. The original Wisconsin Central Railway was established by an act of the Wisconsin State Legislature and incorporated in February 1871. It built track throughout Wisconsin, connecting to neighboring states before being leased to Northern Pacific Railway in 1889. Eventually, the railroad was merged into the Soo Line Railroad in 1961. The second Wisconsin Central, called Wisconsin Central Ltd., was created in the mid 1980s to take over and operate over mostly former Milwaukee Road track in Wisconsin. Like the original Wisconsin Central, Wisconsin Central Ltd. connected to neighboring states, but unlike the original railroad, Wisconsin Central Ltd. also owned railroad companies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. Wisconsin Central Ltd. divested itself of its foreign holdings and was eventually purchased by Canadian National Railway in 2001.
The original Wisconsin Centrail Railway
Wisconsin Central's existence as an independent carrier was short lived. Much of the Wisconsin Central right of way was built over land obtained through a Federal land-grant. It was the only land-grant railroad in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Central Railway's tracks reached Ashland in 1877, St. Paul in 1884, Chicago in 1886 and Superior in 1908. The line was leased from 1889-1893 by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The lease was terminated when the Northern Pacific declared bankruptcy in 1893. After a proposed merger with the Northern Pacific fell through in 1908, the Wisconsin Central was leased by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, commonly known as the Soo Line in 1908. Controlling interest in the Soo Line (along with the Wisconsin Central) was held by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Wisconsin Central was entirely merged into the Soo Line in 1961.
While under the control of the Northern Pacific, the Wisconsin Central Railroad constructed Solon Spencer Beman's great romanesque Grand Central Station (Chicago) in 1889 as its southern terminus and later sold the station to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Wisconsin Central Ltd.
At one time, Wisconsin Central Ltd. (AAR reporting mark WC) owned or operated railroads in America, Canada (the Algoma Central), the United Kingdom (English, Welsh and Scottish Railway), New Zealand (Tranz Rail) and Australia (Australian Transport Network Limited).
Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC) started in the mid 1980s using most of the original Wisconsin Central Railway's rights of way and some former Milwaukee Road rights of way after the Soo Line acquired the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota holdings of the bankrupt Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific RR) and divested its older railway trackage in Wisconsin. In 1993 the Wisconsin Central also acquired the Green Bay and Western Railroad and the Fox River Valley Railroad.
In 1995, the Wisconsin Central acquired the 322 mile Canadian Algoma Central Railroad whose tracks ran north of Sault Saint Marie to Hearst, Ontario. The Algoma Central is best known for its tourist popular passenger train through the Agawa Canyon and Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park near Lake Superior Provincial Park.
In 2001 the Wisconsin Central was purchased by a second Canadian railroad, the Canadian National. Along with the former Illinois Central, the former Wisconsin Central became part of Canadian National's United States holdings and its property integrated into the CN system.
At the time of the railroad's sale to Canadian National Railway, Wisconsin Central operated over 2,850 miles of track in the Great Lakes region. The railroad extended from Chicago into and through Wisconsin to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth, Minnesota, to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and north (through the Algoma Central Railway) to Hearst, Ontario.
Timeline
- April 3, 1987: The Soo Line railroad announces the sale of its Lake States Transportation Division to private investors, forming the new Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation.
- October 11, 1987: The first WC train runs, from Stevens Point, WI to North Fond Du Lac, WI.
- May 1991: WC shares begin trading under the ticker symbol WCTC, raising $36.2 million.
- 1992: Railway Age Magazine names WC "Regional Railroad of the Year".
- 1993: WC acquires the Fox River Valley Railroad and Green Bay and Western railroads through a new subsidiary, Fox Valley & Western Ltd.
- 1993: A WC-led consortium acquires New Zealand Rail Ltd through a new subsidiary, Wisconsin Central International, and renames it Tranz Rail in 1995.
- 1995: WC acquires the Algoma Central Railway through a new subsidiary, Wisconsin Central Canada Holdings.
- 1995: A WC-led consortium acquires Rail Express Systems Ltd in the United Kingdom.
- 1996: WC partners with Canadian National (CN) and CSX, inaugurating a new intermodal shipping corridor between the west and east coasts of North America.
- 1996: The three trainload rail freight operators in the United Kingdom are united under a new WC subsidiary, English Welsh and Scottish Railway Holdings Ltd (EWS).
- 1997: EWS acquires two more freight railways in the United Kingdom.
- 1997: Another WC subsidiary, the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Company, acquires 207 miles of track from Union Pacific forming a WC connection between Green Bay, WI and Ishpeming, MI.
- 1997: A new WC subsidiary, Australian Transport Network Limited (ATN), acquires a one-third ownership and an operating interest TasRail in Tasmania.
- 1997: Six months later, ATN acquires the Emu Bay Railway in Tasmania.
- January 30, 2001: WC and CN announce plans for CN to purchase WC for $800 million and the assumption of $400 million of WC's debt.
- September 7, 2001: The Surface Transportation Board approves the sale of WC to CN.
- October 9, 2001: WC is acquired by CN.
References
- Romell, Rick; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (January 31 2001), Wisconsin Central sold.
External links
- [The Wisconsin Central Story]
- [Soo Line Historical and Technical Society] (includes information on both WC incarnations)
- redirect
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