Wisconsin
Central Railway - (en)
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. 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
mostly original Wisconsin Central track and 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 owned or had interests in railroad
companies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Wisconsin Central Ltd divested itself of its foreign holdings and was
purchased by Canadian National Railway in 2001.
The original Wisconsin
Central Railway
Locale Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois
Dates of operation 1871 – 1961
Successor line Soo Line
Track gauge 4 ft 8˝ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters
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.
Sheep are unloaded from the upper level of a Wisconsin Central stock
car in Chicago, Illinois, in 1904.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.
Route map of Wisconsin Central's North American trackage in 1998
Reporting marks WC, SSAM, WCCL, GBW, AC
Locale Wisconsin and surrounding states
Dates of operation 1987 – 2001
Successor line Canadian National
Track gauge 4 ft 8˝ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters
At one time, Wisconsin Central Ltd. (AAR reporting marks 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 popular
tourist 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 its sale to Canadian National, 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
WC 7510 leads a short manifest train westbound across Michigan's Upper
Peninsular
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: Three trainload rail freight operators in the UK are united into
a new WC subsidiary, English Welsh and Scottish Railway Holdings Ltd
(EWS).
1997: EWS acquires two more freight railways in the UK.
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.
1999: Railroad industry trade journal Railway Age magazine names WC
president Edward A. Burkhardt its Railroader of the Year.
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
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