The Cheyenne and Northern Railway was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. The railroad was incorporated in 1886 to build a line from

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...

into northern Wyoming and Montana. The line extended to Wendover on the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

. It was absorbed by

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

subsidiary Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway and later became part of the

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...

when the Union Pacific went into receivership.

History

The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 closed much of northeastern Wyoming to exploration and settlers. As a result, the Union Pacific was reluctant to build a line north from Cheyenne. The defeat of the Sioux in the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 re-opened the region and it was quickly populated by ranchers and settlers. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s businessmen and politicians in Wyoming petitioned the Union Pacific to build a line to support the growing region. In 1886 the Wyoming Central Railway, a subsidiary of

Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (FE&MV), sometimes called "the Elkhorn," was a railroad established in 1869 in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. About The company constructed several lines in Nebraska, inclu ...

entered eastern Wyoming. Territorial Governor Francis E. Warren estimated that Wyoming Central shipped $300,000 worth of cattle east through

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

instead of Cheyenne. Due to fears that the lingering dislike for Union Pacific would prevent the passage of a bond, cattleman

Thomas Sturgis Thomas Sturgis (April 6 or 30, 1846 – February 25, 1914) was a businessman, soldier and financier. He was appointed the second New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor Seth Low on January 1, 1902 and served in that position until the end of the ...

suggested to Union Pacific that a local company be created to build the line which could then be absorbed into the larger company at a later time. The Cheyenne and Northern Railway was established in March 1886. The initial investors included Warren, Sturgis and Phillip Dater, first president of the Cheyenne Club. The eventual goal of the railroad was to build all the way north to the

Northern Pacific Northern Pacific may refer to: * Northern Pacific Airways, an upcoming airline * Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, an NCAA Division I conference * Northern Pacific Hockey League, an American Tier III junior ice hockey league * Northern Pac ...

line in Montana but the immediate target was Douglas, Wyoming. Over a year and a half the line was constructed north to Wendover. In the meantime, the Wyoming Central had reached Douglas. The investors lost interest in continuing north and construction ceased. Union Pacific took over the line in 1887. They extended the line slightly to Orin Junction to connect to the Wyoming Central line. In 1890 Union Pacific created the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway comprising the Cheyenne and Northern,

Colorado Central Railroad The Colorado Central Railroad was a U.S. railroad company that operated in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in the late 19th century. It was founded in the Colorado Territory in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush to ship gold from the mountain ...

, Denver, Texas and Gulf Railroad, and other companies. In 1893 UPD&G went into receivership along with the rest of Union Pacific. The line was combined with the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway railroad in 1898 to form the Colorado and Southern. C&S was merged into the Burlington Northern system in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheyenne Northern Railway Defunct Wyoming railroads Predecessors of the Colorado and Southern Railway Railway companies established in 1886 Railway companies disestablished in 1890