The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway or ''Omaha Road'' was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 so ...

s of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. It was incorporated in 1880 as a consolidation of the

Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway The Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway was authorized in 1879 to build a railroad from the Eastern border of Minnesota to Minneapolis. In 1878, it obtained the re-organized West Wisconsin Railway, which had built from Hudson, Wisconsin to Elr ...

and the North Wisconsin Railway. The

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

(C&NW) gained control in 1882. The C&NW leased the Omaha Road in 1957 and merged the company into itself in 1972. Today, portions of the C. St. P. M. and O. are part of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

network, including main lines from

Wyeville, Wisconsin Wyeville is a village in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on Wisconsin Highway 21. The population was 121 at the 2020 census. History The West Wisconsin Railway was authorized in 1876 to build from St. Paul, Minnesota thro ...

, to

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, and St. Paul to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

History

St. Paul to Elroy (Eastern Division)

The

West Wisconsin Railway The West Wisconsin Railway was a small railroad in Wisconsin, connecting the Chicago and North Western Railway at Elroy, Wisconsin to Hudson, Wisconsin. It became part of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ("Omaha Road"). This Oma ...

was authorized in 1876 to build from St. Paul to the Chicago and North Western Railway at

Elroy, Wisconsin Elroy is a city in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Baraboo River and at the east end of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. The population was 1,356 at the 2020 census. History Elroy was named in 1858, supposedly after a place in ...

. It went bankrupt and was acquired in 1878 by the Chicago, St. Paul, and Minneapolis Railway. Its main line from the junction with the Great Northern Railway at St. Paul to Elroy, along with branches from it, became known as the C. St. P. M.'s Eastern Division.White's Reference Book of Railroad Securities. United States: n.p., 1894.

St. Paul to Sioux City (Western Division)

The Land Grant Act of Congress approved March 3, 1857, when Minnesota was still a

Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

and not a state, conferred on the then called Southern Minnesota Railroad Company "lands, interests, rights, powers and privileges" for the proposed line of railroad from St. Paul via

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

, and other points named to the southern boundary of the state in the direction of the mouth of the

Big Sioux river The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. It flows generally southwardly for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataTh ...

. The Minnesota Valley Railroad Company was organized in 1864 under an act of the Minnesota Legislature approved March 4, 1864. This granted to the new company the Southern Minnesota Railroad grant. In 1869, the Minnesota Valley Railroad and Minnesota Central Railroad Company built a bridge across the Mississippi between Mendota and St. Paul at Pickerel Lake. It was the predecessor of today's Omaha Road Bridge Number 15. A freight house was constructed in St. Paul at the foot of Robert Street. The name of the company changed on April 7, 1869, to the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad. The railroad had reached Mankato at the bend of the Minnesota river, and left the river valley to reach

Lake Crystal, Minnesota Lake Crystal is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States, established in 1869. The population was 2,539 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Mankato-North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area. History First arrivals In 1853, ...

. By September 1872, the track was completed to

Le Mars, Iowa Le Mars is a city and the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is located within America Township an ...

, where it joined the Iowa Falls and Sioux City railroad, a predecessor of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

. On October 1, 1872, the railroad was in regular operation from St. Paul through to Sioux City. This main line from Mendota to Le Mars became the St. Paul and Sioux City division, and eventually the Western Division.

Creation

The North Wisconsin Railway was merged along with

to become the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway in 1880. The C. St. P. M. & O. then purchased the St. Paul and Sioux City in 1881. The route was a bow shape between Le Mars to the Twin Cities to Elroy, Wisconsin. The railroad connected the Eastern and Western divisions through trackage leases on the Minneapolis and St. Louis at Merriam Junction to Minneapolis, the Great Northern between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

between Mendota and St. Paul. On Jan. 1, 1881, William Truesdale was appointed the railroad's traffic manager; he would later become the line's vice-president, and still later president of the

Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of . The railroad wa ...

and an industry leader. The Omaha would go on to acquire the Menomonie Railway, the Sault Ste Marie and Southwestern Railway, the Superior Short Line Railway, the Watonwan Valley Railway, the Des Moines Valley Railway, the Chippewa Valley and Northwestern Railway, and Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Northeastern Railway.

Chicago and North Western

In November 1883, control passed to the Chicago and North Western Railway Company. At the end of 1956, C. St. P. M. & O. operated 1,616 miles of road and 2396 miles of track; that year, it reported 2,115 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 65 million passenger-miles.

Union Pacific

Although the CMO had long been absorbed by the C&NW before that railroad was purchased by the Union Pacific, the UP still uses the CMO

reporting mark A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...

on cars.

Derailment

The Pikes Creek Tragedy was a derailment that occurred on October 2, 1884, on the Bayfield branch roughly midway between the towns of Bayfield and Washburn, Wisconsin costing the lives of 10 men and injuring several others.

Disposition of lines

The following main lines were part of the Omaha Road: P. F. Collier and Son, ''New World Atlas and Gazetteer'', 1922
Chicago and North Western Railway
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Saint Paul Minneapolis Omaha Railway Former Class I railroads in the United States Predecessors of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company Defunct Iowa railroads Defunct Minnesota railroads Defunct Nebraska railroads Defunct South Dakota railroads Defunct Wisconsin railroads Railway companies established in 1880 Railway companies disestablished in 1972 American companies established in 1880