The ''Copper Country Limited'' was a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

operated by the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

(the "Milwaukee Road") and the

Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, west ...

(DSS&A) between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the C ...

, in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

. It operated from 1907 to 1968.

History

According to historian Jim Scribbins the name "Copper Country Limited" was first used in March 1907 to describe an existing Chicago–

Champion, Michigan Champion is an unincorporated community in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of ...

–Calumet service which had run since 1899. The DSS&A handled the train north of Champion. The train operated overnight in both directions. With the arrival of the ''

Chippewa-Hiawatha The ''Chippewa'' consisting of mostly conventional components, and later known as the ''Chippewa-Hiawatha'', with a streamlined consist was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") betw ...

'' on the Milwaukee Division during May 1938, the ''Copper Country Limited'' took a back seat on the Milwaukee Road's trains to Upper Michigan. During 1958, the through Sault Ste. Marie sleeper was discontinued entirely after several cutbacks leaving only the sleeper to

Calumet Calumet may refer to: Places United States *Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana **Calumet River **Calumet Trail, Indiana ** Calumet (East Chicago) * Calumet, Colorado *Calumet, Iowa * Calumet, Michigan *Calumet, Minnesota * Calumet ...

. As ridership continued to slide the Milwaukee offered the sleeper only three days a week beginning in the spring of 1964. During its final years, the ''Copper Country'' carried only a few cars. Its existence persisted almost entirely because of the lucrative

U.S. mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

contracts that kept many similar trains running across the country. The ''Copper Country Limited'' lost its mail car in October 1967. With little reason to keep it and few riders remaining, the train made its last runs on March 7, 1968.

Timetable

The summer of 1967 timetable shows the northbound ''Copper Country Limited'' leaving Chicago at 7:25 p.m., arriving at Milwaukee at 8:50 p.m., leaving Milwaukee at 9:20 p.m, stopping at Green Bay from 12:20 a.m. to 12:55 a.m. and arriving at

at 6:45 a.m. On

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sa ...

tracks, the ''Copper Country Limited'' left Champion at 7:20 a.m. and arrived in Calumet, Mich. at 10:05 a.m. The train made 31 stops in the 424 miles between Chicago and Calumet. The southbound ''Copper Country Limited'' left Calumet at 5 p.m., stopped at Champion from 7:40 to 7:50 p.m., Green Bay from 1:15 to 1:45 a.m., Milwaukee from 5:15 to 6:05 a.m. and arrived at Chicago at 7:45 a.m. The route had 31 stops between Calumet and Chicago.

Equipment

In steam days, the ''Copper Country Limited'' was hauled by non-streamlined Pacific

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. In 1952,

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s took over and classes included

EMD FP7 The EMD FP7 is a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Il ...

EMD E7 The E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to J ...

A and

EMD E9 The E9 is a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units were produced and 44 cabless booster B units ...

References

External links

The Copper Country Limited at Calumet in 1966

{{SOO named trains Passenger trains of the Milwaukee Road Railway services introduced in 1907 Railway services discontinued in 1968 Soo Line Railroad