The Chicago and Milwaukee Railway was a predecessor of the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a 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 track in seven states befor ...

(C&NW) 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 ...

s of

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

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Illinois portion was chartered on February 17, 1851, as the Illinois Parallel Railroad. Its charter permitted construction of a 44.6 mile rail line northward from Chicago through

Waukegan, Illinois ''(Fortress or Trading Post)'' , image_flag = , image_seal = , blank_emblem_size = 150 , blank_emblem_type = Logo , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivisi ...

paralleling Lake Michigan at a distance of no less than ten miles from the lake's west shore. The IPRR's board first met on September 9, 1851. On February 5, 1853, the line's name became the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad, and construction reached Waukegan on December 19, 1854. In a major ceremony in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

on Saturday May 19, 1855, the line was connected with the Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago Railroad (chartered March 13, 1851 in Wisconsin; renamed Milwaukee and Chicago Railroad on March 6, 1857), also exactly 44.6 miles in length. The Chicago and Milwaukee and Milwaukee and Chicago Railroads merged on June 22, 1863, to form the Chicago and Milwaukee Railway. The

Northwestern Union Railway Northwestern or North-western or North western may refer to: * Northwest, a direction * Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois ** The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program ** N ...

was merged into this company on January 11, 1881, and on April 12, 1881, it merged with the

Milwaukee and Madison Railway Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

and

Sheboygan and Western Railway Sheboygan may refer to: Places in Wisconsin * Sheboygan, Wisconsin, city * Sheboygan (town), Wisconsin, town * Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, county * Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, city * Sheboygan Falls (town), Wisconsin, town * Sheboygan River ...

to form the Chicago, Milwaukee and North Western Railway, which was absorbed into the C&NW in June 1883.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Milwaukee Railway Defunct Illinois railroads Railway companies established in 1863 Railway companies disestablished in 1881 Predecessors of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company Defunct Wisconsin railroads American companies established in 1863