The Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway is a subsidiary
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 ...
of
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
(CN) operating in northern
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, United States. A CN system-wide rebranding beginning in 1995 has seen the DWP logo and name largely replaced by its parent company. The DWP line is CN's connection between
International Falls
International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census.
International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acro ...
and
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
, where the railroad connects to a short stretch of the former
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway before following the former
Wisconsin Central (both now wholly owned by CN) to
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
In 1970 DW&P reported 792 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passenger miles; at the end of that year it operated of road and of track.
History
The
Duluth, Virginia and Rainy Lake Railway (DV&RL) started construction at
Virginia, Minnesota
Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 ...
, in 1901, with the line extending north to
Sand Lake, Minnesota, when the company was purchased by the
Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) who renamed it the
Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railway (DRL&W).
Construction continued through 1908 to extend the line north to
Ranier, Minnesota
Ranier is a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 569 at the 2020 census.
Ranier is located east of the city of International Falls, along State Highway 11 ( MN 11). Fort Frances, Ontario is located directly a ...
, where it bridged the
Rainy River on the
Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...
to cross into
Fort Frances, Ontario, and an interchange with the CNoR mainline between
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, and
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay.
Port Arthur had been the district seat of ...
.
In 1909, CNoR incorporated the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway, and construction started to achieve access south from Virginia, Minnesota, to
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
. Duluth was reached in 1912, providing interchange with several US railways.
The DW&P mainline ran for from Duluth Junction at Fort Frances (CNoR interchange) to DW&P Junction (
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...
(U.S.)).
Following the bankruptcy of the CNoR system and its subsequent
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
by Canada's federal government under the
Canadian National Railways
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
(CNR), the DW&P was maintained as an important connection for CNR to the upper mid-western states.
During the post-
war era, the DW&P line was upgraded to handle an increase in freight and unit train traffic, such as potash, lumber and paper. In 1960 CNR changed its name to "Canadian National/Canadien National" (CN) and introduced a radical new paint scheme and logo. At the same time, DW&P was changed to just DWP and given a logo of similar flowing design to the CN "noodle". CN's other US subsidiary, and
Grand Trunk Western Railroad also underwent a similar name/acronym change to Grand Trunk Western (GT), as did the
Central Vermont Railway.
The DW&P's primary passenger terminal in Duluth was via the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha's (Chicago & North Western) brick/stone structure at 5th Avenue West in the city's downtown area, not far from Duluth Union Depot (served by St. Paul & Duluth
orthern Pacific Duluth & Iron Range, and Duluth, Missabe & Northern). The company eventually opened its own three-story facility in West Duluth during spring 1913 although it was only used as a secondary terminal, primarily housing offices while also maintaining mail/express business. Finally, trackage rights were secured over Northern Pacific for to Rices Point Yard where it gained direct freight interchange points with NP and Milwaukee Road. Within just a few years of the "Peg's" opening, parent Canadian Northern found itself in dire financial straits. It was turned over to the government on September 6, 1918, and later nationalized as part of the Canadian National Railways, incorporated on June 6, 1919. The DW&P maintained a separate identity during this corporate reshuffling and later became part of CN's Grand Trunk Corporation formed on July 31, 1971, which maintained CN's American holdings.
DWP began to play an increasingly important role for CN in the 1990s, following the implementation of the
Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and later the
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA), which contributed to increases in Canadian exports south and US imports north. The DWP provided the most direct connection from CN's western Canadian trackage to the major US interchanges at
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, however unlike rival
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
which had its own
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 ...
subsidiary trackage to use, CN was forced to interchange with US railroads at Duluth, such as Great Northern (later
Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996.
Its historical lineage begins in the e ...
, later
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
) or
Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of Canadian National. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada (Algoma Central Railway), the United Kingdom (DB ...
In the mid-1990s, CN and WC entered into a formal agreement whereby WC agreed to haul CN trains to Chicago.
The mid-1990s also saw a major change in how US subsidiaries like DWP and GT fit into CN's corporate structure whereby in 1993–1994, CN changed the name of its entire system to "CN North America" (CNNA) and began a major locomotive and freight car repainting program which saw the GT and DWP logos and names disappear, with only the holding company "
Grand Trunk Corporation
The Grand Trunk Corporation is the subsidiary holding company for the Canadian National Railway's properties in the United States. It is named for CN subsidiary railroad Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The Association of American Railroads has cons ...
" remaining on paper and legal documents. In 1995, the CNNA experiment ended and the name "Canadian National/Canadien National" with the CN acronym returned, only system-wide in both countries. On November 28, 1995, Canada's federal government
privatized
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
CN and its US subsidiaries.
In 2001, CN entered into an agreement to purchase WC entirely on October 21 of that year, providing CN with an "iron lariat" encircling the industrially-important
Great Lakes Basin. The only gap in CN's Winnipeg–Fort Frances/International Falls–Chicago mainline route was a short section in Duluth where CN had to operate on the
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway to reach WC trackage from the end of DWP trackage. On May 10, 2004, CN purchased DMIR's parent company
Great Lakes Transportation
Great Lakes Transportation LLC is a group of transportation related companies primarily consisting of rail and water carriers catering to the needs of the steel making industry centered on the Great Lakes of North America. GLT companies include:
...
to give total control of the Winnipeg–Chicago corridor and remove the gap at Duluth between DWP and WC trackage.
Merger with Wisconsin Central
![Duluth, Winnipeg, & Pacific Depot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Duluth%2C_Winnipeg%2C_%26_Pacific_Depot.jpg)
In December 2011, the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway was merged into
Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of Canadian National. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada (Algoma Central Railway), the United Kingdom (DB ...
, which is also controlled by
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
. This merger was intended to increase efficiency.
References
*
External links
DWP page at CNLines SIGCanadian Freight Railcar Gallery - Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duluth Winnipeg Pacific Railway
Minnesota railroads
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Former regional railroads in the United States
Canadian National Railway subsidiaries
Predecessors of the Canadian Northern Railway
Railway companies established in 1909
Companies operating former Canadian Northern Railway lines
Wisconsin railroads