The Green Bay and Western Railroad served central Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its history the railroad was also known as the Green Bay Route. At the end of 1970 it operated 255 miles of road on 322 miles of track; that year it reported 317 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

History

The Green Bay and Western Railroad was formed in 1896 from the bankruptcy proceedings of the Green Bay, Winona & St Paul and the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western. The existing route, originally built by the

Green Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad The Green Bay and Western Railroad served central Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central Ltd., Wisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its history the railroad was also known as the Green Bay Route. At th ...

, linking

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, and

East Winona, Wisconsin East Winona is an unincorporated community in Buffalo County, Wisconsin Buffalo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,317. Its county seat is Alma. The county was created ...

, formed the bulk of the new railroad. The Green Bay and Western acquired on August 1, 1906 a majority of shares/interest in the Ahnapee and Western Railway. The GBW established in 1929 the Western Refrigerator Line Company (WRX) to operate a 500-car fleet of reefers. Passenger traffic ceased in April 1949. The Line had carried 50,000 passengers yearly in the 1870s, 310,000 in 1915 but only 1,000 in 1947 having reverted to

mixed trains A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of railways, by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. Typically, servic ...

. The Green Bay and Western sold off the Ahnapee and Western Railway to Vernon M. Bushman and a group of private investors on May 31, 1947. The

Itel Corporation Itel may refer to: * Hitachi Data Systems, founded as Itel *Itel Mobile itel Mobile is a China-based mobile phone manufacturer company was founded in 2013 headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Its products are mainly sold in Zimbabwe, South Africa, I ...

purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978. The Green Bay & Western and the

Fox River Valley Railroad The Fox River Valley Railroad was a short-lived railroad in eastern Wisconsin, US from 1988 to 1993 with about 214 miles of track, all of which was former Chicago and North Western Railway trackage. The line ran from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to th ...

were merged into a new Wisconsin Central subsidiary, the

Fox Valley and Western Railroad Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

August 27, 1993. Wisconsin Central was, in turn, purchased by Canadian National railway in 2001.

Main line

* Kewaunee - Casco Junction - Green Bay. Opened - November 1891. 2015 Status - Open from Green Bay - Luxemburg. Points past that are part of the

Ahnapee State Trail The Ahnapee State Trail (also known as the Ahnapee Trail) is a multi-use trail along the Ahnapee River and the Kewaunee River in northeastern Wisconsin. Route Beginning in downtown Sturgeon Bay, the trail winds south along the Ahnapee and Kewau ...

. * Green Bay - New London. Opened - November 1871. 2015 Status - Open to industrial spurs in west Green Bay to MP 4. Otherwise abandoned. Most of the abandoned segment are currently trails. * New London - Wisconsin Rapids. Opened - January 1873. 2015 Status - Open New London (MP 39) - Northport (MP 41.75) and Plover - Wisconsin Rapids. Northport - Manawa is currently out of service. Otherwise abandoned. * Wisconsin Rapids - Merrillan. Opened - January 1873. 2021 Status - Open. * Merrillan - Arcadia. Opened December 1873. 2021 Status - Open. * Arcadia - East Winona. Opened 1883. 2021 Status - O/O/S. * East Winona - Winona. Opened 1891. The GBW operated over this section as one-third owner of the Winona Bridge Railway Company. One third was originally Chicago Great Western, another third was owned by the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. Status 2015 Abandoned. The bridge was closed to traffic in 1984. It was damaged by fire in 1989 and dismantled in 1990.

Branch lines

*Casco Junction - Algoma - Sturgeon Bay, see Ahnapee and Western Railway. *Iola (Iola Northern Railroad), opened 1893 from Scandinavia, operated by the GBW and purchased by them in 1914, abandoned October 1956. Note: The proposed extension to Prentice to connect with the Soo Line was never constructed. *Waupaca (Waupaca Green Bay Railway), opened 1907 from Scandinavia, purchased by GBW in 1922, closed 1947 (passenger traffic ceased some years previously). The Waupaca Line was promoted by local business interests to provide competition to the Wisconsin Central. The Waupaca Depot was unusual in that it was the former Evangelical Lutheran church. *Biron Branch, opened sometime between 1881 and 1896 from Wisconsin Rapids, open as of 2021. Although only long from Wisconsin Rapids, it proved valuable as connection to paper industries. *Stevens Point (Stevens Point and Northern), opened January 1882 from Plover, purchased by GBW in May 1896, open as of 2021. *La Crosse Branch (La Crosse to Onalaska), , opened 1876, abandoned 1922. Connected to main line via trackage rights over the C&NW from Marshland.

Lake Michigan ferry connections

The GBW prospered from 1892 when a train ferry was introduced across Lake Michigan from

Kewaunee Kewaunee is a city in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,837 at the 2020 census. Located on the northwestern shore of Lake Michigan, the city is the county seat of Kewaunee County. Its Menominee name is ''Kewāneh'', ...

eliminating

transhipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

and bypassing the congested Chicago area. Ferries ran to Frankfort, Michigan, operated by the Ann Arbor Railroad and Ludington, Michigan, operated by the Chesapeake & Ohio. Frankfort services ended around 1980 and those to Ludington in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Bay Western Railroad Defunct Wisconsin railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Predecessors of the Canadian National Railway Railway companies established in 1896 Railway companies disestablished in 1993 Transportation in Green Bay, Wisconsin Defunct Minnesota railroads 1896 establishments in Wisconsin 1993 disestablishments in Wisconsin

History

Main line

Branch lines

Lake Michigan ferry connections

See also

References