The Nebraska Northwestern Railroad is a

Class III railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

that began operations in April 2010 after it purchased of former Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern, now

Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming and Nebraska. It is owned and opera ...

, previously

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 ...

Cowboy Line A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

track between Dakota Junction and the rail yard at

Chadron, Nebraska Chadron ( ) is a city and the county seat of Dawes County, in the state of Nebraska in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 5,851 at the 2010 census. This city is the location of Chadron State College. Chadron also is ...

. In addition to the 7.22 miles of owned track, the railroad leased the line between the connection with the DME Rapid City line at Dakota Junction and the connection with

BNSF 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 ...

Crawford, Nebraska Crawford is a city in Dawes County, in the northwestern part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 997 at the 2010 census. It was incorporated in 1886 and was named for the late Captain Emme ...

. In addition to the connections to the west, the railroad connected with the remaining 4.5 miles of track owned by the Nebkota Railway coming from the east where a small grain auger loading facility had been built in 2010. Included in the purchase of the track were the railroad facilities at Harker School, including the former Chicago and North Western roundhouse. Nebraska Northwestern intends to use the roundhouse for the repair and refurbishing of large railroad equipment. In the spring of 2011, a 4.9 million dollar Federal TIGER grant was awarded to pay 80% of the cost of upgrading the line between Chadron and Dakota Junction to continuous rail and to add stringers and ties to the bridges between Chadron and Crawford. In 2014 West Plains LLC built a new

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

on the line just east of Dakota Junction.

Purchase of the Nebkota

On August 26, 2013 Nebraska Northwestern Railroad owner John Nielsen filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board to purchase 100% of neighboring railroad Nebkota Railway's stock and assume control of the railroad from its owner, grain company West Plains, LLC. According to the filing, operations of the Nebkota will be coordinated with those of Nebraska Northwestern, and potential shippers will benefit from greater efficiencies while receiving better service. On November 20, 2013 the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...

authorized John Nielsen to gain control of the Nebkota as of December 15, 2013. On April 11, 2017 the Surface Transportation Board approved a corporate merger effective in May 2017 between Nebkota Railway and Nebraska Northwestern Railroad with Nebraska Northwestern being the surviving corporate entity.

References

* * * * * * * Rail transportation in Nebraska {{Nebraska-transport-stub