The Twin Cities and Western Railroad is a
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 prep ...
operating 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 ...
of
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 t ...
which started operations on July 27, 1991. Trackage includes the former
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 ...
"Ortonville Line", originally built as the first part of the Pacific extension of the
Milwaukee Road
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 Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...
. This main line extends from
Hopkins, Minnesota
Hopkins is a small suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, located west of Minneapolis. Hopkins was the headquarters of Minneapolis-Moline, which was a large manufacturer of tractors and agricultural equipment in the United ...
(a Western suburb of the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
) to
Appleton, Minnesota
Appleton is a city in Swift County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 1,412 at the 2010 census. The town is home to a vacant medium-security prison, the Prairie Correctional Facility, which is wholly owned and operated by Correctio ...
. The line was originally built between Hopkins and
Cologne, Minnesota
Cologne is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,519 at the 2010 census. The city was at a population of about 1,981 people at the 2020 United States Census. The city is approximately 30 miles from Minneapolis.
...
in 1876 by Hastings and Dakota Railroad. In 1913, the Milwaukee Road rerouted it, reducing the curves. The line was eventually extended to the Pacific.
As of 1991, the TCWR also has trackage rights over the
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 ...
and the
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 ...
. In 2012, the TCWR purchased the Sisseton Milbank Railroad and it now operates as a subsidiary of the Twin Cities and Western Railway.
The company is also affiliated with the
Red River Valley and Western Railroad
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
in
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
, and the
Minnesota Prairie Line, which has a junction with the Twin Cities and Western in
Norwood Young America, Minnesota.
Current routing
Until Hiawatha Avenue (
Minnesota State Highway 55
Minnesota State Highway 55 (MN 55) is a highway in west-central, central, and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the North Dakota state line near Tenney and continues east and southeast to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Hi ...
) was reconstructed in the 1990s and plans for the
Hiawatha Line light rail service entered late stages, the Twin Cities and Western operated on Canadian Pacific's Bass Lake Subdivision through the 29th Street railway trench in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, now known as the
Midtown Greenway
The Midtown Greenway is a rail trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota that follows the path of an abandoned route of the Milwaukee Road railway. It is considered under segregated cycle facilities.
Used both recreationally and for commuting, the p ...
. The tracks continued along the former Milwaukee Road
Short Line into
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, where TC&W would access rail yards operated by Canadian Pacific, the
Minnesota Commercial Railway
The Minnesota Commercial Railway is a short line railroad in the United States.
This railroad operates out of the St. Paul area with service to Minneapolis, Bayport, Hugo, Fridley and New Brighton. It is considered a switching and terminal ra ...
, and others. As part of the Hiawatha project, the railroad's route to St Paul was moved from the 29th Street Corridor to the Kenilworth Corridor (former M&STL/C&NW track) to Cedar Lake Junction onto the BNSF just west of downtown Minneapolis. The re-route occurred August 1998.
After the re-route onto to Kenilworth Corridor occurred in 1998, HCRRA constructed the Kenilworth Trail adjacent to the railroad track, using railroad right-of-way acquired from the Chicago North Western Railway by the
Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority.
The Kenilworth alignment had first been built as part of the
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and eventually became part 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 ...
. The Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority acquired the land (1984?) prior to when C&NW abandoned the line (1993?) .
The existing freight operation shares the corridor with the
Kenilworth Trail
The Kenilworth Trail is a paved bicycle trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs nearly and acts as a connector between the Cedar Lake Trail in the north and the Midtown Greenway in the south. Like the Cedar Lake Trail, most of th ...
.
The temporary alignment was only expected to last five years and was proposed as a way to preserve the route for future transit.
As of 2009, it had been more than two decades since this alignment opened. The connection was reaching the end of its lifespan and required rehabilitation.
TC&W ultimately rejected any rerouting that took it off the Kenilworth Corridor, pointing out that plans to reroute their trains onto Canadian Pacific's
MN&S Spur were unsafe. In 2018, it was agreed to allow the railroad to continue using the Kenilworth line, and plans for co-locating freight rail and light rail were made.
Planned changes
A rerouting of the line was re-examined in 2009 for the planned
Southwest Corridor light-rail line. Building the connection to the MN&S Subdivision was expected to cost about $48 million.
A more detailed analysis was expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
Because there was no freight rail engineering study done on the planned re-route of the freight rail route, and once the freight rail engineering study was completed in 2013, the impact of a safe re-route of freight rail was determined to negatively impact the local community, therefore the local community rejected freight rail reroute plans to the MN&S Subdivision in 2014.
Rolling stock and other properties
TC&W has 9
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
Generation II locomotives (4
EMD GP20
An EMD GP20 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between November 1959 and April 1962. Power was provided by an EMD 567D2 16-cylinder turbocharged engine which generated . EMD was initially hesi ...
s, 3
EMD GP30
The EMD GP30 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada ( ...
s, 2
EMD GP15Cs), 2 ex-KCC
EMD GP39-2
The EMD GP39-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1974 and 1984. 239 examples of this locomotive were built for American railroads. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP39-2 was an upgraded GP39 ...
s, 1
EMD CF7
The Santa Fe CF7 is an EMD F-unit railroad locomotive that has had its streamlined carbody removed and replaced with a custom-made, "general purpose" body in order to adapt the unit for switching duty. All of the conversions were performed by the ...
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...
unit, 1 Paducah rebuilt
EMD GP10
The EMD GP10 is a diesel-electric locomotive that is the result of rebuilding a GP7, GP9 or GP18.
The Illinois Central Railroad had three separate rebuild programs to upgrade their old EMD GPs and GPs that they had purchased from equipment de ...
, 1
EMD SW1200
An EMD SW1200 is a 4 axle diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power is provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generates . Additional SW1200 production was complet ...
, and 6
EMD GP38-2
The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cylin ...
s. Trains typically run six days per week between the Twin Cities and Renville with two- or three-day-per-week service west of Renville to Milbank, SD.
In order to protect a potentially important shipping route, TC&W purchased the
Dan Patch Line Bridge
The Dan Patch Line Bridge is a railroad swing bridge that carries the Canadian Pacific Railway's MN&S Subdivision across the Minnesota River in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The MN&S Subdivision originated as the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester ...
over the
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa.
It ris ...
in
Savage
Savage may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Savage Glacier, Ellsworth Land
* Savage Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Savage Ridge, Victoria Land
United States
* Savage, Maryland, an unincorporated community
* Savage, Minnesota, a city
* Savage, Mi ...
. TC&W has trackage rights over CP's MN&S Subdivision to reach Savage.
Company officers
Presidents of the TC&W have included:
* Dennis Shaffer, 1991 - 1993
* William F. Drusch, 1993 - 2007.
* Mark J. Wegner, 2007 -present.
References
External links
Twin Cities & Western Railroadcompany site
Unofficial Twin Cities & Western Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twin Cities Western Railroad
Minnesota railroads
South Dakota railroads
Spin-offs of the Canadian Pacific Railway