The Green Bay and Western Railroad served central

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 ...

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, linking Green Bay, Wisconsin, 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 Ahnapee and Western Railway (A&W) was a common carrier short line railroad located in northeastern Wisconsin. The railroad ran from a connection with the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad at Casco Junction to the lakeshore terminals ...

. 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

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, In ...

purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978. The Green Bay & Western and the Fox River Valley Railroad were merged into a new Wisconsin Central subsidiary, the Fox Valley and Western Railroad 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 Kewa ...

. * 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. 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

. *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 Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subf ...

, 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 Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

over the

C&NW 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 befo ...

from Marshland.

Lake Michigan ferry connections

The GBW prospered from 1892 when a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...

was introduced across Lake Michigan from Kewaunee 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 Frankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,286 at the 2010 census. The elevation of Frankfort is above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Bets ...

, operated by the Ann Arbor Railroad and

Ludington, Michigan Ludington ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,076. Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River ...

, 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