| Green Bay and Western Railroad | |
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GBW #2407 at the Illinois Railway Museum |
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| Reporting mark | GBW |
| Locale | Wisconsin |
| Dates of operation | 1896–1993 |
| Successor | Wisconsin Central |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Green Bay, Wisconsin |
The Green Bay and Western Railroad (reporting mark GBW) served the transportation and freight haulage needs of northern Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its operating history the railroad was also known as the Green Bay Route.
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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, which was originally built by the Green Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad, linking Green Bay, Wisconsin, and East Winona, Wisconsin, 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 1870's, 310 000 in 1915 but only 1000 in 1947 having reverted to mixed trains. 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 purchases 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.
Kewaunee - Casco Junction - Green Bay. Opened - November 1891. 2011 Status - Open from Green Bay to Luxemburg - points past that are part of the Ahnapee State Trail.
Green Bay - New London. Opened - November 1871. 2011 Status - Open to industrial spurs in west Green Bay. Otherwise abandoned.
New London - Wisconsin Rapids. Opened - January 1873. 2011 Status - Open New London - Manawa and Plover - Wisconsin Rapids. Otherwise abandoned.
Wisconsin Rapids - Merrillan. Opened - January 1873. 2011 Status - Open.
Merrillan - Marchland. Opened December 1873. 2011 Status - Open.
Marshland - East Winona. Opened 1883. 2011 Status - Open.
East Winona - Winona. Opened 1891. The GBW operated over this section as one third owner of the Winona Bridge Railway Company. Two thirds was owned by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Status 2011 Abandoned. The bridge was closed to traffic in 1984 and dismantled in 1990. [1]
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 conect 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. Status 2011 - Open. Although only 2.2 miles 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 May 1896. Status 2011 - Open.
La Crosse Branch (La Crosse to Onalaska) 6.38 miles. Opened 1876. Abandoned 1922. Connected to main line via trackage rights over the C&NW from Marshland.[2]
The GBW prospered from 1892 when a train ferry was introduced across Lake Michigan from Kewaunee eliminating transhipment 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. [3]
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