Wisconsin Northern Railroad
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The Wisconsin Northern Railroad (reporting mark WN) is the trade name employed by Progressive Rail to operate Script error: No such module "convert". of railroad in northern Wisconsin and began operations on November 29, 2004.[1][2]
Trackage
The railroad operates on trackage leased from the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Wisconsin Central Limited (WC). The UP trackage extends north from Norma, a junction with the UP in northern Chippewa Falls, to Cameron.[3] It was completed by the Chippewa Falls and Northern Railway, a predecessor of the Chicago and North Western Railway, in 1883.[4]
At Cameron, the Wisconsin Northern splits, with WC trackage continuing north to Rice Lake and west to Almena.[5] The Rice Lake line was opened by the Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railway in 1894, and the Almena line by the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway in 1884. Both became part of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (Soo Line),[6] and were spun off to the WC in 1987.
Major commodities
In the past, traffic consisted of shipments of resins, scrap materials, lumber, logs, fertilizer, steel, feed grade grains, and tallow.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". However, in December 2011, EOG Resources opened a frac sand processing plant. Sand now represents over 90% of the shipments, with the railroad hauling an estimated 160,000 tons of sand per month. This volume of traffic has required a total rebuilding of much of the trackage as well as construction of new interchange and car staging yards. This new booming mining business, while making the Wisconsin Northern quite profitable, has also killed the railroad's hopes of expanding its trackage rights. Progressive Rail had planned to contract with the state of Wisconsin to operate a 45-mile extension that would have connected the Wisconsin Northern with the Canadian National mainline, however when the CN discovered the booming Wisconsin sand market, they backed out of the sale of the rail line they had attempted to previously abandon.[7]
Equipment
The railroad's locomotive roster is on loan from parent Progressive Rail and includes one EMD SW1500, two EMD GP15-1s, an EMD SD38-2, and two new EMD SD40M-2s. [8] units operating along the system.[9]
| Number | Model | Lettered |
|---|---|---|
| 1500 | EMD GP15-1 | City of Barron |
| 42 | EMD SD38-2 | |
| 43 | EMD SD40M-2 | |
| 45 | EMD SD40M-2 |
See also
References
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- ↑ Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation, Progressive Rail Begins Operations, accessed February 2009
- ↑ Wisconsin Northern gets rolling Trains March 2005 page 12
- ↑ STB Finance Docket No. 34597, October 29, 2004
- ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission, 137 I.C.C. 1 (1928): Valuation Docket No. 549, Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company
- ↑ STB Finance Docket No. 34600, November 12, 2004
- ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission, 143 I.C.C. 547 (1928): Valuation Docket No. 370, Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company et al.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Retrieved 2013-12-02
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Trains, Retrieved 2018-27-02
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Wisconsin Northern Locomotive Roster
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External links
- Progressive Rail, Inc. - Official parent company website
- Railroad Picture Archives - Photographs of the Wisconsin Northern Railroad