Green Bay and Western Railroad

Ex-LS&I #2407 at theIllinois Railway Museum
Overview
Headquarters	Green Bay, Wisconsin
Reporting mark	GBW
Locale	Wisconsin
Dates of operation	1896–1993
Successor	Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Route map Legend 213.9 mi 344.2 km Winona Mississippi River MN WI 211.9 mi 341 km Bluff Siding 209.3 mi 336.8 km Marshland 204.6 mi 329.3 km Dodge 192.2 mi 309.3 km Arcadia 183.7 mi 295.6 km Independence 177.7 mi 286 km Whitehall 170.8 mi 274.9 km Blair 164.9 mi 265.4 km Taylor 157.9 mi 254.1 km Hixton 151.9 mi 244.5 km Alma Center 148.1 mi 238.3 km Merrillan 141.8 mi 228.2 km Hatfield Black River 135 mi 217 km Waterbury 130 mi 209 km Tremont 121 mi 195 km City Point 110.2 mi 177.3 km Dexterville 104.8 mi 168.7 km Elm Lake Wisconsin River 95.5 mi 153.7 km Grand Rapids 86.6 mi 139.4 km Meehan 81.4 mi 131 km Plover 69.8 mi 112.3 km Amherst Junction 61 mi 98 km Scandinavia 55.3 mi 89 km Ogdensburg 50.2 mi 80.8 km Manawa 45.8 mi 73.7 km Royalton 42.4 mi 68.2 km Northport 39.3 mi 63.2 km New London 38.6 mi 62.1 km New London Junction 30.6 mi 49.2 km Shiocton 23.5 mi 37.8 km Black Creek 17 mi 27 km Seymour 10.2 mi 16.4 km Oneida 6.3 mi 10.1 km Duck Creek 0 mi 0 km Green Bay

TheGreen Bay and Western Railroad (reporting markGBW) served centralWisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into theWisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its history the railroad was also known as theGreen Bay Route. At the end of 1970 it operated 322 miles of track on 255 miles of road; that year it reported 317 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

The Green Bay and Western Railroad was formed in 1896 from the bankruptcy proceedings of theGreen Bay, Winona & St Paul and theKewaunee, Green Bay and Western. The existing route, originally built by theGreen Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad, linkingGreen Bay, Wisconsin, andEast 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 theAhnapee and Western Railway.The GBW established in 1929 theWestern Refrigerator Line Company (WRX) to operate a 500-car fleet ofreefers. 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 tomixed trains. The Green Bay and Western sold off theAhnapee and Western Railway to Vernon M. Bushman and a group of private investors on May 31, 1947. TheItel Corporation purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978. The Green Bay & Western and theFox River Valley Railroad were merged into a newWisconsin Central subsidiary, theFox 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. 2015 Status - Open from Green Bay - Luxemburg. Points past that are part of theAhnapee State Trail.
• 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 theChicago, 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.^[1][2]

• Casco Junction - Algoma - Sturgeon Bay, seeAhnapee 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 toPrentice to connect with theSoo 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 theWisconsin 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 2.2 miles (3.5 km) long from Wisconsin Rapids, it proved valuable as connection to paper industries.
• Stevens Point (Stevens Point and Northern), opened January 1882 fromPlover, purchased by GBW in May 1896, open as of 2021.
• La Crosse Branch (La Crosse to Onalaska), 6.38 miles (10.27 km), opened 1876, abandoned 1922. Connected to main line viatrackage rights over theC&NW from Marshland.^[3]

The GBW prospered from 1892 when atrain ferry was introduced across Lake Michigan fromKewaunee eliminatingtranshipment and bypassing the congested Chicago area. Ferries ran toFrankfort, Michigan, operated by theAnn Arbor Railroad andLudington, Michigan, operated by theChesapeake & Ohio.

Frankfort services ended around 1980 and those to Ludington in 1990.^[1]

• Western Refrigerator Line
• Ahnapee and Western Railway
• Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGreen Bay and 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata