Wisconsin Northern Railroad

The Wisconsin Northern Railroad (reporting mark WN) is the trade name employed by Progressive Rail to operate 62.3 miles (100.3 km) of railroad in northern Wisconsin and began operations on November 29, 2004.[1][2]

Wisconsin Northern Railroad
Wisconsin Northern locomotives 1501, 42, and 43 in Chetek
Overview
Parent companyProgressive Rail, Inc.
HeadquartersLakeville, Minnesota
Reporting markWN
LocaleNorthern Wisconsin
Dates of operationNovember 29, 2004–present
PredecessorChicago and North Western Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length62.3 mi (100.3 km)
Other
Websiteprogressiverail.com/rrwnr/wnr.html
Route map

 CN to Rice Lake
 Canadian National Railway
 Cameron
 Chetek
 New Auburn
 Bloomer
 Norma
 Chippewa Falls
 Union Pacific Railroad

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. 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
  1. Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation, Progressive Rail Begins Operations, accessed February 2009
  2. Wisconsin Northern gets rolling Trains March 2005 page 12
  3. STB Finance Docket No. 34597, October 29, 2004
  4. Interstate Commerce Commission, 137 I.C.C. 1 (1928): Valuation Docket No. 549, Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company
  5. STB Finance Docket No. 34600, November 12, 2004
  6. Interstate Commerce Commission, 143 I.C.C. 547 (1928): Valuation Docket No. 370, Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company et al.
  7. "Frac sand mining spurs rural rail". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Retrieved 2013-12-02
  8. "Wisconsin Northern adds SD45Rs to roster". Trains, Retrieved 2018-27-02
  9. "The Diesel Shop". Wisconsin Northern Locomotive Roster
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