Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company - Illinois 1936

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company issued in 1936. This historic document was printed by the American Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with vignettes of trains, train stations, wheels, and gauges. This item is hand signed by the company’s vice-president and treasurer and is over 71 years old.


Certificate Vignette

The Chicago and North Western Railway was chartered on June 7, 1859. It had purchased the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad five days earlier. On February 15, 1865, it officially merged with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, which had been chartered on January 16, 1836. Since the Galena & Chicago Union started operating in December, 1848, and the Fond du Lac railroad started in March, 1855, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad is considered to be the origin of the North Western railroad system.

The North Western had owned a majority of the stock of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (Omaha Road) since 1882. On January 1, 1957, it officially leased the company, and merged it into the North Western in 1972. The Omaha Road's main line ran from an interchange with the North Western at Elroy, Wisconsin, to the Twin Cities, down to Sioux City, Iowa, and then finally to Omaha, Nebraska. The North Western picked up several important short railroads during its later years. It finalized acquisition of the Litchfield and Madison railroad on January 1, 1958. The Litchfield and Madison railroad was a 44-mile bridge road from East St. Louis to Litchfield, Illinois. On July 30, 1968, the North Western acquired two former interurbans – the 36-mile Des Moines and Central Iowa Railway (DM&CI;), and the 110-mile Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway (FDDM&S;). The DM&CI; gave access to the Firestone plant in Des Moines, Iowa, and the FDDM&S; provided access to gypsum mills in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

On November 1, 1960, the North Western acquired the rail properties of the 1,500-mile Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. In spite of its name, it ran only from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Peoria, Illinois. This acquisition provided traffic and modern rolling stock, and eliminated competition.

On July 1, 1968, the 1,500 mile (2,400 km) Chicago Great Western Railway was merged into the North Western. This railroad went from Chicago to Oelwein, Iowa. From there, separate lines went to the Twin Cities, Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. A connection from Hayfield, Minnesota, to Clarion, Iowa, provided a Twin Cities to Omaha main line. The Chicago Great Western duplicated the North Western's routes from Chicago to the Twin Cities and Omaha, but went the long way. This merger provided access to Kansas City, Missouri, and eliminated competition. After abandoning a plan to merge with the Milwaukee Road in 1970, Benjamin W. Heineman, who had headed the CNW and parent Northwest Industries since 1956, arranged the sale of the railroad to its employees in 1972. The words "Employee Owned" were part of the company logo in the ensuing period.

C&NW; #8540 at Shawnee, Wyoming.After the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (Rock Island) stopped operating on March 31, 1980, the North Western won a bidding war with the Soo Line for purchase of the roughly 800-mile "Spine Line" from the Twin Cities to Kansas City, Missouri, via Des Moines, Iowa. The North Western's bid of $93 million was approved on June 20, 1983, by the ICC. The line was well-engineered, but because of deferred maintenance on the part of the bankrupt Rock Island, a major rehabilitation was undertaken in 1984. The North Western then began to abandon the Oelwein to Kansas City section of its former Chicago Great Western trackage, which duplicated Spine Line service.

In April, 1995, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad.

Chicago and North Western locomotives continued to operate in their paint schemes for several years after the merger. As of June 22, 2006, only two engines were left in full C&NW; paint (C&NW; 8646 and 8701). Union Pacific has decided to leave these 2 locomotives in their current condition until either of them suffers a serious mechanical problem. in which they will be overhauled and repainted at North Little Rock. There are several other locomotives in full C&NW; paint still scattered across the country. but these are no longer owned by Union Pacific. For instance CNW 411 and CNW 1518 are kept and preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, CNW 4160 is kept on the outskirts in a railroad yard in Janesville, Wisconsin, and several other GP7s, GP9s, and a few other C&NW; locomotives are owned by various regionals, shortlines, or industries. in addition to this, several other units have "patches" with a different road number and reporting mark over their C&NW; paint schemes. there are still about 40 of these on the Union Pacific. and several others elsewhere.

Union Pacific continues to follow its new tradition of releasing "Heritage" unit to represent the paint schemes of companies absorbed by UP. After completion of painting at the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad's Horicon, Wisconsin shop, Union Pacific 1995, an EMD SD70ACe locomotive painted in a "Heritage" Chicago & North Western paint scheme, was unveiled on July 15, 2006, at Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago, IL. OTC is the former North Western Station now serving as UP's Metra terminus. The unit was then placed in dedicated service on former C&NW; trackage, sometimes paired with the C&NW; 8646 and 8701.

History from Wikipedia and OldCompanyResearch.com.