View source for Green Bay and Western Railroad

{{Short description|Railroad in Wisconsin, USA}}
{{Redirect|GBW}}
{{Infobox rail
| railroad_name    =Green Bay and Western Railroad
| logo_filename    =Green bay route logo.png
| logo_size        =100
| image            =GBW 2407 at IRM.jpg
| image_caption    =Ex-[[Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad|LS&I]] #2407 at the [[Illinois Railway Museum]]
| gauge            = {{track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| old_gauge        =
| marks            =GBW
| locale           =[[Wisconsin]]
| start_year       =1896
| end_year         =1993
| successor_line   =[[Wisconsin Central Ltd.]]
| hq_city          =[[Green Bay, Wisconsin]]
| map              = {{Green Bay and Western Railroad|inline=y}}
}}
The '''Green Bay and Western Railroad''' {{Reporting mark|GBW}} served central [[Wisconsin]] for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the [[Wisconsin Central Ltd.|Wisconsin Central]] in 1993.  For much of its history the railroad was also known as the '''Green 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.

==History==

[[File:(Kewaunee) Green Bay and Western Railroad Power (27559892621).jpg|thumb|left|A Green Bay and Western Railroad train, 1964]]
[[File:Green Bay and Western RR 1920.jpg|thumb|Share of the Green Bay and Western Railroad Company, issued 10. February 1920]]
The Green Bay and Western Railroad was formed in 1896 from the bankruptcy proceedings of the [[Green Bay, Winona and Saint Paul Railroad|Green Bay, Winona & St Paul]] and the [[Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad|Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western]].  The existing route, 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|Western Refrigerator Line Company]] (WRX) to operate a 500-car fleet of [[refrigerator car|reefers]].  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 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]] purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978.  The Green Bay & Western and the [[Fox River Valley Railroad]] were merged into a new [[Wisconsin Central Ltd.|Wisconsin Central]] subsidiary, the [[Fox Valley and Western Railroad]] August 27, 1993.  Wisconsin Central was, in turn, purchased by Canadian National railway in 2001.

==Main line==
[[File:OriginalGB&WRRYardsBlackCreekWi.jpg|thumb|Green Bay & Western Railway yards in [[Black Creek, Wisconsin|Black Creek]].]]

* '''Kewaunee - Casco Junction - Green Bay'''. Opened - November 1891. 2015 Status - Open from Green Bay - Luxemburg. Points past that are part of the [[Ahnapee 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 the [[Chicago, 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.<ref name=greenbayroute>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenbayroute.com/| title=Home| website=Green Bay & Western Lines}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississippi/pagesA/umissAR09.html| title=Winona Bridge Railway| website=John A. Weeks III}}</ref>

==Branch lines==
*'''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, Wisconsin|Prentice]] to connect with the [[Soo Line Railroad|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 Railway (1897–1954)|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, open as of 2021. Although only {{Convert|2.2|mi|km}} 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 in May 1896, open as of 2021.
*'''La Crosse Branch (La Crosse to Onalaska)''', {{Convert|6.38|mi|km}}, opened 1876, abandoned 1922. Connected to main line via [[trackage rights]] over the [[C&NW]] from Marshland.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Green Bay Route |last1=Specht |first1=Ray |last2=Specht |first2=Ellen |last3=Cutlip |first3=Scott M. |last4=Fisher |first4=Charles E. |journal=[[Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin]] |volume=115 |date=October 1966 |issue=115 |pages=1–92 |jstor=43518194}}</ref>

==Lake Michigan ferry connections==
The GBW prospered from 1892 when a [[train ferry]] was introduced across Lake Michigan from [[Kewaunee, Wisconsin|Kewaunee]] eliminating [[transhipment]] and bypassing the congested Chicago area. Ferries ran to [[Frankfort, Michigan]], operated by the [[Ann Arbor Railroad (1895–1976)|Ann Arbor Railroad]] and [[Ludington, Michigan]], operated by the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|Chesapeake & Ohio]].

Frankfort services ended around 1980 and those to Ludington in 1990.<ref name=greenbayroute />

==See also==
{{Portal|Railways}}
*[[Western Refrigerator Line]]
*[[Ahnapee and Western Railway]]
*[[Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

{{Former Class I}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Bay Western  Railroad}}
[[Category:Defunct Wisconsin railroads]]
[[Category:Former Class I railroads in the United States]]
[[Category:Predecessors of the Canadian National Railway]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1896]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1993]]
[[Category:Transportation in Green Bay, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Defunct Minnesota railroads]]
[[Category:1896 establishments in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:1993 disestablishments in Wisconsin]]