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Four to Remember by Robert Olmsted CGW CB&Q GM&O Milw w/ dust jacket
Four to Remember by Robert Olmsted
Four to Remember
Robert Olmsted
Hard Cover with Dust jacket
120 Pages
Copyright 1993 First Printing
Contents
CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY
GULF MOBILE & OHIO
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, ST. PAUL & PACIFIC
Four of the unique Midwest rail systems, which have vanished, are recalled in this volume. For some it was disaster, for some it has been more pleasant.
For the Chicago Great Western Railway, merger into the North Western in mid-1968 was a disaster. Within 15 years, virtually every trace of the CGW was gone, leaving only some slowly crumbling grades to mark its passing. Just in a few widely scattered areas, a few short stretches of CGW rail still exist.
For the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, merger into the Burlington Northern in March 1970 brought continued prosperity. While many branch lines have been pulled up, especially in Iowa and Missouri, the mains are busier than ever under BN ownership.
For the Gulf Mobile & Ohio, merger with the often-parallel Illinois Central in August 1972, to form the Illinois Central Gulf, was a disaster. Wherever there was a redundancy or an excess, it was the GM&O route which was abandoned or downgraded. While the Chicago-St. Louis and the Kansas City-St. Louis routes may yet be saved after all (acquired by the Southern Pacific and the Gateway Western respectively), the issue still is too early to call.
For the Milwaukee Road, acquisition by the Soo Line in early 1985, still is a slowly developing story. Initially a surprised Soo Line had some problems in financially swallowing the Milwaukee Road. (A federal judge had awarded the Milwaukee to the Soo in a surprise decision, despite a larger bid on the table from the C&NW.) Now the story has evolved into just what the Soo might wish to do with the various parts of the Milwaukee. As an example of the dilemma, the Soo sold away its upgraded, high-speed, but single-tracked, Chicago-Twin Cities main, and kept the Milwaukee's double-track line which was much in need of repair. Now, the Soo is spending bundles to upgrade (and CTC single-track) much of the former double track route. Further complications remain, for the Soo-Milwaukee merger is only into its seventh year, far less than the other three systems included here, for which the conclusions are more definite.
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