Chicago Great Western Railway: Map, Photos, History, Rosters

Last revised: October 20, 2026

The Chicago Great Western was the Corn Belt Route, a granger railroad that reached Chicago, the Twin Cities, Omaha, and Kansas City and made its reputation on long, fast freight. Alpheus Beede Stickney assembled the through lines in the 1880s. The company that took the name on July 1, 1892, was the Chicago Great Western Railway. It was the Chicago Great Western Railroad from August 19, 1909, until a new Railway company came out of bankruptcy on February 19, 1941. Reporting mark CGW. The last independent day was June 30, 1968. At 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1968, the property passed to the Chicago & North Western.

Chicago Great Western F3A 150 at the Council Bluffs depot with train 13, the overnight run from Minneapolis, circa 1957

F3A 150 at the railroad’s small depot in Council Bluffs, Iowa, near South 3rd Street and 16th Avenue, with train 13, the overnight run from Minneapolis, circa 1957. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: Predecessors · Building the route · The Railway of 1892 · At a glance · The Railroad and the Railway · Map and timetables · Freight · Passenger trains · Steam and diesel · The North Western

Predecessors

The earliest company in the chain is the Chicago, St. Charles & Mississippi Air Line, organized in 1850 to link Chicago with the Mississippi River. Some grading was done. The Air Line never became a railroad. Many such projects were in the field in those years, early pieces of the Chicago & North Western, the Milwaukee Road, and the Burlington among them, all aimed at a city whose traffic in grain, timber, iron ore, and coal was still growing.

The Minnesota & Northwestern was chartered by the Minnesota legislature on March 4, 1854. H. Roger Grant, in The Corn Belt Route, gives the charter’s instruction. The railroad was to build:

from a point on the North West shore of Lake Superior, by St. Anthony and St. Paul, to such a point on the northern boundary of the State of Iowa as the board of Directors may designate, which shall be selected with reference to the best route to the City of Dubuque.

The Panic of 1857 stopped the project. Stickney and his partner William Marshall later bought the company’s 10,000 shares. Stickney was born in Maine on June 17, 1840. After the Civil War he worked up through several railroads, helped build predecessors of the Chicago & North Western, served James J. Hill’s St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, held posts at the Canadian Pacific and the Minneapolis & St. Louis, and then set out on his own with the Minnesota & Northwestern.

The Chicago Great Western Railway logo. Author’s work.

Another version of the Chicago Great Western Railway logo. Author’s work.

Building the route

Stickney’s first line was about 110 miles, St. Paul to Mona, Iowa, there to meet the Cedar Falls & Minnesota, which the Illinois Central leased. Construction began in 1884. The line was ready for service on September 27, 1885. He treated Chicago as the next requirement. In May 1885 he acquired the Dubuque & Northwestern, incorporated on June 20, 1883, as a narrow-gauge road “to run in a northwestern direction into Minnesota and Dakota and connect with the Northern Pacific.” Financial trouble stopped it before any construction. The piece he wanted was about 50 miles, Dubuque to Compton, near Lamont.

Construction on the Dubuque & Northwestern began on July 29, 1885. The first eight miles, to Durango, were open by the end of that year. On October 20, 1886, a through route from Dubuque to St. Paul was ready, 253 miles. It was a small railroad beside the Chicago & North Western, the Rock Island, the Burlington, and the Milwaukee Road, and it was late in the granger era. The 1880s laid more new track in the United States than any other decade, and those larger roads spent heavily to keep newcomers out.

The Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad Company of Illinois, incorporated on February 25, 1886, was the Chicago entrance. Construction began that July. The owned line ended at Forest Home, now Forest Park, and used what later became the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal. By February 1887 the 97 miles from Forest Home to South Freeport were finished. Regular service began later that summer. Twenty-seven miles, Forest Home to St. Charles, sat on the old Air Line grade. Trains used Illinois Central trackage rights into Dubuque until the railroad’s own extension, begun in March 1887, opened on February 9, 1888, about 50 miles.

The Chicago main line’s hard piece was the Winston Tunnel, 2,493 feet, the longest tunnel in Illinois when it was finished in early 1888 and still the third-longest in the state. It was driven through unstable blue clay and stayed expensive to keep. After the merger the bore was abandoned. The last trains through it ran in the early 1970s.

Chicago Great Western F7A 155 leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, in the early 1960s

F7A 155 leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, in the early 1960s. American-Rails.com collection.

Three additions in 1887 filled in the map south and west of the Minnesota line. On January 19, 1887, Stickney acquired the Dubuque & Dakota, from the Minnesota & Northwestern at Sumner through Waverly to Hampton. Later that year he added the Wisconsin, Iowa & Nebraska, which had opened Waterloo to Des Moines and a branch to Cedar Falls. He tied that property in at Oelwein and pushed south. St. Joseph was reached in May 1888. The Leavenworth & St. Joseph, completed to Beverly on the east bank of the Missouri in December 1890, was the last owned segment toward Kansas City. Kansas City itself was trackage rights over the Rock Island, the Union Pacific, and the Kansas City, Wyandotte & Northwestern, a Missouri Pacific property. In December 1887 the whole enterprise was renamed the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railroad.

Chicago Great Western freights meeting at Poplar Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, in May 1960

Freights meet at Poplar Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, in May 1960. Rick Burn photo.

The Railway of 1892

The Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City entered receivership on January 16, 1892. The bankruptcy was short. On July 1, 1892, the new Chicago Great Western Railway took the property, at first by lease. The old company was dissolved in 1893. Stickney stayed in control. The Panic of 1893 was weathered, and it also stopped the next round of building.

The shops moved from South St. Paul to Oelwein, near the middle of the system. The Oelwein Shops opened in April 1899, with locomotive and car repair, a back shop, a storehouse, and the other buildings a railroad of this size needed. A 40-stall roundhouse followed in 1904. The only Illinois branch, six miles to DeKalb by way of Sycamore, opened in October 1895 under the DeKalb & Great Western.

The Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific, acquired in 1899, supplied the lines east and west of the Twin Cities main. By 1903 the property ran to Mankato on the west, crossed the Great Western at Randolph, and ran south to Red Wing, to Bellechester on a short branch, and to Rochester. A spur ran from Rochester back to the main line at Dodge Center. From Rochester another line ran east to Winona and south to a connection at McIntire, Iowa, and on to Osage.

Omaha was the last gateway. In March 1901 the railroad bought the Mason City & Fort Dodge from James J. Hill. That short line had been completed between its namesake cities on October 24, 1886. The nine miles from Manly to Mason City were ready on November 1, 1901. Construction west of Fort Dodge began in August 1901, through Carroll and Minden, and the line opened to Council Bluffs in the late summer of 1903. In November 1903 a trackage-rights agreement with the Union Pacific carried trains across the Missouri River bridge into Omaha Union Station. The four-gateway map was then complete: Chicago, the Twin Cities, Omaha, and Kansas City.

At a glance

Item	Detail
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois. Peoples Gas Building, 122 South Michigan Boulevard
States served	Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska
Dates of operation	September 27, 1885 – June 30, 1968. The Chicago & North Western merger took effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1968
Formation	Chicago Great Western Railway, July 1, 1892. The Railroad name ran from August 19, 1909, to February 19, 1941
Genesis	Chicago, St. Charles & Mississippi Air Line, 1850. Minnesota & Northwestern, chartered March 4, 1854
Route miles	1,495.27 (1930). 1,458 (1950). 1,411 at the 1968 merger
Gauge	4 feet 8½ inches
Principal lines	Chicago – Oelwein – Minneapolis. Oelwein – Des Moines – Kansas City. Oelwein – Clarion. Minneapolis – Mason City – Fort Dodge – Omaha. Randolph – Mankato. Randolph – Red Wing – Rochester – McIntire. Rochester – Winona
Diesel fleet, 1963	141, that year’s fleet. The all-time diesel list is 157 frames
Rolling stock, 1963	Freight cars 4,490. Passenger cars 33
Slogan	The Corn Belt Route
Reporting mark	CGW
Successor	Chicago & North Western
Steam	320 locomotives built or rebuilt since 1900, each frame once

The Railroad and the Railway

The railroad entered receivership again in 1908. Stickney was named a co-receiver and resigned on December 21, 1908. On August 19, 1909, the Chicago Great Western Railroad took the Railway’s assets. During the First World War the property was operated by the United States Railroad Administration. The 1920s were a strong decade until the crash. Bankruptcy was filed on February 28, 1935. The reorganization ended on February 19, 1941, when the company was once more the Chicago Great Western Railway, in time for the traffic of the Second World War.

Map and timetables

An official 1943 system map of the Chicago Great Western. Author’s collection.

The 1930 mileage is 1,495.27. The 1950 mileage is 1,458. At the merger the system was 1,411 miles. The map is the classic granger X, with Oelwein in the middle, Chicago to the southeast, the Twin Cities to the north, Omaha to the west, and Kansas City to the south, plus the Minnesota branches through Rochester and Winona. Agricultural traffic was the base. The railroad also handled cement, aggregates, manufactures, less-than-carload freight, and a large interchange business, and it worked with local interurban lines more willingly than most of its neighbors.

A page of the Chicago Great Western public timetable for 1930.

Freight

In 1967 the railroad produced 2,452 million ton-miles and $28.7 million in revenue, largely from food and agricultural products, lumber, and chemicals. The operating habit that outsiders noticed was the long train. Grant records an 84-car test from St. Paul to Oelwein in October 1894. By the 1960s the reputation was for freights of about 200 cars. Trailer-on-flatcar service was tried in 1935 and put on a regular schedule in 1936, first between Chicago and St. Paul and then across the system by 1940. A stretch of double track ran out of Chicago. The diesel freight locomotives wore a two-tone burgundy and red.

One of the long freights, between Poplar Avenue and York Street in Elmhurst, Illinois, in February 1962. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 103-A in snow at the Esmond, Illinois, depot in December 1965

F3A 103-A leads a freight through heavy snow past the depot at Esmond, Illinois, in December 1965. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 114C and other F units with trailers at East Dubuque, Illinois, in February 1967

F3A 114C and other F units with trailers at East Dubuque, Illinois, in February 1967. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 111-C westbound past the Elmhurst depot on August 14, 1962

With the operator making a roll-by inspection, F3A 111-C leads a westbound freight past the Elmhurst depot on August 14, 1962. Roger Puta photo.

Four Chicago Great Western GP30s led by 201 at Fair Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, in February 1966

Four GP30s, led by 201, at Fair Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, in February 1966. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 103C with a freight at Fair Street in Elmhurst, Illinois, in February 1961

F3A 103C and other covered wagons with a long freight at Fair Street in Elmhurst, Illinois, in February 1961. A GP7 is in the consist. The North Shore Line right-of-way is at the left. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 110-A with a freight at Villa Park, Illinois, in January 1968

F3A 110-A with a freight at Villa Park, Illinois, in January 1968. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F units led by F3A 101-C switching the Ovaltine plant in Villa Park, Illinois, in January 1965

F units led by F3A 101-C switching the Ovaltine plant in Villa Park, Illinois, in January 1965. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western caboose 626 on westbound freight 143 at the Fox River in St. Charles, Illinois, on July 4, 1962

Caboose 626 on westbound freight 143 crossing the Fox River at St. Charles, Illinois, on July 4, 1962. F3A 115-A was leading. Roger Puta photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 115-A leading westbound freight 143 across the Fox River at St. Charles on July 4, 1962

F3A 115-A and other covered wagons on the head end of the same westbound 143, at the Fox River in St. Charles, on July 4, 1962. Roger Puta photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 115-A just south of Randolph, Minnesota, in September 1962

F3A 115-A just south of Randolph, Minnesota, in September 1962. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 110-C with southbound freight 43 at Hayfield, Minnesota, in February 1964

F3A 110-C with southbound freight 43 passing the small yard at Hayfield, Minnesota, in February 1964. Rick Burn photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 101-A and other locomotives at South Park in South St. Paul in the summer of 1960

F3A 101-A, other F units, and a Geep at the South Park engine terminal in South St. Paul, Minnesota, in the summer of 1960. Marty Bernard photo.

Chicago Great Western F3A 111A and TR2 61 at St. Paul on June 2, 1964

F3A 111A and TR2 61 at St. Paul on June 2, 1964. The F3A became Chicago & North Western 209 and was traded to Electro-Motive in December 1975. Marty Bernard photo.

Passenger trains

The Great Western was never a major passenger carrier. Its trains stayed with light Pacifics. In 1924 the railroad put gas-electric motor cars and McKeen cars on the lightly traveled Chicago–Omaha runs. McKeen car 1000, built in 1910 and later repowered by Electro-Motive, was still at Winona in 1952.

Chicago Great Western McKeen motor car 1000 at Winona, Minnesota, on June 24, 1952

Motor car 1000, built by McKeen in 1910 and later repowered by Electro-Motive, at the end of the Winona Branch in Winona, Minnesota, on June 24, 1952. Roger Puta photo.

Named trains on the timetable included:

Blue Bird, Twin Cities–Rochester
Bob-O-Link, Chicago–Rochester
Great Western Limited, Chicago–Twin Cities. Inaugurated in 1898 by way of Oelwein, later renamed the Legionnaire after a contest, and later renamed the Minnesotan. The name was gone in the 1950s
Mills Cities Limited, Kansas City–Twin Cities
Nebraska Limited, Twin Cities–Omaha
Omaha Express and Omaha Limited, Twin Cities–Omaha
Rochester Special and Red Bird, Twin Cities–Rochester
Twin Cities Express and Twin Cities Limited, Twin Cities–Omaha

William N. Deramus III, president from 1949, cut the passenger service through the 1950s, dropping locals and thinning the through trains. Depots came down and were replaced by cinder-block buildings. Mike Schafer, in More Classic American Railroads, counts two through trains left by 1956: the Mills Cities Limited, Twin Cities–Kansas City, and the Nebraska Limited / Twin City Limited, Twin Cities–Omaha. Trains 6 and 5, the Twin Cities–Kansas City pair, made their last runs on April 27, 1962. The Twin Cities–Omaha service ended with the overnight trip that left Omaha’s Burlington Station as train 14 on September 29, 1965, and arrived the next morning.

Steam and diesel

The steam that finished the job is the post-1900 roster. The freight engines that mattered in the last years were the 36 Texas types of 1930 and 1931, assigned to the fast trains out of Oelwein, and the Mikados ahead of them. Oelwein rebuilt older Prairies into Pacifics, older Consolidations into switchers and into the G-4s, and, for a short time, three Prairies into 2-6-6-2s. Ten Baldwin 2-6-6-2s of 1910 went to the Clinchfield in 1916. Drury’s retirement column closes in 1950.

Electro-Motive F units arrived in quantity in 1947 and 1948 and wore the original two-tone paint. The all-time diesel list, switchers through the SD40s of 1966, is the diesel roster. In December 1946 the railroad had also begun buying complete sets of those F units for the fast freights, and the steam that remained was gone by 1950.

A new Chicago Great Western F3 set led by 112-C at Oelwein on August 22, 1948

A matching A-B-A set of F3s, led by 112-C, in the original livery at Oelwein on August 22, 1948. The locomotives were about five months old. Photographer unknown.

Chicago Great Western F3A 101-C and other power at the Oelwein Shops in March 1967

F3A 101-C and other power laying over at the Oelwein Shops in March 1967. Rick Burn photo.

The North Western

Edward Reidy became president in January 1957. He bought the second-generation road switchers, kept spending tight, and ran the freights long. In 1965, testifying before the Interstate Commerce Commission in Chicago, the railroad could say it was operating in the black and still say that there was just too much transportation available between the principal cities it served. Merger talks over the postwar years named the Frisco, the Katy, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, the Kansas City Southern, the Rock Island, and the Soo Line.

The partner that closed the purchase was the Chicago & North Western, which wanted the Kansas City gateway. The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the merger in April 1967. A three-judge court in Minneapolis lifted an injunction on June 19, 1968, and the two railroads set the effective moment at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1968. Much of the Corn Belt Route was then abandoned. Pieces survive as trail. The Great Western Trail runs from Des Moines to Martensdale, about 20 miles. The Illinois Great Western Trail runs from Villa Park toward Sycamore.

Sources

H. Roger Grant, The Corn Belt Route: A History of the Chicago Great Western Railroad Company (Northern Illinois University Press, 1984). The March 4, 1854, charter language. Stickney and William Marshall and the 10,000 shares. The 84-car St. Paul–Oelwein test of October 1894. The corporate narrative of the 1880s and 1890s used above follows Grant and the railroad’s own dated record of charters and openings.
George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, the Chicago Great Western chapter. The steam counts on this page, and the statement that steam was gone by 1950, are the companion roster.
The New York Times, June 20, 1968. The announced merger hour, 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1968, after a Minneapolis three-judge court lifted an injunction on June 19. The Interstate Commerce Commission had authorized the merger in April 1967.
William D. Middleton, George M. Smerk, and Roberta L. Diehl, eds., Encyclopedia of North American Railroads, p. 235. The 1,411 miles at the merger.
Mike Schafer, More Classic American Railroads. The two through passenger trains remaining in 1956.
The diesel counts are the diesel roster. The 1963 figures of 141 locomotives, 4,490 freight cars, and 33 passenger cars are the year-end glance.

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