Twin Cities And Western Railroad

The Twin Cities and Western Railroad (owned by the same company which also operates the Red River Valley & Western) is a Class III, shortline headquartered in Glencoe, Minnesota and operating along the former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road) Pacific Northwest main line through Minnesota. The railroad began operations in 1991 taking over the Soo Line Railroad's former "Ortonville Line", the section of Milwaukee Road main line it had acquired through its 1985 purchase of the railroad. Today, the TC&W has connections with four Class I railroads and handles a wide variety of freight traffic from food-based products to chemicals and fertilizers. Because the shortline also connects with the Twin Cities, operates a subsidiary railroad (the Minnesota Prairie Line), and a has a sound management team (which has made its sister line, the RRV&W successful) its future looks to be very healthy.

Twin Cities & Western GP10 #404 is seen here tied down in Glencoe, Minnesota. This Geep began its career on the Boston & Maine as #1710 in 1957. Date unknown.

The history of the Twin Cities and Western Railroad began in the mid-1980s when the floundering Milwaukee Road system, once a massive railroad which stretched from Kentucky to Washington state was purchased by the much smaller Soo Line railroad. By this point the Milwaukee had significantly reduced its system and no longer operated west of eastern Montana. After the Soo's purchase in 1985 it began selling off or abandoning large sections of the Milwaukee it deemed either unprofitable or not valuable (part of which was due to the fact the Milwaukee carried so much debt and bad track that the Soo was forced to do this).

By the early 1990s the Soo was looking to sell part of the Milwaukee's main line west of the Twin Cities, turning over the line to the Twin Cities and Western Railroad on July 27, 1991. Additionally, the TC&W would pick a 94-mile section south and west of Norwood, which it operated as the Minnesota Prairie Line (the track itself is owned by the Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad Authority). With trackage rights included the TC&W stretches from extreme eastern Minnesota at the Twin Cities (where it interchanges with BNSF Railway, Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific, and Canadian National) to eastern South Dakota at Milbank (where it again connects with the BNSF and shortline Sisseton Milbank Railroad).

A quartet of TC&W Geeps led by GP30C #4302 arrive with a freight at Canadian Pacific's Pig's Eye Yard during the early fall of 2004. This stretch of trackage was once part of the Milwaukee Road's main line to Chicago.

The Twin Cities and Western Railroad has become quite a successful shortline operation over the last 20+ years, in no small part due to its many Class I connections and diversified traffic base. It currently operates well over 200 miles of track and moves freight which includes, according to the railroad, "coal, grains (corn, wheat, barley), soybeans, sugar, beet pulp pellets, lumber and other forest products, canned vegetables, edible beans, molasses, DDGs, fertilizers, crushed rock and agricultural machinery." For more information about the Twin Cities and Western Railroad please click here to visit their official website. The site includes full contact information and available services the railroad provides.  The railroad also provides additional services such as industrial development and car supply guarantees. In any event, below is a current roster of the TC&W.

Twin Cities and Western Railroad Diesel Locomotive Roster

The same train as pictured above, the St. Paul local, pulls away from Midway Yard owned by shortline Minnesota Commercial.

For more reading on shortlines like the Twin Cities and Western Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.