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Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway

The Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway (CM&W) (reporting mark CMNW) was a Class II railroad that operated in the midwest of the United States between 1987 and 1989. Never financially stable, less than a year after it was created it was bankrupt and sold off its lines piecemeal to other railroads in 1989.

Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway
Illinois Governor James R. Thompson dedicates one of CMNW's EMD GP38 diesel locomotives in 1988
Overview
Reporting markCMNW
LocaleIllinois, Missouri
Dates of operation1987–1989
PredecessorChessie System, Illinois Central Gulf
SuccessorGateway Western Railway, SPCSL Corporation
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

CM&W RR was also used as the logo for the train line on THE VIRGINIAN western series of NBC which ran from 1962 to 71

History edit

The Chicago and Alton Railroad (C&A) had built and operated lines from Chicago, Illinois to Springfield, Illinois, from Springfield to Roodhouse, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri, and from Roodhouse to Kansas City, Missouri and St. Louis, until that railroad was merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O (reporting mark GMO)) in 1947. The GM&O itself was merged into the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (ICG) in 1972. When the ICG began spinning off its redundant lines, the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway (CM&W (reporting mark CMNW)) purchased the lines from the ICG on April 28, 1987. The line struggled financially, leading to deferred maintenance on the track, and the company was bankrupt within the year.

Parent company edit

Venango River was formed by former Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe managers to purchase the legendary South Shore Line from the Chessie System. The South Shore acquisition met with modest success, but whether the success correlated with management skill is still up for debate. The Chessie had all but neglected the railroad, making success easy to come by. Further, the Chessie equipped the South Shore with ten new locomotives ideal for shortline railroading, leading to low maintenance costs. Flush with success, Venango River purchased the CM&W from ICG with the South Shore as guarantor of the loans at Citibank. President John Darling had grand dreams of serving three steel mills belonging to National Steel, one in Detroit, one in Burns Harbor (on CSS), and one near St. Louis (on CM&W).

Failure edit

Collective insight suggests Venango River overpaid for the railroad, and could not service the debt with revenues. While South Shore revenues were directed toward servicing CM&W debt for a time, when the state of Indiana failed to adequately subsidize South Shore's passenger trains, the house of cards fell. The affair was not helped by the dilapidated ex-Western Pacific EMD GP40 locomotives acquired for CM&W (only a few were repainted for CM&W). The Chicago-St. Louis line was acquired at bankruptcy sale by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and, as a result of the UP buyout, is now part of Union Pacific. The Kansas City-St. Louis (along with Roodhouse-Springfield) line was purchased by Gateway Western Railway, eventually coming under Kansas City Southern control.

Notable service and trackage rights edit

  • Piggyback service from South Shore's Burnham Yard to St. Louis
  • Amtrak's Chicago-St. Louis service
  • Chicago Terminal trackage rights to connect CSS and CM&W and other area railroad yards, including Proviso (still held by CSS)
  • Run-through steel coil shipments between CM&W, CSS, and GTW (for National Steel)
  • Business trains featuring bright orange CSS locomotives and business cars as well as other leased business cars

References edit

  • The Historical Guide to North American Railroads (second ed.). Waukesha: Kalmbach Publishing. 2000. pp. 188–189.

chicago, missouri, western, railway, reporting, mark, cmnw, class, railroad, that, operated, midwest, united, states, between, 1987, 1989, never, financially, stable, less, than, year, after, created, bankrupt, sold, lines, piecemeal, other, railroads, 1989, i. The Chicago Missouri and Western Railway CM amp W reporting mark CMNW was a Class II railroad that operated in the midwest of the United States between 1987 and 1989 Never financially stable less than a year after it was created it was bankrupt and sold off its lines piecemeal to other railroads in 1989 Chicago Missouri and Western RailwayIllinois Governor James R Thompson dedicates one of CMNW s EMD GP38 diesel locomotives in 1988OverviewReporting markCMNWLocaleIllinois MissouriDates of operation1987 1989PredecessorChessie System Illinois Central GulfSuccessorGateway Western Railway SPCSL CorporationTechnicalTrack gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge CM amp W RR was also used as the logo for the train line on THE VIRGINIAN western series of NBC which ran from 1962 to 71 Contents 1 History 2 Parent company 3 Failure 4 Notable service and trackage rights 5 ReferencesHistory editThe Chicago and Alton Railroad C amp A had built and operated lines from Chicago Illinois to Springfield Illinois from Springfield to Roodhouse Illinois and St Louis Missouri and from Roodhouse to Kansas City Missouri and St Louis until that railroad was merged into the Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad GM amp O reporting mark GMO in 1947 The GM amp O itself was merged into the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad ICG in 1972 When the ICG began spinning off its redundant lines the Chicago Missouri and Western Railway CM amp W reporting mark CMNW purchased the lines from the ICG on April 28 1987 The line struggled financially leading to deferred maintenance on the track and the company was bankrupt within the year Parent company editVenango River was formed by former Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe managers to purchase the legendary South Shore Line from the Chessie System The South Shore acquisition met with modest success but whether the success correlated with management skill is still up for debate The Chessie had all but neglected the railroad making success easy to come by Further the Chessie equipped the South Shore with ten new locomotives ideal for shortline railroading leading to low maintenance costs Flush with success Venango River purchased the CM amp W from ICG with the South Shore as guarantor of the loans at Citibank President John Darling had grand dreams of serving three steel mills belonging to National Steel one in Detroit one in Burns Harbor on CSS and one near St Louis on CM amp W Failure editCollective insight suggests Venango River overpaid for the railroad and could not service the debt with revenues While South Shore revenues were directed toward servicing CM amp W debt for a time when the state of Indiana failed to adequately subsidize South Shore s passenger trains the house of cards fell The affair was not helped by the dilapidated ex Western Pacific EMD GP40 locomotives acquired for CM amp W only a few were repainted for CM amp W The Chicago St Louis line was acquired at bankruptcy sale by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and as a result of the UP buyout is now part of Union Pacific The Kansas City St Louis along with Roodhouse Springfield line was purchased by Gateway Western Railway eventually coming under Kansas City Southern control Notable service and trackage rights editPiggyback service from South Shore s Burnham Yard to St Louis Amtrak s Chicago St Louis service Chicago Terminal trackage rights to connect CSS and CM amp W and other area railroad yards including Proviso still held by CSS Run through steel coil shipments between CM amp W CSS and GTW for National Steel Business trains featuring bright orange CSS locomotives and business cars as well as other leased business carsReferences editThe Historical Guide to North American Railroads second ed Waukesha Kalmbach Publishing 2000 pp 188 189 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chicago Missouri and Western Railway amp oldid 1210040540, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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