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Chicago and Northwestern System
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Here is presented the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad in all its glory during the final years before merger with the Union Pacific, its main partner in the historica Overland Route. Freight, passenger and commuter operations will all be covered here.

The Chicago  and Northwestern Railroad was divided into the  following operating divisions:1. Suburban Divisionn-Covering the terriitory between Chicago,Elmhurst,Harvard,McHenry, and Lake Bluff, this was Commuter Country as far  as the Chicago  and Northwestern Railroad was concerned and it was a money maker for the railroad   for   a good long time,too.
2.Chicago Division Freight Lines:These  include Woodstreet to  Kedzie, Noble Street to Navy Pier,Mayfair-Canal,,Keeler,Kenton-Augusta-Valley, Provisoo-Dewal Valley,Norma-seeger.
3.Illinois   Division: covered between Proviso,Clinton,Nelson,Maddison,,Troy Grove--Sycamore-Byron,West Chicago-East Elgin,St. Charles-Villa Park,Elgin Jct.-Winnebago.
4.Iowa Division-Clinton to Fremmont,California  Jct.-Dakota City,Marshalltown-N. Alblay,Missouri Valley-Council Bluffs.
5.Wisconsin Division-Bounded by Seeger Valley,Mt. Horeb,Elroy, Milwaukee,Milwaukee-Wiscona,Marshfield, Powers, Washburn,Beloit,Watersmeet,E.Elgin.
6.Ore Division-Bounded by Marenisco,Escanaba,Ishpeming,Niiagara  Powers.
7.Twin Cities Division-Bounded by Adams, Elroy,Duluth,Madison,Clark,Huron,Winona, Sioux City,Twin Cities, Albert  Lea.
8.Central Division-bounded by Dubuque,Leavenworth,Albert City,Sanborn, Randolph,Kansas City,
9.Western Division-bouunded by Fremont,NE,Oakes, Huron,,SD,Bentonight, and Riverton,Wyoming.
FREIGHT SERVICE  TERMINALS AND FACILITIES
The major classification yard for Chicago on  the CNW is at Proviso, with other major  terminals being located at Milwaukee,,the Twin Cities region in Minnesota,Marshalltown,and Rapid  City, to name a few, supplemented by 73 TOFC/COFC ramps distributed throughout the railroad's nine state   service area. Its main interchange with Union Pacific was at Fremont,Nebraska. The Wood Street TOFC facility has since been revamped and redesignated Global One.
COMMUTER   SERVICE FACILITIES
The renown commuter   service of the Chicago and Northwestern  has  its  focus in the Ogilvie Transportation Center, located on the site of the  old Northwestern Station, located at 400 West Madison Street in Chicago.  Here one can buy tickets,obtain timetables and other information pertaining to the commuter  service on all three  lines as well as wait to board his or her  desired train according to his destination. The Clyburn Street Station, which has no agent,  serves essentially as  a junction point for   all three  lines, which serve 52 other   stations collectively with nearly 200 trains a day. Many of  the  bilevel cars originally purchased by the railroad itself are still in   service on these trains. However, gone  are the EMD F7As and E8As   that  formerly powered these trains, sometimes referred to as Commuter 400s. The  focus here is not on the history of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, but  its operations  during those final years of independent  operation.Shortly, we shall take a look at some of those operations.

This section contains sample freight and  passenger  schedules, roster information and other pertenant operations data of the Chicago  and Northwestern Railroad. First up are  some sample freight schedules from the May-June 1974 Official Railway Guide:
Table1A.CNW-Union Pacific Transcontinental Service-Westbound.
Stations.......................241..........247...........249.........245..........243
Chicago(WS)  Lv......------..........------...........-----........1100........1430
Proviso......................2315.........0115.........1013.......------.........------
West Chicago...........------..........0245..........------.......------.........-------
Marshalltown............------..........-------..........------.......------..........------
Boone........................-------..........-------.........------.......-------.........------
Council Bluffs.........-------..........-------..........2359.....-------.........-------
Fremont...................1530...........1600........--------......0100........0430
North Platte.............2200...........0030.......0735.......-------.........------
Denver......................------............2200.......2200.......2200.........------
Los Angeles...........-------............2100.......1830.......2200.........2200
Roseville................--------............-------.......-------........------..........------
Oakland.................--------............1715........0315......2115..........------
Portland................---------............1800.......1300......1800..........-------
Seattle...................---------.............2300......2000......2320..........-------
Table 1B. Eastbound Service CNW-UP
Stations.....................248............252.............250........256.........246
Seattle.....................1500...........1500............-----.........------........------
Portland..................2200...........2200............-----.........------.......-------
Oakland..................0100...........0100............------........------........-------
Roseville...............2200............1300............------.........------........-------
Los Angeles........0300.............0300...........-------.......-------........1800
Denver..................0500.............0500...........2300.......2300........2300
North Platte........0100..............0200...........1130........1130.......2100
Fremont..............0830..............0930...........-------.........------.........0300
Council Bluffs...-------...............-------..........2100.........2330........0300
Missouri Valley.------................-------...........-------........0001.........0530
Boone...............-------................-------............-------........-------.........1100
Marshalltown..------.................--------..........-------..........0600........-------
West Chicago.------................---------..........-------..........-------........-------
Proviso...........--------................0030............1700.........2359........1730
40th Street.....0800.................-------.............-------..........------.........-------
Chicago(WS)2359.................--------............-------..........1530........-------
WS after Chicago indicates Wood Street (now Global One).
Table 2. Chicago (Proviso)-Rapid  City
495....................Stations....................482
0445.........Lv  Proviso........Ar......-----------
-------.........Lv Chicago W40th.....2100
0845..............Milwaukee..............1615
1000..............Butler......................1500
1615..............Adams.....................1000
0100.............Winona....................0030
0330............Rochester...............1700
0445.......Dodge Center.............1500
1000.............Waseca..................1230
1400............Mankato.................0530
1700..........New Ulm..................0145
1900..........Sleepy Eye.............0020
2230...........Tracy......................2100
0130.........Sioux Valley...........1201
0100..........Huron.....................0630
1100..........Pierre......................1000
1900..........Rapid City.............2200
Table 3. Chicago-Madison
599.........591......Stations............576.......594
0830.....0115 L Proviso.......A  1730......0400
1130.....0400....Harvard............1400......0001
1315.....0530....Janesville.........1145.....2200
1600.....0800.....Madison..........0930......2015
Table 4. Chicago-Belvidere
99..........97.........Stations.............96.........98
1215   0115  L Proviso......A   2230....1150
1400  --------  W.Chicago.........2045....0945
1630...0530  A Belvirdere L   1800....0630
These   schedules  represent only a  few of the hundreds of  daily freight trains operated across the Chicago  and Northwestern Railroad on most weekdays.Many  trains were designated as to  days of operations. Not all ran  daily.
 
On the passenger  side of the coin, the Chicago  and Northwestern was known for its 400 family of  fine passenger trains,which served much of the upper Midwest. The last of these trains ran its final  miles on April 30,1971, leaving only  the commuter  service to carry on the  passenger tradition. Here  are   some condensed schedules taken  from a supplement to a 1963 system public timetable.
Table P-1 The Twin Cities 400
401...............Stations.................400
1120.....L   Chicago.........A....1830
1245    A    Milwaukee.....L.....1655
1250    L    Milwaukee.....A.....1649
1640    A   Eau Claire......L .....1255
1640    L   Eau Claire......A......1255
1810          St.Paul....................1130
1840    A   Minneapolis...L......1101
Table P-2. Rochester 400
519..................Stations................518
0910.........Lv  Chicago.......Ar..1935
0933..............Des Plaines.........1906
1032..............Harvard................1817
1245.............Madison................1630
1510.......Ar Wyeville............Lv 1415
1520.......Lv Wyeville............Ar 1410
  W................LaCrosse.................W
1710..............Winona..................1235
1817.......Rochester...................1108
1817.......Rochester...................1108
2015...... Mankato.....................0905