Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
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Milwaukee Road system map
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A postcard showing the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha in 1935
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| Reporting mark | MILW |
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| Locale | Midwestern and Western United States |
| Dates of operation | 1847–1986 |
| Successor |
Soo Line Railroad Most trackage in South Dakota and Montana are now operated by BNSF Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length |
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| Headquarters | Chicago |
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (often referred to as the Milwaukee Road) (reporting mark MILW), was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1980, when its Pacific Extension (Montana, Idaho, and Washington) was abandoned following a bankruptcy. The eastern half of the system merged into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names and faced bankruptcy several times in that period. The railroad no longer exists as a separate entity, but much of its trackage continues to be used by its successor and other roads, and is commemorated in buildings like the historic Milwaukee Road Depot in Minneapolis, Minnesota and in railroad hardware still maintained by railfans, such as the Milwaukee Road 261 steam locomotive.
The railroad that became the Milwaukee Road began as the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad, whose goal was to link the developing Lake Michigan port city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the Mississippi River. The company incorporated in 1847, but changed its name to the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad in 1850 before construction began. Its first line, all of 5 miles (8.0 km), opened between Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, on November 20, 1850. Extensions followed to Waukesha in February 1851, Madison, and finally the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien in 1857.
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