Wisconsin Central Transportation

Wisconsin Central Ltd.

System map of Wisconsin Central's trackage in 1998.
A trio of Wisconsin Central SD45's lead a manifest train westbound across Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Reporting mark	WC
Locale	Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Ontario
Dates of operation	1987–2001 (Standalone company) Present (As parent company CN subsidiary Wisconsin Central Ltd.)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	2,850 mi (4,590 km)
Headquarters	Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Central Ltd. (reporting mark WC) is a railroad subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada (Algoma Central Railway), the United Kingdom (English Welsh & Scottish), New Zealand (Tranz Rail), and Australia (Australian Transport Network).

Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC) started in US in the mid-1980s using most of the original Wisconsin Central Railway's rights of way and some former Milwaukee Road rights of way after the Soo Line Railroad acquired the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota holdings of the bankrupt Milwaukee Road and divested its older railway trackage in Wisconsin. In 1993 the Wisconsin Central also acquired the Green Bay and Western Railroad and the Fox River Valley Railroad.

In 1995 Wisconsin Central acquired the 322-mile (518 km) Canadian Algoma Central Railway whose tracks ran north of Sault Saint Marie to Hearst, Ontario. The Algoma Central runs a popular tourist passenger train through the Agawa Canyon and Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park near Lake Superior Provincial Park.

In 2001 the Wisconsin Central was purchased by a second Canadian railroad, the Canadian National Railway. Along with the former Illinois Central Railroad, the former Wisconsin Central became part of Canadian National's United States holdings and its property integrated into the CN system.