Private company

Green Bay and Western Railroad

Railroad in Wisconsin, USA

The Green Bay and Western Railroad (reporting mark GBW), also known as the Green Bay Route, served central Wisconsin in the United States from 1896 until it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. At the end of 1970 it operated 322 miles of track on 255 miles of road; that year it reported 317 million ton-miles of revenue freight.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1896Founded1
  • HeadquartersGreen Bay1

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GBW 2407 at IRM
Photo: Sean Lamb ( User:Slambo ), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Green Bay and Western Railroad (reporting mark GBW), also known as the Green Bay Route, served central Wisconsin in the United States from 1896 until it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. At the end of 1970 it operated 322 miles of track on 255 miles of road; that year it reported 317 million ton-miles of revenue freight.2

The story

The Green Bay and Western Railroad was formed in 1896 from the bankruptcy proceedings of the Green Bay, Winona & St Paul and the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western. The existing route, originally built by the Green Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad, linking Green Bay, Wisconsin, and East Winona, Wisconsin, formed the bulk of the new railroad. The Green Bay and Western acquired on August 1, 1906, a majority of shares/interest in the Ahnapee and Western Railway.

The GBW established in 1929 the Western Refrigerator Line Company (WRX) to operate a 500-car fleet of reefers. Passenger traffic ceased in April 1949. The Line had carried 50,000 passengers yearly in the 1870s, 310,000 in 1915 but only 1,000 in 1947 having reverted to mixed trains. The Green Bay and Western sold off the Ahnapee and Western Railway to Vernon M. Bushman and a group of private investors on May 31, 1947. The Itel Corporation purchased the Green Bay & Western in 1978. The Green Bay & Western and the Fox River Valley Railroad were merged into a new Wisconsin Central subsidiary, the Fox Valley and Western Railroad August 27, 1993. Wisconsin Central was, in turn, purchased by Canadian National railway in 2001.

From Wikipedia’s article on Green Bay and Western Railroad, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Wisconsin Central Ltd.1

Timeline

  1. 1896Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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