WIAR/CNW/EL "Meteor Service"

[Anonymous]

[?]

My model railroad is the Wisconsin & Iowa (WIAR), a fictional line serving as
a long bridge line between Kansas City & eastern Canada via Sault Ste.
Marie (KC-Cedar Rapids-Dubuque-Wausau-Iron Mountain-Sault Ste. Marie).
The WIAR main at Wausau splits, one line SW towards Dubuque, the other
west into Minnesota, accessing the Twin Cities over trackage rights
agreements with the CNW, with the main continuing on to a major interchange
point with the BN at St. Cloud, then further northwest to Winnipeg via Devils
Lake, ND (yes, I am a major competitor with the Soo Line). The WIAR also
operates a portion of the the former CGW (Dubuque-Oelwein-Waterloo-
Marshalltown) as a secondary main.

Since the Erie Lackawanna is my favorite "real" line (albeit long gone), I'm
envisioning a fictional buy-out of the EL by the super-rich ownership of the
WIAR that saved the EL from destruction by Conrail. The "Meteor Service" I
imagine provides an east-west link for wood products and grain delivered by
the CN to WIAR at Winnipeg. WIAR runs it all the way to Menominee, WI
where it is handed-off to the CNW for transfer to Proviso Yard near Chicago,
where it is transferred to the EL for shipment to the east coast. Intermodal
traffic is also envisioned, exploiting the EL's wide ROW, mostly heading in the
opposite direction.

While being a part of the WIAR "family" and having some of its branch lines
sold-off or abandoned out east (including the Dayton Branch off the main at
Marion), with dispatching performed at the WIAR headquarters in Dubuque,
the EL retains a fair share of its former identity, including its livery and as
many crews and MOW staff as possible (call me an idealist among other
things). The EL serves mostly as a high-speed through-freight corridor
between Chicago & NY/NJ. The EL yard at Marion would probably be severely
reduced as well with the sell-off of the Dayton Branch.

Not being much of an expert on railroad economics, would such a general
idea of Winnipeg-Menominee-Proviso-NY/NJ "Meteor Service" be a
reasonably realistic concept for the mid-to-late 1980's?

[joseph2]

Hi,I model a fictional merger of the Erie and Milwaukee railroads.I am not an expert on railroad economics.I think most of the grain in the area you mention would have been destined to Great Lakes or Mississippi ports.Some would have gone to the Buffalo mills though.When those ports were closed for the winter,grain might go east on the Erie. Potash fertilizer also comes from the Winnipeg area.Perhaps you could add iron ore as an eastbound traffic also. Your ideas sound pretty good. Joe

[Anonymous]

Hey thanks Joe! I live not 3 hrs from the Iron Range and didn't think of
the ore concept!