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[quote user="Chris30"] The Milwaukee Pacific Extension suffered going to Seattle. How would the Northwestern have fared going to Eureka or Coos Bay?? I'm going to have to say probably not very good. [/quote] Not to be too fussy, but the PCE didn't "suffer" as is the common misconception, it was the corporate Milwaukee road entity that suffered and ultimately withdrew from the PNW.  The PCE made money for the Milwaukee, while the granger lines lost money for Milwaukee.  Remember the railroad rule of thumb, profit potential is greater the longer the haul.  In terms of profile the Milwaukee PCE was at least the second best of the four Northwest transcons (GN, Milwaukee, UP, NP). The same analysis as to whether a CNW west coast line would have been successful or not would need the same corporate overview.  If CNW clung to their granger lines the way Milwaukee clung to it's grangers, then yes you might make the same assumption that the CNW ultimately would have met the same corporate fate as Milwaukee.  If CNW had been wise enough to jettison the grangers and just kept a prospective transcon and a Midwest north south spine, then it is likely that a CNW transcon would still be around today, albeit a merged one.  One thing is certain, CNW would have been better off with a transcon than without.  Of course, CNW had the UP bridge traffic, but that's not the same as having control over your own transcon.
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