The local paper here in Redding has a little today in history section in it. Well in 1906 it said that dignitaries from the C&NW were meeting with the rotary club in Eureka oner on the coast about building a line west form Casper, WY to Eureka. Does any one have any info on the proposed extentsion and did it have anything to do with the Milwaukee's extentsion into the North West?
I don't recall the details. But, yes. They did consider doing so. The line of their farthest reach, to the east slope of the Rockies, was a subsidiary company. The Wyoming & North Western. Many companies envisioned reaching the west coast. Even the tiny Minneapolis & St.Louis RY! Did this influence the Milw building west? No. The Milw had made preliminary surveys west of the Missouri River, long before the turn of the Century. Had also even purchased land by that time. And started building west in 1906. Boxcab E50
Hey thanks Boxcab, I had always wondered if there was thought of building a railroad west through Northern California. I'm just not sure which route they would have tried to take if a railroad ever did build in that direction. The Mountians to the west of Redding are pretty steep.
It would be great fun, if we could travel back to those times, and listen in on board room discussions. To learn just how serious some of these proposals were. To know how real some company names were. Chicago & North Western; Missouri Pacific; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; St.Louis & San Francisco(Original company name before SL-SF.) And even more obscure, yet grandiose schemes. Such as a company that wanted to build east from Seattle, to the Great Lakes. They actually did build track. But went ran out of money. What history has been lost to time? What has been poorly reported in the books since written. So we really don't know what transpired? Boxcab E50
I guess thats one of the good things about model railroads and some train simualtors, we create what was and what might have been.
Although not C&NW, this is exactly the concept I am using, when planning for my new model RR empire. Boxcab E50
